As shown in this official trailer, machines have already annihilated humanity and now celebrate their victory with intense parties. Somewhere, in a lost lab, a round, golden bot (cyborg?) called FAT.32 plots to strike back and end the party using the four brains stored in glass containers in his lab.
As a player, you control one of these brains, and your first task to fulfill FAT.32's plot is to break free from your container prison and instead board a metal cyborg body. After that, you're ready for the great mission, which is to fight your way through hordes of robot enemies and, in the end, to defeat their big boss, the NeuroVoider!

The settings include the sections "Graphics", "Inputs", "Sound", and "Gameplay", all neatly gathered and ordered on a single screen. The settings can only be accessed from the menu and not during a run, so be sure to set everything as you wish before playing. Also, be aware that closing and restarting the game is required to apply changes made in the "Graphics" section of the settings.

Keyboard & Mouse

By default, movement is controlled using the WASD-keys and not the arrow keys as presumed by the controls window. Aiming is done by moving the mouse and shooting/slashing by clicking M1 for the left weapon and M2 for the right weapon. The map is shown while pressing Q. 'Space' activates your self-chosen skill, while ALT activates your special, class-specific skill. 'T' is used to teleport after completing a level. 'ESC' opens the menu.

Gamepad (Xbox)

By default, movement is controlled using the left stick and aiming using the right stick on the gamepad. 'LT' triggers the left weapon and 'RT' the right weapon. The map is shown while pressing B. 'LB' activates your self-chosen skill, while 'RB' activates your special, class-specific skill. 'Y' is used to teleport after completing a level. 'Start' opens the menu.

Reconfiguration

It is possible to reconfigure keyboard and mouse mappings and resetting them to default in
'Settings' > 'Inputs' > 'Keyboard' from the main menu. These changes will be applied without having to close or restart the game.

A run is a single try at finishing or looping the game, which ends in either a win or a game over. This game has permadeath applied to all runs, which means that your character has only one life and upon its loss, your run ends in a game over and you would have to retry to win by starting a new run.

Types

You can choose to start an entirely new, regular run anytime you want. If you save and exit to the title menu during a run, your current run data will (supposedly) be saved and avaiable for resumption in the 'Resume' option. When the current run ends by a gameover or (presumably - haven't finished the game yet) a win, the run won't be avaiable for resumption any longer. Note that you also cannot save more than one run at a time. The third and last option in this window is 'Daily Run' and will be explained in further detail below.

Daily Run
A daily run consists of randomly generated pre-built levels and is always set in Rouge mode. The daily run gets replaced with a new one every 24 hours (hence the title "daily" run) and can only be played once per steam profile in that time window, so it is advised to consider "warming up" with regular runs before starting a daily run to prevent miserable results such as my 10% run shown in the list below.
The list shows your position in global rankings as well as the class and skill chosen for the run, the percentage of levels completed and the time spent playing it. 'LT' switches to the 7 global top rankings and 'RT' switches to your friend's top rankings. The left and right arrow keys and the control stick can switch through daily run lists in calendar style up to the current day. 'Y' on the gamepad and 'R' on the keyboard refresh the list.

There are three different gamemodes to choose from when starting a new regular run: Arcade, Rouge, and Voider. The choice of the gamemode affects the overall difficulty of the run: Arcade is at the lowest difficulty, Rouge represents the medium difficulty and Voider is the most difficult mode to play on. A daily run does not offer the choice of gamemode and is instead always set on Rouge.
I cannot provide any detailed information on the exact differences between the gamemodes yet, but as the levels grow in general difficulty and therefore have individual difficulties, I presume that on the Rouge mode the difficulty is set higher at the start when compared to the Arcade mode, and that the same counts for the Voider mode when compared to the Rouge mode.

References

• Arcade:
  Refers to the typical retro styled arcade game type usually played on arcade machines. As a twin-stick shooter with pixelated style, futuristic themes and a synth inspired soundtrack with vibes from the 80's, this game would fit perfectly well on an arcade machine.
  
• Rouge:
  Refers to the Rouge-lite video game genre represented by NeuroVoider. Rouge-lite is similar to the older genre Rougelike, which is originally a reference to a game of this genre named Rouge. In conclusion, this gamemode assumably also refers to the game Rouge.
  
• Voider:
  Refers to the game's title NeuroVoider.

