Hard Crash: Zombie Rush

Mission briefing

The city has fallen to the undead, and only your squad can fight across the bridges to the last safe zone. Lead a crowd of soldiers forward and choose your gates wisely: blue gates add soldiers and multiply your squad, red gates take them away, golden gates call in air strikes, chain lightning, freezing blasts and paratroopers. Shoot targets to upgrade weapons from rifles to plasma, smash barrels for reinforcements and free special heroes from their capsules: Titan with rockets, Storm with a minigun and more. Between battles, build up your base: the farm, factory, barracks, HQ and arsenal work even while you are offline. Train riflemen, machine gunners, grenadiers, snipers, medics, flamers and shieldbearers. Level up heroes, gear them with loot from chests and upgrade your combat drone. 10 city districts with bosses, time races, a collapsing bridge, base defense against raids, a daily challenge with its own leaderboard, a battle pass, achievements and seasonal events.

Field manual

Swipe or drag left and right (arrow keys or A/D on a computer) to steer your squad. Soldiers shoot automatically. Go through blue gates: "+" adds soldiers, "×" multiplies your squad. Red gates take soldiers away, so steer around them. Golden gates grant one-time bonuses: air strike, chain lightning, freeze, shield and more. Shoot barrels for reinforcements, coins and hero energy. Targets with an arrow upgrade your weapons. When a hero's ring is full, tap their portrait to use a skill. Winning a stage gives resources. At the base, tap buildings to upgrade them and collect income from the farm, factory and HQ. The barracks trains new soldiers, and the Squad screen lets you pick heroes and your lineup.

Launch orders: press Launch mission above and the game loads on this page itself — nothing downloads and no form stands between you and the first move. It is designed for a flexible screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for action operations

• First run is reconnaissance. Spend it learning where the danger actually spawns from instead of chasing a score — most action games announce their patterns honestly in the opening minute, then repeat them with worse manners.
• Movement is a defensive stat. A moving target at half health outlives a stationary one at full health in nearly every game on this board, so keep relocating between shots, strikes and reloads.
• Learn the exit before the entrance closes. In arena and chase games alike, the players who survive longest are the ones who noticed the second doorway while everyone else was watching the first.

Hard Crash: Zombie Rush — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Hard Crash: Zombie Rush?

Nothing at all. The mission is free from the first order to the last — no sign-up, no download, no paid tier guarding the good levels. The advertising around this page is what keeps the board free.

What sort of mission is Hard Crash: Zombie Rush?

Hard Crash: Zombie Rush is filed in our Action theatre. Like every operation on this board, it is a browser game — read the briefing above for the publisher's own account of what you are deploying into.

Can I run Hard Crash: Zombie Rush on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It adapts to both upright and wide screens, so phones, tablets and desktops all frame it sensibly.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Hard Crash: Zombie Rush is an HTML5 game: press the launch button and it loads on this page, and closing the tab leaves nothing behind.

After-action

Mission complete, or still pinned down? The full Action theatre is one click away — The main hall of the board: 469 operations where something is always moving, exploding, escaping or being chased. If a game has a pulse and a problem, it is probably filed here.