Beginner guide

How to Play

Hero Havoc is a wave-survival arcade game. You control one hero in a closed arena, monsters spawn in waves, and you survive as long as you can while getting stronger every level. Here is exactly how the controls and systems work.

Keyboard and mouse controls

W A S D or arrow keysMove your hero around the arena.

MouseAim. Your hero always faces the cursor.

Left click (hold)Fire your hero's basic attack, or the weapon you are carrying.

Space or right clickUse your hero's special. It costs energy and has a cooldown.

EPick up a dropped weapon crate you are standing on.

Esc or the pause buttonPause the run and open options.

Touch controls on phones and tablets

Drag anywhere on the leftMove your hero. There is no fixed stick to hunt for.

Auto fireYour basic attack fires on its own at the nearest target while enemies are in range.

Special buttonTap the labelled button — it shows your hero's real special name and fills as energy charges.

Walk over a crateWeapons are picked up automatically on touch devices.

Pause buttonTop corner, kept clear of the movement and special zones.

Aiming has three settings in Settings: Manual aims exactly where you point, Assisted nudges your shots toward nearby enemies, and Auto tracks the closest target for you. In landscape on a phone you can tap the fullscreen prompt to fill the whole screen.

The objective

Clear waves. Each wave spawns a set of monsters. Clear them all and the next wave starts, stronger than the last.
A boss every fifth wave. Waves 5, 10, 15 and 20 send a boss-tier villain with a warning banner, a big health bar and guaranteed drops.
Survive to wave 20 to win the run — or keep pushing your best wave record on higher difficulties.
Losing all health ends the run, but every coin you collected is banked and kept.

Levelling up during a run

Defeated monsters drop XP. Fill the XP bar and the run pauses to offer three random upgrade cards — you pick one. Upgrades stack for the rest of that run only, so every run builds a slightly different hero.

Hero Vitality
+20 max health (and heal 20).
Quick Boots
+10% movement speed.
Power Fists
+15% basic attack damage.
Focus Core
-10% special cooldown.
Split Shot
+1 projectile per basic attack.
Hero Magnet
+20% pickup radius.

Weapons you find mid-run

Weapon crates drop as you fight. A weapon replaces your basic attack until its ammo runs out, then your hero's own attack returns. Full details on the weapons and upgrades guide.

Laser Rifle

Fast piercing laser bolts.

60 shots · 16 damage

Energy Sword

Huge close-range glowing slashes.

40 shots · 45 damage

Freeze Ray

Chilly shots that slow monsters down.

50 shots · 12 damage

Rocket Launcher

Cartoon boom rockets with splash damage.

18 shots · 60 damage

Coins and permanent progression

Coins are the only thing that carries between runs. Spend them in the Hero Lab on permanent boosts, or on unlocking new heroes. Boosts apply to every hero, on every difficulty, from the very first wave.

Tough Suit
+15 starting health per level.
120 coins · max level 5
Rocket Boots
+4% move speed per level.
140 coins · max level 5
Power Core
+6% attack damage per level.
160 coins · max level 5
Coin Magnet
+20% pickup radius per level.
100 coins · max level 3
Second Wind
Get back up once per run at half health.
600 coins · max level 1
Starter Kit
Begin every run holding a Laser Rifle.
350 coins · max level 1

Difficulty

Rookie

Gentle start for new heroes.

Enemy health ×0.8 · damage ×0.75 · rewards ×1

Hero

The classic city-saving challenge.

Enemy health ×1 · damage ×1 · rewards ×1

Legend

More villains, bigger rewards.

Enemy health ×1.3 · damage ×1.25 · rewards ×1.35

Nightmare

Bosses go wild. Rare loot flows.

Enemy health ×1.6 · damage ×1.5 · rewards ×1.7

Try it now