The default models broke out of the scene editor.

Hold the grey-box arena, merge commits between waves, and survive whatever the patch notes do next.

A fast top-down wave survival shooter about the worst day in game development. Every run rolls a new build: arena, release channel, starting weapon, patch-note sequence and boss order. Reroll until you like it, then hit Compile & run.

New: the Anti-Cheat. A new enemy from wave 7 hides behind a riot shield: shots into its front get flagged, so go round it, bait its bash or blow it up. Also live: four roles and mid-wave events, experimental co-op for two, and the Spooky Season until November 12.

🎲 Every run is a new build

The daily build. One build for everyone each day (same map, channel, weapon, role and patch notes), with its own leaderboard.
5 release channels. Stable, Nightly (two patch notes a wave), Debug (hitboxes on, +20% damage), Experimental (a free rare commit, tougher enemies) and Sandbox (the Physics Gun in hand, props raining from the sky).
9 arenas. Four dev grids, plus gm_flatgrass, gm_construct, gm_bigcity, gm_backrooms and gm_fork. gm_graveyard joins them in the Spooky Season.

🧟 The horde

12 kinds of broken content. Hotload Clones split in two, ERRORs burst into their own letters, the QA Dummy patches wounded enemies back up (works on my machine), and Zombie Processes rise again as ghosts unless you finish them off: kill -9. The Anti-Cheat flags every shot you put into its riot shield.
It never gets easier. Enemies get tougher every wave, hit harder from wave 5 and turn up as elites from wave 6.

👑 Three bosses, three phases each

THE REWRITE rewrites itself twice, SOON™ slips from "soon" to "TBA", and SCOPE CREEP keeps growing for as long as you let it live.

🔫 9 weapons, 0 balance passes

Every weapon card levels your gun up: +10% damage, and you keep the level when you switch. From v2 each gun's signature perk switches on, and at v4 it doubles: crits for the Placeholder Pistol, ricochets for the Hotload SMG, extra pellets for the Breaking-Change Shotgun, bomblets for the Unoptimized Launcher, chain arcs for the Deprecated Laser… and the Crowbar is just a crowbar, with a longer handle.

🧩 Merge commits, survive the patch notes

27 commits to merge as you level up: Multishot.dll, Garbage collector, Hotload arc, Orbiting floppies, Turret prefab, Ctrl+Z… Some are unlocked through your career, and the Unlabeled commit is trick or treat.
27 patch notes rewrite the rules every wave: bouncy bullets, Big Head Mode, sv_gravity 200, models that failed to load, hotload on save, a bot joins your server…
Every 13th wave the power goes out. Your aim is the only light, and something in a bedsheet is coming.

🎭 Pick a role

Programmer. The game as it always was, with the build's weapon. V Ship it: six seconds of faster fire and faster feet.
Artist. The Airbrush leaves wet paint that slows enemies, and your hits on painted ones do +30%. V Paint bucket: a big pool of paint that burns.
QA. Placeholder Pistol v2, and every hit files a bug report: reported enemies take +20% damage and drop an extra key. V Regression test: report and stun everything nearby.
Designer. Four cards on every commit offer. V Cut feature: cut the wave's worst patch note, once a wave.

The Programmer is there from your first run. The Artist, QA and the Designer unlock at career ranks 2, 3 and 4.

🚨 Mid-wave events

From wave 3, an objective can turn up while the horde keeps coming:

Build server under load. Keep the rack alive while enemies lay siege to it. Win a free commit, or ERRORs ship.
Hotfix needed. Carry the floppy to the deploy terminal with the horde on your heels. Win, and the bad patch notes roll back and everyone heals.
Critical bug. Squash it before it gets away for a bounty of keys. Let it go and it multiplies.
Merge request. Hold the review zone; enemies in it are merge conflicts. Win: +1 weapon level for everyone in it.

📈 A career that carries over

Every run's score is career XP, doubled on your first build of the day and +50% on the daily build. Climb 15 ranks from Intern to Retired, each one unlocking something:

The Artist, QA and Designer roles
git rebase to reroll a commit offer, git revert to drop a commit for the rest of the run
Pick your stack: choose your starting weapon
Crunch mode I to III: tougher enemies for up to ×2.2 score
Four new commits, including a rubber duck that explains enemies to death
Dress codes, all the way up to the golden playtester

🤝 Co-op for two (experimental)

Host a build for friends or in public from the title's CO-OP screen, or join one from the list. Picking 2 players on the s&box setup page hosts one right away.
One shared build: you take turns picking commits, and a downed partner can be revived.
Achievements and career XP count for both of you. Co-op runs stay off the leaderboards.

🎃 The Spooky Season

Every year from October 10 to November 12:

The horde dresses up in 14 costumes, from a pumpkin-headed Placeholder to SOON™ as a bat, and you get a skeleton onesie.
gm_graveyard, jack-o'-lanterns on every map, and a title track of its own: Graveyard Shift.
SCOPE CREEP is always the first boss.

🛠️ Everything is a prop

Spawn props, grab and fling them with the Physics Gun, tie balloons to your problems with the Tool Gun, and set off .EXE barrels.
The developer console (F1): sv_cheats 1, god, noclip, give, ent_create, bot_add… Cheated runs don't count.

🏆 Achievements and leaderboards

22 achievements, synced with your s&box account.
Leaderboards for high score, most kills and best wave (all time and this week), and the daily build's own board (today and yesterday).

🎮 Controls

Play: WASD move · mouse aim · hold LMB fire · Space / Shift / RMB dash · V role ability · Q E rotate the camera
Commits: 1 2 3 (4) pick · R reroll · Shift + number revert
Sandbox: G spawn a prop · Z undo · R / wheel switch tool · F freeze
Game: Esc / P pause · M mute · F1 developer console

⚙️ Good to know

Comfort options on the title and pause screens: turn down screen shake, hit freeze and slow motion, and flashes.
Every sprite, arena and sound is generated at runtime, chiptune soundtrack included.
Found a bug? It's probably a feature, but report it on the Forum tab. Enjoying the build? A thumbs-up helps other playtesters find it.
Fonts: Jersey 10 and Pixelify Sans (SIL Open Font License).