A co-op arena shooter where the ground is the real opponent. Every cell of the world is simulated: sand pours, water floods, oil creeps and catches, fire runs through grass and treelines, lava cools back into stone, and gold oozes out of a broken seam like something half-molten. Nothing here is scenery. You can dig through it, blow it apart, flood it or set it alight, and so can the waves coming at you.
Mine gold to unlock weapons and earn upgrades, then hold out against walkers, gunners, flamers, prone assault troopers and wall-crawling robots, with a gunship or a juggernaut every fifth wave. Sandstorms, earthquakes and volcanoes rearrange the map mid-fight.
Best with other people: everyone shares one world, so a crater you dig is a crater they fall into, and a fire you start is one they have to outrun. Dying puts you on the sidelines for 8 seconds while the fight carries on without you. If everyone is down at once, the run restarts on a fresh map.
How to play SandStorm
GOAL — Survive the waves and mine gold. Gold unlocks new weapons and buys random upgrades; your kill count is what reaches the leaderboard.
MOVE — A/D or arrow keys. W or Space to jump, press again in mid-air to double-jump. S, C or Ctrl to crouch: half height, half speed, and the only way through a blockhouse doorway. W/S climbs ladders.
FIGHT — Aim with the mouse; the camera leans the way you point. Left click fires, right click or R places the selected material, scroll changes brush size. Q and E cycle through unlocked weapons.
MATERIALS — 1 sand, 2 stone, 3 water, 4 erase, 5 poison fog, 6 TNT, 7 concrete pillar, 8 ladder, 9 dirt, 0 wood, - grass, = fire, comma fungus, period lava, slash oil.
DEATH — On your own you get three lives and the run ends. In a room with other players there are no lives: you go down for 8 seconds and come back. If every player is down at the same moment, the run restarts.
WATCH OUT — Your own explosives and fires hurt you. Oil reservoirs sit buried in the rock, and any blast that reaches one lights the whole seam. Nights are genuinely dark; your flashlight comes on at dusk and points wherever you aim.
Press H in game for the full controls and a bestiary of what is coming for you, and O for settings.
