Is ARCBREAKER free, and is there anything to install?

It is free and there is nothing to install. The whole game is this web page: it runs on WebGL 2 in the browser, needs no account and asks for no payment. Your settings and your best runs are kept by your own browser and never leave the device.

Why does it take a moment before I can run?

The street is a real 3D city: its buildings, the runner, the creatures and the sounds come to around a hundred megabytes. The title screen is up at once and the game loads behind it while you read the tabs; the button fills as it does. The second visit is quick, because your browser keeps what it downloaded.

Does it run on a phone or a tablet?

Yes. On a touch screen you swipe to change lane, leap and hop, tap to fire, and use on-screen buttons for the flips and the spells. Hold the phone sideways for the widest view of the street. A phone starts on the lowest picture setting; if the frame rate is uneven, lower the resolution in Setup.

Can I play with a controller?

Not yet. ARCBREAKER plays with a keyboard and mouse, or on a touch screen.

How do I break the haulers?

Aim at a hauler with a red diamond over it and fire. The ARC locks on to anything within its range, which grows from 40 m at the first tier to 55 m at the last. Run through the crystals a hauler spills to charge the ARC to its next tier.

Is there a leaderboard?

Each mode keeps its ten best runs in your browser, under a callsign you choose once. There is no online board yet.

Can I turn the music or the sound down?

Yes. Setup has a Sound section with levels for the music, the effects and the street’s ambience, and M mutes everything at once.

ARCBREAKER is a free 3D endless runner you play in your browser

The Syndicate cut the Eastline off from its own power and left its haulers standing in the street, loaded with the district’s crystals. You are Rook. Run the street, break the haulers with the ARC, and keep ahead of what the Syndicate left to guard them. Nothing to install and no account.

How a run works

You run three lanes of an abandoned city at 17 metres a second. Stalled cars block the lanes: change lane round them, or leap and flip over them — a vault is worth 100 points. Haulers carry a red diamond. Aim, fire, and each one you break spills crystals across the road; run through them to charge the ARC.

The ARC runs hot. Its pack warms with every shot and every blast you stand too close to, and at full heat it vents: two seconds with no weapon. Every 30 seconds WARDEN sweeps the street and marks lanes in red; be out of them when the count ends.

The ARC’s five tiers

Crystals climb the ARC through five tiers. Each fires faster, reaches further and hits harder than the last.

Tier	Crystals	Fires every	Damage	Range	Arcs on to
I · SPARK	0	0.28 s	1	40 m	—
II · ARC	12	0.22 s	1	43 m	1 more
III · STORM	30	0.18 s	1.5	46 m	1 more
IV · TEMPEST	55	0.16 s	2	50 m	2 more
V · SINGULARITY	85	0.12 s	3	55 m	3 more

SINGULARITY is a peak rather than a level: for a few seconds the ARC fires at everything in sight, then settles back. Up close it bites harder — anything within 20 metres takes 1.8× a bolt.

Three modes

Mode	Length	What it is
Open Line	Endless	The run goes on until your armour gives out. WARDEN sweeps the street every 30 seconds, and the creatures come thicker the further you get.
Thirty	30 seconds	A score attack: break as much as you can before one scan runs out. Short, sharp, and the best way to learn the ARC.
Brutes	Endless, no scan	WARDEN is busy elsewhere and the street belongs to the creatures: brutes, packs of hounds and stalkers, in every lane.

What hunts you

Three kinds of creature guard the street, and each is beaten a different way.

Creature	What it does	How to beat it	Bolts to break	Armour it takes
Hound	Packs of two to four. They wait low in the road, then charge and pounce.	Leap or flip over the pounce: a move already under way carries you clear, and a vault scores.	2	20
Stalker	Tall, on the pavement. It throws scrap metal at where you will be and marks the spot with a red ring.	Be out of the ring when it lands, or be in the air.	5	20
Brute	Rises out of the road, walks at you and slams its fists down on a marked strip of the lane.	Change lane off the strip, or break it first: up close the ARC bites harder.	9	30

Spells

Relay orbs hang over the road. Run through one and it hands you a spell; you hold two at a time and cast them with Q and E.

CHAIN SURGE — every hit arcs on to two more (10 s).
OVERCLOCK — fire twice as fast (8 s).
MAGNET FIELD — crystals come to you (12 s).
SHOCKWAVE — every hauler close by goes up .
FOCUS — the street slows, your aim does not (3.5 s).
ION STORM — lightning finds the haulers (6 s).
AEGIS — the next hit is swallowed whole .
PHASE DASH — run straight through the traffic (4 s).

Controls

Action	Keyboard and mouse
Change lane	`A / D or ← / →`
Leap	`Space`
Flip	`W or ↑`
Stunt flip	`Shift`
Hop	`S or ↓`
Aim and fire the ARC	`Mouse, click`
Cast a spell	`Q / E`
Pause	`Esc or P`
Full screen	`F`
Mute	`M`

Action	Touch screen
Change lane	Swipe left or right
Leap	Swipe up
Hop	Swipe down
Fire	Tap a target, or anywhere for the nearest one; or the fire button
Flip and stunt flip	The two buttons beside the fire button
Cast a spell	Tap its slot

A mouse aims better with a known sensitivity. The DPI analyzer shows what your mouse really delivers, and the keyboard tester checks that your keyboard registers a lane change and a leap at the same time.

If the frame rate is uneven

Open Setup and move Quality down first, then Resolution: they change more than anything else. Shadows and occlusion come next. The game already draws the street at a lower resolution when the graphics card falls behind and sharpens it back up, so a steady frame rate usually needs only one step down.

Questions

Is ARCBREAKER free, and is there anything to install?: It is free and there is nothing to install. The whole game is this web page: it runs on WebGL 2 in the browser, needs no account and asks for no payment. Your settings and your best runs are kept by your own browser and never leave the device.
Why does it take a moment before I can run?: The street is a real 3D city: its buildings, the runner, the creatures and the sounds come to around a hundred megabytes. The title screen is up at once and the game loads behind it while you read the tabs; the button fills as it does. The second visit is quick, because your browser keeps what it downloaded.
Does it run on a phone or a tablet?: Yes. On a touch screen you swipe to change lane, leap and hop, tap to fire, and use on-screen buttons for the flips and the spells. Hold the phone sideways for the widest view of the street. A phone starts on the lowest picture setting; if the frame rate is uneven, lower the resolution in Setup.
Can I play with a controller?: Not yet. ARCBREAKER plays with a keyboard and mouse, or on a touch screen.
How do I break the haulers?: Aim at a hauler with a red diamond over it and fire. The ARC locks on to anything within its range, which grows from 40 m at the first tier to 55 m at the last. Run through the crystals a hauler spills to charge the ARC to its next tier.
Is there a leaderboard?: Each mode keeps its ten best runs in your browser, under a callsign you choose once. There is no online board yet.
Can I turn the music or the sound down?: Yes. Setup has a Sound section with levels for the music, the effects and the street’s ambience, and M mutes everything at once.

If you run into any problem with this game, please email hello@keymap.io.