At the start of a run, every player chooses one of the three cyborg classes Dash, Rampage, and Fortress. Each class has its individual special ability and carries a typical secondary weapon along with the classic auto gun. All bodypart items (vision, core, and transport) are appliable to only one class each and in order to use a bodypart item appliable to a different class than the one the player currently plays as requires them to switch to the other class, which is possible during runs only if the player has at least one of each bodypart item type of the class they want to switch to.

Dash

• Position:
  Supportive
  
• Special ability:
  Quickly dash toward your movement direction by a few meters. You are invulnerable while dashing. Consumes a low amount of EP for each dash.
  
• Secondary weapon:
  Cutter. A regular close-range weapon.
  
• Strategy:
  Avoid and evade with fast dashing. Dodging, as an important part of progress, becomes easier and it is possible to dash through walls of enemy projectiles wihout taking any damage, which is especially useful in most boss battles. Starting with the initial cutter, Dash's ability is fit for close-ranged surprise attacks.

Rampage

• Position:
  Offensive
  
• Special ability:
  Shoot both weapons at the same time and with a fire rate increased by 50% (excluding manual weapons) and move faster than usual when in rampage. The ability can be used continuously by holding down the assigned key. Consumes EP at a rate of both weapon's regular rates combined (not at twice their rates) and therefore much faster compared to firing a single weapon.
  
• Secondary weapon:
  Shotgun. A regular bullet-type weapon.
  
• Strategy:
  Kill enemies quicker and deal fast damage to bosses with increased firepower using rampage. Try to find balanced weapons that don't consume your EP too quickly, as this is the main problem when playing as Rampage. Weapons of the same or similar types and range, such as automatic bullet type weapons and flamethrowers, are much easier to combine with rampage than two of entirely different types, such as a beam-type weapon and a rocket launcher. Close-range weapons are absolutely not a good choice as Rampage.

Fortress

• Position:
  Defensive
  
• Special ability:
  Deactivate all other functions while creating an all-around energy shield that blocks most enemy attacks. The ability can be used continuously by holding down the assigned key. Consumes EP very slowly but also makes you unable to move or fire your weapons for as long as the shield is used.
  
• Secondary weapon:
  Rocket launcher. A regular rocket-type weapon.
  
• Strategy:
  Use your shield mainly to make up for your ability not increasing your mobility like Dash's and Rampage's do, but try not to defend yourself for too long as the horde of incoming enemies will grow over time. The shield is used best when it only repels projectiles that you couldn't dodge, which happens very frequently during boss battles. Guarding yourself grants you time to look at the map and plan your next moves.

Every player has their own stats and currency savings at their disposal. While playing on a map, the first three of them presented here - HP, EP, and crystals - are displayed in a window in individual color for each player and each placed in a certain corner of the screen, starting with the upper left corner and continuing to the right, then the lower left corner and finally the lower right.


HP
Health points, using the initials "HP", are the most important stat, as a run ends in a game over if your HP hit zero. The current and max HP of each player are shown as a health bar split into four bars of 25% of your max health each on the stats window of the HUD while playing a level and on the intermission window.
The maximum HP stat is a summary of the currently equipped core and transport item's HP stats. This value can be increased by boosting the equipped core and/or transport item or items or by replacing them with items that already have higher HP value.
After teleporting, every active player automatically gets healed by 25% of their max HP (prior to update #44, every active player could use the repair function for free once each intermission) and every passive player reclaims their cyborg bodies healed by 50% of their max HP.
HP can also be restored with health pickups, which drop more frequently from killed enemies when the HP are low, and using the 'Self.repair()' and 'Repair.all()' skills.


EP
"EP" are presumably the initials for "energy points" and are very important for the usage of weapons and class-specific abilities as an overheat occurs on a player when their EP hit zero. An overheat prevents the usage of any of the player's EP-drainers (weapons and class-specific abilities) for until their EP are recovered back to 100%.
EP storage and regeneration are dealt by core items. These values can be increased by boosting the equipped core item or by replacing it with an item that already has higher EP values.
EP can also be restored faster using the 'Go Postal', 'Energy Surge', and 'Hardcore' skills.


Crystals
Crystals are pickups dropped by (presumably) every kind of enemy, including bosses, upon their death. The higher the enemy's rank, the more crystals they will drop. Destroyed reactors also drop crystal pickups. Crystals fly toward the nearest player once they approach them from a few meters.
Crystals are needed to recharge most skills, excluding passive skills and 'Berserk'. Once the crystal-based skill is fully charged, it is ready to use and any more collected crystal cannot be stored until the skill is used, which empties the whole crystal bar at once, so it is advised not to keep a fully charged crystal-based skill for too long.


