How to play
Zombies come in waves, and every round there are more of them. Hold out as long as you can, alone or with up to three friends.
Your goal
- Zombies climb in through boarded windows. Stand at a window and hold F to put the boards back.
- Every hit and kill earns points. Spend them on the chalk weapon outlines on the walls, and on doors to new rooms.
- Find the power switch. It turns on the drink machines and the Aether Forge, which upgrades your weapon.
- From level 3 you carry equipment: grenades, and later throwing knives, the Screamer lure and firebombs.
- As the rounds go on, special zombies and glowing elites join the horde. Some rounds change the rules, and pay out if you live through them.
- Every open doorway has a shock trap: hold F in it to fry whatever comes through. Stay out of it yourself.
- Survive as many rounds as you can. Each map has a boss, a workbench to build at, and secrets to find.
Drinks
Once the power is on, the drink machines sell you an edge for the rest of your life.
- Ironhide Stout
- More health: from 150 to 250.
- Quickdraw Fizz
- Reload twice as fast.
- Overclock Cola
- Double the rate of fire.
- Lazarus Tonic
- Get yourself back up when you go down.
- Stride Soda
- Sprint longer, reload on the run, move faster.
- Deadeye Draught
- Harder-hitting headshots and tighter hip-fire.
Keyboard and mouse
- WASD
- Move
- Mouse
- Look. Left button fires, right button aims down sights.
- Shift
- Sprint
- Space
- Jump
- C Z
- Crouch (slide while sprinting), go prone
- R
- Reload
- F
- Use, buy, open. Hold to rebuild boards or revive a teammate.
- V 3
- Quick melee, melee weapon
- G
- Throw equipment (hold to cook a grenade)
- E
- Use your ability, once it's charged
- 1 2
- Switch weapon
- Q
- Ping a spot for your team
- Tab P
- Scoreboard, pause
Every key can be changed in Settings.
Controller
- LS RS
- Move and look. Click the left stick to sprint, the right one to knife.
- RT LT
- Fire, aim down sights
- A B
- Jump, crouch (hold to go prone)
- X
- Use, buy, open. Hold to rebuild or revive.
- Y
- Next weapon
- RB LB
- Throw equipment, knife
Touch
On a phone or tablet, your left thumb moves (push past the rim to sprint) and your right thumb looks around. Fire, aim, use, reload, jump and throw are buttons on the screen.
Questions
- Is it free?
- Yes. Hordewatch is free to play in your browser, with no ads and nothing to buy.
- Do I need to download anything?
- No. It runs in any modern browser on a computer, and on phones and tablets with touch controls. You can add it to your home screen to play full screen.
- Can I play with friends?
- Yes. Play online lets you host a game or join one, with up to 4 players. Add friends in the game to invite them straight into your lobby.
- Do I need an account?
- Not to play solo: your progress is kept in your browser. Sign in with Google to play online, add friends and keep your progress safe on every device.
- What age is it for?
- It is a zombie shooter with fantasy violence and blood, so we recommend it for players aged 12 and up.
- Can I use a controller?
- Yes. Plug in or connect a gamepad and it works in play and in the menus. Keys can be rebound in Settings.