The goal
Drain your opponent’s health bar before they drain yours. A match is best of three rounds, and each round has a 99 second clock. If time runs out, whoever has more health wins the round.
Keyboard
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| A D | Walk back and forward |
| W | Jump (hold A or D to jump sideways) |
| S | Crouch |
| J | Light attack |
| K | Heavy attack |
| L | Block (hold; add S to block low) |
| U | Special move (or down, down-forward, forward plus an attack) |
| I | Super art (needs a full meter) |
| Esc M | Pause, and mute |
The arrow keys with Z X C V B (light, heavy, block, special, super) also work.
Controller
Any Xbox, PlayStation or Switch Pro controller works over USB or Bluetooth. Press a button to wake it.
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
| Stick or D-pad | Move. Up jumps and down crouches |
| A / Cross | Jump |
| X / Square | Light attack |
| Y / Triangle | Heavy attack |
| B / Circle | Special move |
| LB, RB / L1, R1 | Block |
| LT, RT / L2, R2 | Super art |
| Start | Pause |
Touch
On a phone or tablet, turn the device sideways. A virtual stick sits on the left for moving, jumping and crouching. Six buttons sit on the right: Light, Heavy, Block, Special, Super and Jump.
Move inputs
Every move is one button, with the stick adding crouch or jump. The same buttons do a different move for each fighter.
| Slot | Keys | Sora Vey | Raze Kovac | Kessel-9 | Nia Kestrel | Bram Tolliver | Vesper Lune | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | J | Snap Jab | Brass Hook | Pile Jab | Quick Jab | Hook Jab | Cane Tap | Wrist Jab | Servo Jab |
| Heavy | K | Crescent Kick | Wrecking Cross | Piston Jab | Spin Heel | Cargo Swing | Long Cane | Heel Snap | Bolt Brace |
| Crouch light | S + J | Reed Sweep | Gut Shot | Ankle Clamp | Toe Flick | Boot Check | Cane Hook | Skid Sweep | Scrape Sweep |
| Crouch heavy | S + K | Undertow | Smelter Uppercut | Hydraulic Sweep | Slide Kick | Lift Hook | Trip Hook | Wren Mine | Rocket Hop |
| Jump light | W, then J | Gull Kick | Anvil Knee | Thruster Knee | Hop Kick | Steel Toe | Spin Cane | Rotor Kick | Boost Kick |
| Jump heavy | W, then K | Falling Tide | Hammer Drop | Anvil Fist | Dive Heel | Anvil Elbow | Curtain Fall | Drone Drop | Piston Stomp |
| Special | U | Riptide Palm | Blaze Rush | Visor Laser | Talon Dive | Dock Hook | Afterimage Step | Wren Shot | Wrench Toss |
| Super | I | Hundred Tides | Meteor Breaker | Overclock | Live Wire | Container Drop | Midnight Encore | Swarm Protocol | Overdrive Bolt |
See each fighter’s damage and speed on the fighters page.
Fighting basics
- Chain combos. Land a light attack, then press light, heavy or special to cancel into the next hit. A good starter is J J K U.
- High and low. Standing block stops jump-ins and mid attacks. Crouching block (S + L) stops sweeps and other low hits.
- Crouch attacks. S + J is a fast low poke. S + K knocks the opponent down for Sora, Kessel-9 and Nia, and launches with Raze’s uppercut, which beats jump-ins.
- Build meter. The meter fills as you hit and as you get hit. With a full meter, press I for a cinematic super.
- Block chip. Specials and supers do a little damage even when blocked, so do not just turtle.
Game modes
- Arcade. Five fights of rising difficulty, then a boss. Beat them all to clear the ladder.
- Versus CPU. One best-of-three against the computer. You pick the fighter and the level.
- Training. A practice room. Set the dummy, refill health and meter, and show hitboxes.
- Online. Rated quick match, or a private match with an invite code. Needs a free account.You are logged in: open the lobby.
CPU levels
Pick Easy, Normal or Hard on the character select screen in versus mode. Easy reacts slowly and misses punishes. Hard blocks, anti-airs and punishes most of the time, so mix up your attacks.