Scrap
Every player has their own scrap savings. Scrap is a currency won by scrapping items and used to forge or boost items during an intermission, which is (assumably) the only time when players can interact with their scrap savings (except for the "reboot RNG" option in a level selection window - research needed on this topic in general).
Every player starts with exactly 777 scrap, which is also the amount of scrap required for the second repair of an intermission if the player hasn't already paid for a second repair (the first repair is always for free and is applied automatically with each intermission as of update #44).
Players may scrap all of their items except for the currently equipped items but cannot reclaim any scrapped items, so it is advised to compare and equip items before scrapping them.
Based on their level of boosting, boosted items that are scrapped return more scrap than they would've returned if they weren't boosted, and it is assumed that items of higher rarity also return more scrap.

Item types
Every item has one of four different item types assigned to them as a symbol:

• Vision:
  Vision sensors increase your skill efficiency
  
  
• Core:
  Cores are your main armor and energy source
  
  
• Transport:
  Means of transport impact your speed and stability
  
  
• Gun:
  Guns fire bullets and make explosions
  Use with caution

Vision, core, and transport are the three bodypart item types.
Every player has a left gun and a right gun equipped.

Rarity
Every item has one of four different rarity indicators assigned to them as a color:

• White: Common
  
  
  
• Green: Uncommon
  
  
  
• Blue: Special
  
  
  
• Orange: Rare
  

Joining
The amount of players that can join in on a run depends on the amount of suitable keyboards and gamepads plugged into the computer and cannot get higher than four. If, for instance, a player has plugged a keyboard and a gamepad into their computer but wishes to play alone using their gamepad, they can just press 'A' on their gamepad to join as player 1 and start the run in singleplayer mode. Player 1 is shown in green color, player 2 in pink, player 3 in orange and player 4 in blue. In the example below, an Xbox gamepad (green) and a keyboard (pink) have joined a run as player 1 and player 2.
Every player that joins a run gets assigned a random name and number, which can be changed again by leaving and rejoining. 'X' on the gamepad or 'Enter' on the keyboard start the run as soon as at least one player has joined the run.


Class selection
Every player that has joined a run is required to select one of the three classes. A class may be chosen by more than one player. If need be, there might as well be four players in a run which all have chosen Rampage.
Note that while the bodyparts and secondary weapon of each class in the class selection screen are randomized (while Dash's Cutter can have a T-shaped or sword-shaped form, it is always a Cutter), every player in a run has the same randomized classes presented, so the four players that all chose Rampage will all look the same and have equal stats at the start of the run.
After selecting their class or classes, every player in a run chooses one of the 23 skills to play with. A skill that has been selected by a player cannot be selected by an other player unless the one who got it first withdraws their selection. This also applies to 'Null', the skill that is no skill at all, so only one player can play without a skill in a run.


Level selection
On a level selection screen, every player can "vote" for one of the three presented levels or alternatively for rebooting the RNG or skipping a level as long as there are enough resources to do that. Once every player has pressed 'A' on their gamepad or 'E' on their keyboard to confirm their selection, one of the options is (presumably - research needed here) selected at random.


Cooperative gameplay
In this example, Rampage (green, player 1) and Fortress (pink, player 2) cooperate with their individual abilities and skills. Player 1 has chosen the 'Self.repair()' skill to repair half of their own HP while player 2 went with the 'Repair.all()' skill, which heals all active players on the map by a maximum of 25% of their HP. The more players there are in a run, the more this skill pays off, while it is not advised to use it in a singleplayer run as 'Self.repair()' is twice as beneficial in that case.
Every player in a run moves and acts on their own using their assigned keyboards and/or gamepads.

Should a player die in a run with 1 or more player/players remaining 'active', they will become 'passive', meaning that they transform back into their initial brain form and become invulnerable but also cannot use any weapons or skills and only move and dash around the map. Every passive player will stay passive until the level is completed and an active player has teleported.

Once a player has teleported, all passive players reclaim their cyborg bodies healed to 50% of their HP and are able to play normally again.

Items
Players don't share items. Every player in a run has their own assortment of items and their own amount of scrap gathered from loots, scrapping and forging. Every player repairs, equips, scraps, forges and boosts their own items and cyborgs during an intermission.


Results

The results list shown after a run ends summarizes all total kills, elite kills, total damages, loot count and KO's and in a run with 2 or more players, it symbolizes the individual statistics of each player with bars in their assigned colors.

