If you’ve ever wandered the streets of Paris, you may have spotted tiny pixel mosaics hidden on the walls — the work of a mysterious French artist known as Invader. In this vlog, I went on a real-life street art treasure hunt to track down as many of these pieces as possible, discover their stories, and see how many points I could score. Get ready — let’s go hunting.
How the FlashInvaders App Works
The hunt starts with an app called FlashInvaders. The idea is simple: when you spot a real Space Invader mosaic, you scan it and earn points for each one. I started the day at rank 500k with zero points, curious to see how many I could rack up by the end.
The catch? Not every mosaic on a Paris wall is a real Space Invader. Plenty of other artists copy the style, and the app quickly tells you when a piece isn’t the real thing — which makes the hunt genuinely challenging.
The Hunt Begins in the 6th Arrondissement
My first real find was Princess Leia — a big, special piece worth 100 points. What’s cool about Invader is that he often matches the artwork to its location. In this neighborhood he created a princess to fit the setting.
Along the way I learned a hard truth: some pieces have been destroyed or stolen. People pry the mosaics off the walls and sell them on eBay for high prices, which means you can no longer scan them. Each real invader carries a number — like PA_181, where “PA” stands for Paris and the number is a unique counter. You can search that number on Instagram and find photos other hunters have taken of the same piece.
The Story of Invader
Invader has placed more than 4,000 mosaics in over 80 countries across every continent. Paris alone has more than 1,400 — the highest concentration of Space Invaders anywhere in the world.
Like Banksy, nobody knows his real identity. He was arrested by police in 2011 while installing a piece, but they released him without revealing who he is. Technically his work is illegal — you’re not allowed to stick a mosaic on a public wall — but his reputation grew so strong that the city now embraces his art as part of Paris.
Some of his pieces have sold for staggering sums at auction: his Astro Boy mosaic went for over €1 million in New York, and his Rubik’s Mona reached nearly half a million. But here’s the twist — Invader never sells the pieces he puts on the street. So if one is missing from a wall, chances are it was stolen.
Invaders Around Notre-Dame and the Louvre
The hunt took me past the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which reopened this year, and under the Pont Saint-Michel to find a very well-hidden invader with the cathedral in the background. Near the Louvre, I found the Mona — a nod to the Mona Lisa — worth 100 points.
Invader loves themed pieces: Napoleon Bonaparte in a wealthy neighborhood, Chewbacca and other Star Wars characters, and even a Spider-Man celebrating PSG’s Champions League victory. Many of his Star Wars pieces are actually in Jerba, Tunisia — where the film was shot, and which happens to be my homeland.
Invaders in Space
The word “invader” isn’t just about the streets. In 2012, he sent one of his mosaics 30 kilometers up into the stratosphere with a weather balloon, documented in a film. Then in 2014, an Italian astronaut carried one of his mosaics onto the International Space Station and stuck it to a wall inside — making Invader one of the first street artists in space.
Châtelet, Pompidou, and the Biggest Invader
Around Châtelet I found one of the oldest pieces, made back in 1998 and preserved by the city even after the area was rebuilt. Near the Pompidou Centre — which hosted a Space Invader exhibition last year — I hunted down a special mosaic launched just for that show.
I also found what may be the biggest Space Invader piece of them all, right next to a fountain full of street art. Invader wanted to make it big so it could compete with all the others.
Final Stats and Score
After starting at 4:00 p.m. and finishing around 9:00 p.m., this was a full five hours of walking. The stats say it all: 950 calories burned, 135 minutes of exercise, 22,000 steps, and 17 kilometers covered. Hunting Space Invaders is a real sport.
The final score: 25 invaders found in one day, worth around 1,300 points. My ranking didn’t budge, but it was an incredible experience — walking the city, discovering new streets and shops, and always looking up.
Keep Your Heads Up
Too many people walk through Paris with their heads down. That’s exactly why I love street art — it lives up high on the walls, forcing you to look around. So after this video, I hope you’ll pay more attention to the walls of Paris and discover new artists for yourself.
If there’s a street artist you’d like me to feature next, drop their name in the comments and I’ll do a dedicated tour. Until then — keep your heads up.
