Rustlings online

Mission briefing

Rustlings online brings survival gameplay to your browser, without a steep learning curve. Land on an island, gather resources, and build your own base - from simple wood walls to fortified metal strongholds. Craft tools, weapons, and gear to survive on your own or with a crew. Team up with up to 3 players, defend your territory from other players and hostile creatures, trade, and grow stronger. Day turns to night, and danger rises with the dark - stay alert. Rustlings online delivers the thrill of surviving and building without spending dozens of hours mastering complex systems - just open your browser and play, no install needed.

Field manual

PC controls: WASD to move, mouse to look, LMB for an item's primary action, RMB for its secondary action (e.g. aiming), E to interact, Tab for inventory, R to reload, V for push-to-talk voice chat, Enter to open text chat. Mobile controls: virtual joystick to move, swipe to look around, on-screen buttons for attack, secondary action, interact, crouch and map marker; bottom icons toggle voice chat and open text chat. 1. Gather basic resources - wood and stone - by hitting trees and rocks with a tool. 2. Open the crafting menu (Tab) and craft your first tools and walls for shelter. 3. Build your base: use the snap-point system to place walls, floors, and roofs. 4. Upgrade building materials from wood to stone and metal for better protection. 5. Watch your health and gear, and fight off other players and island threats. 6. Team up with friends - form a squad of up to 3 players to defend together.

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 landscape (wide) screen and takes its orders from mouse, keyboard or touch, depending on the mission. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on. If it offers a fullscreen control, use it — a fight this size deserves the whole screen.

Field notes for multiplayer operations

• The first match against strangers is tuition. You are not there to win it; you are there to learn the map, the pacing and what the regulars do that the tutorial never mentioned.
• Ping and position beat raw aim. A stable connection and a sensible place to stand will win you more rounds than any sensitivity setting ever published.
• Rematch the player who beat you cleanly. Queues are random, but lessons are not — the opponent who outplayed you is a free coach for exactly the skill you are missing.

Rustlings online — questions from the ranks

What does it cost to play Rustlings online?

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 Rustlings online?

Rustlings online is filed in our Multiplayer 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 Rustlings online on a phone or tablet?

Yes. It plays in the browser on phones and tablets exactly as it does on a computer. It is built wide, for a landscape screen — rotate a phone sideways, or give it a tablet or monitor to stretch out on.

Do I have to install anything before playing?

No installation of any kind. Rustlings online 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 Multiplayer theatre is one click away — Other people are the content. One hundred and thirty-six operations where the opposition has a pulse, a username and no intention of letting you win politely.