MAJOR UPDATE — SHOOTER is here

Pucks, meet guns.

This is the biggest update since launch: a third game type next to SOCCER and DODGEBALL, on the same controls — your slam button now fires. It's in the free playtest right now (build 0.1.5).

Watch on YouTube

SHOOTER — the new game type

• No ball. Boost, aim, shoot. Recoil is movement: every gun kicks you back along the shot, so a shotgun blast is also a dash away.
• 12 guns on pads scattered through the arena — pistol, SMG, revolver, minigun, rifle, carbine, shotgun, ricochet, grenade, sticky, flak, rocket, railgun, sniper, and the knife. Every gun except the pistol runs out; the pads are worth crossing the map for.
• 4 arenas: CROSSFIRE, LANES, PILLARS and PORTALS — shots go through the portals and come out of the linked mouth, and the links swap every 12 seconds.

Five ways to play it — picked in the lobby

The lobby now chooses the MOD (local and online) and reshapes itself: free-for-all seats, teams, or the TEAMS switch for DEATHMATCH / GUN GAME.

• DEATHMATCH — most kills wins, free-for-all or TEAMS.
• GUN GAME — every kill promotes your gun up the ladder; the knife kill wins.
• KING — one puck wears the crown with triple health and a minigun; everyone hunts it. Score the seconds you hold it.
• INFECTION — one hidden patient zero with a knife. Nobody knows who — until the first stab lands. The stabbed turn.
• SOCCER WITH GUNS — the crossover: soccer goals, shooter rules. The ball is heavy and only moves when it is SHOT. Listed under SOCCER too.

Kill streaks — 3, 5 and 7 kills in one life

Pick a loadout of three in the lobby. The starting three:

• AIRSTRIKE (3) — a marked ring 9 units ahead; whatever is inside it a second later is gone.
• MISSILE (5) — you steer it. The camera rides the rocket; your stick flies it into the crowd.
• GUNSHIP (7) — a helicopter orbits above you for 10 seconds, painting and firing on anyone in the open.

Six more to unlock through play — each one is a Steam achievement:

• MARK — 8 s: every enemy is marked and your hits on them do +50%.
• DECOY — a puck that looks like you and runs the other way.
• BARRIER — a wall you raise in front of you; their shots die on it, yours don't.
• SENTRY — a turret that holds the lane alone.
• BLINK — three instant 9-unit jumps in the direction you move.
• EMP — enemies within 14 units lose boost and drop to the pistol.

Also in this update

• The lobby picks the MOD for every game type (local and online), with the TEAMS switch where it applies; game-over shows MAP / TYPE / MOD.
• HOW TO PLAY has 7 tabs now, including SHOOTER and KILL STREAKS with live demos, and the tutorial got a SHOOTER stage.
• A WHAT'S NEW card greets you on the first launch after the update.
• Streak challenges show an icon of the reward they unlock.
• 12 new achievements for the shooter.
• Online: a netcode pass for the new mode — shots leave exactly where you aimed, even mid-turn; weapon hand-offs (crown, knife) reach every machine; recoil no longer doubles for guests; automatic weapons send far less traffic.
• Bots play all five mods, with Easy/Medium clearly weaker than Hard.

Known issues

• Guests don't see their BLINK charge count or the INFECTION round clock yet (host-only for now).
• A gunship you hear on one machine can crest cover a hair earlier on another.

The playtest is free — hit Request Access on the store page. Tell us what breaks!