Game modes
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag
Mad Orbs has three modes. On the start screen, choose one on the Multiplayer card and click PLAY NOW: each mode has its own online match, and everyone who picks the same mode plays together, up to 16 Orbs per match. The card shows how many people are playing each one. While few people play, bots fill the match up to 6 Orbs and leave as people arrive. All three modes can also be played in offline training, against bots, on any map.
Whoever goes down respawns after a few seconds, with the weapon chosen in the menu (Esc). Each map ends when someone reaches the score limit or when time runs out, after 15 minutes; then the final scoreboard shows and the match moves on to the next map in the rotation.
Want to play alone? Try the Waves mode (Survival on the start screen) and see how far you can go: endless waves of bots, with power-ups, bosses and permanent upgrades in the Workshop.
Deathmatch
Free for all. Each kill is worth a point, and the first to reach 50 kills wins the map. Dying from your own blast, from a bazooka or a grenade, costs a point. It's the most direct mode: good for warming up, trying weapons and learning to control your Orb's momentum.
- Don't stand still in the middle of the map: with everyone shooting at everyone, whoever stops becomes a target.
- Whoever goes down drops a health pack, their weapon and the grenades they had left. After a fight, pick it all up.
- Keep an eye on the scoreboard in the corner (or hold Tab) to see who is close to winning.
Team Deathmatch
Blue team against red team. Each kill adds a point to your team, and the first team to reach 50 points wins the map. You can't hurt your teammates. The game picks the team of whoever joins and keeps the teams even: if one side has two more Orbs for a while, the last to join moves to the other team.
- Stick with your team: two Orbs shooting at the same target win almost any duel.
- Since teammates can't hurt each other, grenades and the bazooka are even more useful in a group fight.
- Dying from your own blast costs a point on your own score, but not your team's.
Capture the Flag
Each team has a flag at its own base. To score, touch the enemy base to take their flag and bring it to your base, with your own flag in place. The first team to make 7 captures wins the map.
- Whoever dies carrying the flag drops it where they were. Its team returns it to the base just by touching it; the other team can grab it again and keep attacking.
- Without your flag at your base, your team can't score: if both teams hold each other's flag, someone has to get yours back first.
- In this mode the scoreboard counts captures, not kills.
- On the ground, a light in each team's color shows where its flag is, and it pulses when the flag leaves the base.
- Split up: someone defends the base while the others attack. Whoever carries the flag should avoid fights, not look for them.
Maps
Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch rotate through the arena maps, from small, tight rooms to open fields for sniper fans. Capture the Flag has dozens of maps of its own, with a base on each side. Some maps have rain, snow or lava. In offline training you can pick any map and learn each one without pressure. The main ones, seen from above, are in the maps guide.
To pick the right weapon for each mode, see the weapons guide. The keys and the basics are in How to play.