Emergency Teleportation

• Recharge:
  5 crystals
  
• Description:
  Teleport yourself to a previous position
  
• Strategy:
  Only useful to evade enemy attacks in an emergency. Very similar to Dash's ability and therefore not a good match for Dash. Good to make up for Rampage's lack of defensive capabilities and in combination with the mobility increase during rampage. Very quick to recharge, which can pressure the player to use it often.
  
• Special feature:
  Among all skills that have to be recharged with crystals, this skill requires the lowest amount of crystals to recharge.

Berserk

• Recharge:
  20 kills
  
• Description:
  Melee attacks make you briefly invulnerable and return bullets
  
• Strategy:
  Only beneficial when at least one close-range weapon is equipped. The ability to return bullets resembles Fortress's shielding ability and therefore doesn't match well to Fortress. As an initial close-range user, Dash can handle this skill most efficiently and use it to attack with slashes openly without having to dash away, but only for a short time window. As the skill recharges with kills instead of crystals, you won't have to collect any dropped crystals. Instead, you'll have to focus on killing enemies, which is more difficult to do when playing with other players who could steal your kills, so it is most beneficial in a singleplayer run. Choosing maps with high enemy rates and focussing on smaller enemies are also good methods to recharge the skill quicker.
  
• Special feature:
  This is the only skill that requires kills to recharge and also, among all skills that have to be recharged, the only one that requires something else than crystals to recharge.

Bullet Wiper

• Recharge:
  15 crystals
  
• Description:
  Suppress all enemy bullets within a range
  
• Strategy:
  Works only within a medium range around you and for about one second per use. More beneficial when more projectiles are approaching you. Instantly detonates rockets and grenades within range. Presumably doesn't suppress close-range attacks (testing needed here). Doesn't fit well to Fortress's shield ability which already guards the player from enemy attack. Fits well to Rampage as it defends the player during offensive-focused rampage. Very effective in most boss battles and can guard multiple players at the same time.

Time Stretcher

• Recharge:
  20 crystals
  
• Description:
  Slows down time for 3 seconds
  
• Strategy:
  Changes all colors on the screen to black and white while active and also affects all players on the map. More useful for dodging enemy attacks than for firing your own weapons. Grants 3 seconds of time each use to dodge and plan the next move, which is useful in most boss battles. Offers an in-between combination of active playing and pausing.
  
• Special feature:
  Possibly a reference to the popular "bullet-time" style of dodging known from many action games, movies and franchises such as the Matrix trilogy.

EMP

• Recharge:
  25 crystals
  
• Description:
  Deactivate enemies for 2 seconds
  
• Strategy:
  Shocks all enemies on the screen/map (unclear yet) for a short time, similar to shock barrels but with much greater range. Most effective on a field with many enemies. Useful as an emergency shocker, for instance when the player gets cornered by close-range enemies. Shocked enemies are immobile and easier to hit with distance-based weapons. During their inactivity they can also be easily damaged with a dash-and-slash surprise attack from Dash.

Go Postal

• Recharge:
  30 crystals
  
• Description:
  Increase fire rate and energy recharge
  
• Strategy:
  Recharges your EP and lets you fire your weapons fast for about 4 seconds, granting you a chance to clear an area quicker without having to worry about overheating. This matches perfectly to powerful weapons that fire slow and/or drain a lot of your EP with each attack, as well as Rampage due to his rampage ability consuming EP very quickly, but be aware that it lasts only for some seconds each use. It also does not affect your HP, so defensive abilities, such as Fortress's shield, are fit to make up for that.

Self.repair()

• Recharge:
  100 crystals
  
• Description:
  Restore half of your HP
  
• Strategy:
  Needs a lot of time to recharge, but in return heals up to 50% of your HP, which is the most important stat in a run as a player is deactivated once their HP are down to zero and a run ends once all players are passive. As the health bar is split up into four 25% bars of your total health, you can see when this skill is most effective to use. When used while your HP are at 50% or higher, you are guaranteed to get your health full in an instant. Focus on collecting crystals and try not to keep the skill filled up for too long as you cannot stack any of the crystals you pick up while it is ready to use. While attacking weak spots in boss battles, kill some of the regular spawned enemies to recharge the skill. As for boss battles, it is also advised to wait for your HP to reach 50% before using the skill to drive out its full potential. Every intermission heals you by a maximum of 25%, so it is unnecessary to use the skill before teleporting if your HP are at 75% or more.
  
• Special feature:
  Along with 'Repair.all()', among all skills that have to be recharged with crystals, this is one of the two skills that require the highest amount of crystals to recharge.

