Planned Release Date: Apr 30, 2026

About This Game

SANDSTRIKE is a top-down multiplayer shooter set in a post-human future where AI combat robots wage war across scorched desert wastelands. Play solo with AI teammates, team up with friends, or go all-out in free-for-all chaos.

GAME MODES

• Free-For-All — Up to 8 players. No allies. No mercy. Outsmart, outgun, outlast.

• Team Fight — 2v2 Duo or 4v4 Team. Play with friends or fill empty slots with AI bots that coordinate, flank, and fight like real squadmates.

• Zombie Horde (Co-op) — Escort an armored convoy through hostile territory while the AI Director unleashes waves of undead machines, cyborg zombies, and boss mechs. Survive together or fall apart.

All modes support solo play with AI teammates — no waiting for players required.

MULTIPLAYER & SOCIAL

• Steam P2P — No dedicated servers needed. Host or join instantly via Steam Relay.

• Party System — Create a party, invite Steam friends, ready up, and launch together.

• Quick Match — Instant matchmaking across regions. Join or create a lobby in seconds.

• Lobby Control — Set mode, team size, enable/disable bots, kick players.

• Ranked Leagues — Climb 8 tiers from Scrap Heap to God-Mode Protocol based on your combat rating.

• In-Game Chat — Text chat with speech bubbles over your robot's head.

• Emotes — Dance, breakdance, or laugh on the battlefield.

COMBAT

• 25 Weapons — Pistols, rifles, shotguns, heavy weapons, beam lasers, and experimental tech. Pick a Primary and Secondary before each match.

• Weapon Proficiency — Every weapon gains XP with use. Higher level = tighter accuracy across all matches.

• Action Points — Shooting and reloading cost AP. Manage your energy or run dry mid-firefight.

• Grenades — Cook and throw with a blast radius preview. Bounce them off walls or rain them from rooftops.

• Body Part System — 8 targetable zones: Head, Eyes, Torso, Arms, Legs, Groin. Destroy eyes to cut vision range. Break legs to cripple movement. Each part has independent HP.

• Dismemberment — Blow off limbs, watch oil leak, see bones collapse. Persistent damage stays visible on corpses.

• Status Effects — Burning, stun, contusion, system malfunction, oil leak, overheating. Stack them for devastating combos.

LOADOUT & PROGRESSION

• Gear System — Equip headgear, body armor, arm guards, leg plates, and groin protection. Each piece absorbs damage and adds bonus HP for its body zone.

• Implant System — Equip up to 6 passive implants: boost accuracy, fire rate, HP regen, AP capacity, movement speed, sandstorm resistance, and more. Over 30 unique implants across Combat, Defense, Mobility, Energy, Sensors, and Survival categories.

• Drone Shop — Call in a supply drone mid-match. Buy ammo, repair kits, grenades, AP recharge, or full body part reconstruction with Salvage earned in combat.

• Cosmetics — Customize headgear, armor sets, nickname colors, and card effects.

SMART AI

• Bot Personalities — Aggressive (close-range rushers), Cautious (mid-range tacticians), Sniper (long-range precision).

• Tactical Behavior — Bots use wall cover, flank from sides, climb buildings to reach rooftops, coordinate focus fire, throw grenades at groups, and dodge incoming fire.

• Floor Awareness — Bots understand multi-level buildings. They shoot from rooftops, take stairs when wounded, or jump off ledges to chase kills.

• AI Director (Zombie Mode) — Dynamically adjusts zombie spawn intensity through four tension phases: Lull, Build-Up, Peak, and Recovery. No two runs feel the same.

ENVIRONMENT

• Fog of War — Real-time cone-based visibility. Enemies vanish outside your sight arc. Use buildings, walls, and elevation for tactical advantage.

• Sandstorms — Reduce visibility to near-zero. Close the distance or hide — your choice.

• Multi-Level Buildings — Enter buildings, climb stairs to rooftops, fight across floors. Roofs provide height advantage for sniping.

SETTINGS & CUSTOMIZATION

• Graphics — Resolution, fullscreen modes, quality presets (Low to Ultra), anti-aliasing, texture quality, shadow quality and cascades, render scale, FSR upscaling, soft shadows, bloom, vignette, motion blur, SSAO, film grain, chromatic aberration, brightness/saturation/contrast controls, FPS target, VSync.

• Audio — Master, SFX, music, ambient volume sliders. Mute when unfocused.

• Gameplay — Camera lead, smoothing, crosshair color and size, auto-reload.

• Controls — Full keybind reference display.

EARLY ACCESS

SANDSTRIKE is in active development. Planned features:

• Operations Mode — 3-5 chained missions with persistent body damage between stages

• PvPvE — Competing squads with shared AI enemies

• Steam Workshop — Community maps and mods

• More weapons, implants, and enemy types