Field manual

How to play
Skyscrap

Everything you need for your first match, and a few things that win the tenth.

The basics

Matches are free-for-all. The first fighter to 25 kills wins, or whoever has the most when 5 minutes run out. You play against up to eleven bots, and match setup lets you pick the arena, how many bots, how hard they are, the kills to win and the time limit.

You have 100 health. When you go down you respawn after 3 seconds, with 1.5 seconds of spawn protection. Everyone starts with the Viper P9 pistol and can carry one more gun.

A match in Kilima Outpost. Top left: health and fuel bars. Top centre: the timer, your place and the leader. Bottom right: the current weapon, ammo and grenades.

The HUD: health and fuel top left, the clock and standings at the top, your gun, ammo and grenades bottom right.

Controls

These are the defaults. Every keyboard and mouse control can be rebound in Settings → Controls, which also sets the size of the touch controls and a left-handed touch layout.

Action	Keyboard and mouse	Touch	Gamepad
Move	`A`or`D`	Left stick	Left stick
Rocket boots	`W`or`Space`	Left stick up	A, or left stick up
Crouch	`S`or`Ctrl`	Left stick down	B
Aim	`Mouse`	Right stick	Right stick
Fire	`Left click`	Push the right stick past the ring	RT
Grenade	`G`or`Middle click`	Grenade button	LT
Melee	`F`or`V`	Melee button	LB
Reload	`R`	Reload button	X
Switch weapon	`Q`or`Right click`	Switch button	RB
Pick up weapon	`E`	Hand button	D-pad up
Zoom	`Z`or`Mouse wheel`	Zoom button	Y
Scoreboard	`Tab`	Scores button	Back
Pause	`Esc`or`P`	Pause button	Start

Rocket boots

Hold W or Space (or push the left stick up) to fly. A full tank gives you about 2.9 seconds of continuous thrust. It refuels 4 times faster when you’re standing on something than when you’re in the air, so short hops and quick landings keep you flying longest.

Flying and running spread your shots; crouching tightens them. Rockets and shotgun blasts push you around, so a Thumper shot at your feet doubles as a very fast, very painful jump.

Weapons

Six guns, all equal for everyone. Damage is per shot (the Breacher fires eight pellets); range drops off with distance for most guns.

Weapon	Damage	Shots/s	Magazine	Spare	Reload	Headshot
Viper P9Sidearm	20	4.3	12	Unlimited	1.1 s	1.5×
Hornet SMGClose quarters	11	12.0	32	96	1.5 s	1.3×
Ranger ARAll-rounder	17	8.6	30	90	1.8 s	1.4×
BreacherPoint blank	9 × 8	1.2	6	24	2.2 s	—
LongbowMarksman	80	1.0	5	15	2.5 s	1.6×
ThumperExplosive	110 splash	1.1	2	4	2.6 s	—

Frag grenade

115 damage in a wide blast after a 2.4-second fuse. They bounce, and you can carry 3.

Melee

34 damage, instant, with a hard knockback. Ready again after 0.5 seconds.

Pickups and props

Weapon crates
Sit at fixed spots and roll a random gun. Once taken, they come back with a new one 15 seconds later.
Dropped guns
Fallen fighters drop what they were holding. Stand on it and press pick up. It disappears after 20 seconds.
Health packs
+50 health. Back 20 seconds after someone grabs one.
Grenade packs
+2 grenades. Back 20 seconds after someone grabs one.
Exploding barrels
Shoot one to blow up everyone nearby, you included. They return after 30 seconds.
Crates
Wooden cover that breaks under fire and rebuilds itself 25 seconds later.

Bot difficulty

Bots only see what fits on a screen and hear gunfire, explosions and nearby boots instead of knowing where everyone is. They never shoot at a player with spawn protection, and only a few will fight you at once.

Recruit
Default
Slow to react and often miss. Recommended for your first matches.
Reaction:
About half a second
Aim:
Near-miss warning shots first, then loose. Never shoots while flying.
Easy
Hesitant aim and few grenades. A relaxed match.
Reaction:
About 0.3 s
Aim:
Warning shots, then decent aim; wild while flying.
Normal
Quick, accurate bots that dodge. A fair fight.
Reaction:
About 0.3 s
Aim:
A short warning, then good aim.
Hard
Snap aim, steady grenades and constant strafing.
Reaction:
About 0.3 s
Aim:
A brief warning, then sharp aim.

Kill streaks

Chain kills without dying and the game calls it out.

3
Liftoff
5
High flyer
7
Sky terror
10
Untouchable

Tips

Health comes back after 5 seconds out of the fight.
Rocket boots refuel four times faster on the ground.
Crouch to tighten your aim; running and flying spread your shots.
The Longbow is wild on the move. Stop or crouch to snipe.
Your own rockets do half damage to you, and throw you a long way.
Exploding barrels hit everyone nearby, including you.
Weapon crates roll a new gun every time they come back.
Fallen players drop their gun: stand on it and hit pick up to swap.
Melee is instant and knocks enemies back.
Headshots hit harder: up to 1.6× with the Longbow.

Settings and accessibility

Rebind every keyboard and mouse control
Touch controls from 80% to 130% size, plus a left-handed layout
Aim assist for touch and gamepad, on or off
Crosshair style, colour and size
Interface size from 85% to 130%
Colour-blind-friendly cues (blue and orange instead of green and red)
Reduced flashing for muzzle, explosion and hit effects
Damage numbers on or off
Separate volume for music, effects and menus
Gamepad support, menus included

Graphics quality switches between Low and High automatically; you can also set it yourself. Press F3 to show the frame-rate overlay.

iPhone and Android

Hold your phone in landscape. The game asks you to rotate if you don’t.
On iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, and open Skyscrap from your Home Screen for full screen.
On Android, use the full-screen button in the menu.
No sound on iPhone? Check the silent switch: it mutes browser games.