Help & Troubleshooting

Ctrl+W Closes the Tab

On Windows and Linux the browser owns Ctrl + W (close tab) in windowed play: Firefox closes the tab even when the page handles the key, and Chrome never delivers the key to the page at all. macOS browsers close tabs with Cmd + W instead, so Ctrl+W reaches the page there — but the browser defaults stay the same on every platform, binding player 1's attack to Z instead of the desktop's Left Ctrl. Player 1's abilities stay on 1 2 3, with Left Shift held for the second row. Only Ctrl is beyond reach: Alt can still be bound with REMAP, because the game page suppresses Firefox's Alt menu-bar shortcut while still passing the key to the game.

If player 1 switches to 8-direction movement, Z becomes a diagonal movement key, so attack moves to S in the middle of the movement keys and yell moves to Tab. Look-up starts unbound there — assign it with REMAP on player 1's player screen (Base Camp, the P1 card) if you want it.

With two or more players on one keyboard, one player holding a key like Ctrl or Alt while another presses a letter makes a chord: player 2 holding Ctrl while player 1 walks up is Ctrl + W. So in the browser no default key is a Ctrl key: player 2's look-up is Delete, not the desktop's Right Ctrl. A Mac laptop has no Delete key of its own (its "delete" key is Backspace, which pauses the game), so there player 2 presses fn + delete. If you played before this change, a look-up still on Right Ctrl moves to Delete by itself; if you had already given it another key, that key stays.

One Alt key is still a default: player 4's Shifter in 8-direction movement is Left Alt. The game page keeps Alt from opening the browser menus, but some Alt chords belong to the desktop and never reach the page: with player 4 in 8-direction, Alt + Tab (player 1's 8-direction yell), Alt + Space (player 3's attack), Alt + ` (player 1's switch), Alt with the F5–F8 cheat keys, and Shift + Alt (the Windows keyboard-layout switch). If one of them gets in the way, give player 4's Shifter another key with REMAP. Alt + digit (player 4 holding Alt while player 1 uses an ability) is a tab switch in some browsers; the game page asks the browser not to, and the game's browser tests check that it does.

The desktop game

The desktop game keeps its own defaults (player 1 attacks with Left Ctrl, player 2 looks up with Right Ctrl): Ctrl + a letter is not a desktop shortcut. Instead, while a mission runs with two or more players on the keyboard, the game holds the keyboard, so chords like Alt + Tab stay in the game (all but Ctrl + Alt + Del). Esc opens the PAUSED menu and lets go of the keyboard: Alt+Tab works again there, and RESUME takes the keyboard back. One player alone, or one keyboard player with gamepads, never has the keyboard held. On a Linux desktop running GNOME on Wayland, the first two-player mission shows a one-time question asking whether OpenGlad may inhibit the desktop's shortcuts; allow it for the behaviour above. On macOS the keyboard cannot be held, so the Control + arrow shortcuts below still apply.

Warning: If you rebind attack to Ctrl with REMAP, attacking while walking up (Ctrl + W) will close the game tab. On Linux, Ctrl + Q can quit Firefox entirely. Your progress is saved automatically, but the game will still vanish mid-fight — keep attack off Ctrl in the browser.

macOS: Arrow Keys Not Working?

If pressing arrow keys triggers macOS system actions (like Mission Control or switching between Spaces) instead of controlling the game, you'll need to disable some system keyboard shortcuts.

1. Disable Mission Control Shortcuts

System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Mission Control

Uncheck (disable) all arrow-based shortcuts:

Control + ← Move left a space
Control + → Move right a space
Control + ↑ Mission Control
Control + ↓ Application windows
Any "Switch to Desktop N" entries

2. Disable Accessibility Keyboard Navigation

System Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard

Set the following option:

Full Keyboard Access = OFF

This prevents arrow keys from being used for system-wide UI navigation.

3. Check for Custom App Shortcuts

System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts

Look for and remove any custom shortcuts that use:

⌃ Control + Arrow keys
⌥ Option + Arrow keys
⌘ Command + Arrow keys

Note: These are system-wide settings. After changing them, your arrow keys will no longer trigger Mission Control or Spaces switching in any application. You can re-enable them after playing if needed.

Game Controls

The default keys in the browser, for up to four players on one keyboard (4-direction movement):

	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
Move	W A S D	Arrows	I J K L	T F G H
Attack	Z	Right Shift	Space	V
Abilities	1 2 3	[ ] \	8 9 0	4 5 6
Shifter	Left Shift	/	M	B
Yell	E	Enter	O	Y
Look up (hold)	Q	Delete (Mac laptop: fn + delete)	U	R
Switch character	`	'	-	N

Each ability key casts the ability on it; hold Shifter for a second row of three. TRAIN → ABILITIES in Base Camp chooses which ability sits on which key. To go back to the old way (one special key that casts, the next key changes the special, Shifter for the alternate), turn off Game Settings → UI FX → New Ability Select. Change any key with REMAP on a player's screen (Base Camp, the player's P# card). Esc (or Backspace) pauses and goes back.

For everything else, press Help from the in-game main menu, or press F1 during gameplay.

← Back to Game