Repair.all()

• Recharge:
  100 crystals
  
• Description:
  Restore 25% of everybody's HP
  
• Strategy:
  Has a similar effect and the same recharge requirement as 'Self.repair()', but is reduced to half of the healing effect and in return heals all active players. Most effective when there are four active, damaged players on the map. When the skill is charged, use it as a lifesaver and to repair as many damaged players as possible. If all other players are passive, you can still use it to repair yourself and complete the level. In a run with three or four players, it is advised to have a player with good defensive abilities choose the skill as a backup. Do not choose this skill in a singleplayer run, since 'Self.repair()' heals you twice as fast with the same recharge speed.
  
• Special feature:
  Along with 'Self.repair()', among all skills that have to be recharged with crystals, this is one of the two skills that require the highest amount of crystals to recharge.

Energy Surge

• Recharge:
  30 crystals
  
• Description:
  Rapidly recharge your EP
  
• Strategy:
  Presumably doubles your EP regeneration for about 4 seconds each use. Also works while recovering from an overheat. Matches great with Rampage's EP-draining ability and generally well with Dash and Fortress. Can be used for fast recoveries from frequent overheatings during boss battles.

Blade Master

• Recharge:
  Passive
  
• Description:
  All looted weapons are melee and use half the EP
  
• Strategy:
  All collected weapon pickups and forged weapons are close-range and are used with half their regular EP consumption, so they can be used more offensively. This also means that, when playing as Dash, who already matches great to close-range weapons, the auto gun given at the start of a run is (most likely) the only non-melee weapon avaiable in the entire run if a player has selected the skill. Rampage and Fortress each start with two weapons that can cover a larger distance. This skill is used best in a run with two or more players if an other player chose 'Berserk', which makes good use of the great variety of close-range weapons.

Hardcore

• Recharge:
  Passive
  
• Description:
  You always have 1 HP but your energy regeneration is increased
  
• Strategy:
  The most risky skill to use as any enemy attack that hits you instantly kills you, so it is important to have some defensive strategies at hand, such as dashing or Fortress's shield. As a reward, your EP will regenerate very fast, making it possible to fire your weapons and use your abilities constantly. The HP values of core and transportation items can be ignored completely when using the skill as your max HP is always one. Focus your scrap expenses on powerful weapons that may also have high EP consumption. Rampaging exploits the skill good, but that makes for Rampage's lack of defensive abilities. The skill's disadvantage is less troublesome in a run with more players.
  
• Special features:
  A singleplayer run in voider mode and with this skill selected is assumed to be the most difficult run to play.

Extreme Overheat

• Recharge:
  Passive
  
• Description:
  Overheating generate an explosion that repels and damages enemies.
  
• Strategy:
  Creates a rather small explosion on your location without damaging yourself every time you overheat, which is more of a defensive method than offensive. Protects you for a short moment while recovering from an overheat but does not affect the recovery itself, so don't keep making use of it carelessly.

Reboot Sequence

• Recharge:
  30 crystals
  
• Description:
  Revives the closest ally in exchange of 66% of your remaining HP
  
• Strategy:
  Reactivates the closest passive player for a few crystals and a certain percentage of your remaining HP. While the description states this to be 66%, my character has lost only 50% of their remaining HP to revive another player during one of my testings, so the actual percentage remains unclear. Only useful in a run with two or more players. Recharges quickly, but also demands a major part of your important HP. Not a good match to a player who has selected 'Hardcore' as their skill as they tend to die again very quickly.

Blueprint

• Recharge:
  Passive
  
• Description:
  Reactors are visible on the level map
  
• Strategy:
  All reactors, whether intact or not, are symbolised on the map as big, grey crystals that only specify the map sections they are located in. The symbols are always shown regardless of their sections not being reached by a player and they do not distinguish a destroyed reactor from an intact one. Useful to prevent going roundabout ways and completing a level faster than usual. Helps all players in a multiplayer run without crystal consumption. Presumably (research needed here) also works on special levels, in which case it would help completing a self-destruct special level more quickly (and therefore more safely) as well as orientate in a pitch black special level.

Commander

• Recharge:
  Passive
  
• Description:
  Makes a splendid explosion upon your death
  
• Strategy:

Jackpot

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Telekinesis

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Safety Battery

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Mechanic

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Classy Loot

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Trade-off

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Null

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy:

Unstable

• Recharge:
  
  
• Description:
  
  
• Strategy: