Getting Started with Gunstoppable

Gunstoppable drops you into a fast roguelite FPS where standing still is worse than missing shots. CAGE Studios built the game around one rule: your speed multiplier feeds your damage, so every guide on this wiki returns to movement sooner or later. This getting started page is the onboarding path for new players—PC owners who bought on Steam August 5, 2026, and Xbox Series players arriving August 31, 2026.

You play as Fenix, a fully voiced protagonist navigating corporate dystopia one arena at a time. Runs are single-player only; there is single-player only to bail you out. Voice talent includes Gianni Matragrano and Neekolul, but the mechanical voice you need most is Kane the Rat, the merchant who sells weapons, attachments, and augments between rooms.

Before Your First Run

Skim System Requirements if you are on PC. Gunstoppable is lean—about 950 MB installed—but momentum combat needs stable frame times for parries and wall-runs. Console players should enable performance mode if your display supports high refresh rates; input lag makes Parry harder than it looks in trailers.

Bookmark Controls for default bindings. You will grapple, slide, wall-run, and rail-grind from the first biome; exact keys are listed there. Read How to Play next for run structure—this page focuses on what to do in the first twenty minutes.

The Core Loop

A standard Gunstoppable run looks like this:

1. Enter a combat room — clear waves while building speed.
2. Collect drops — ammo, health, currency for Kane.
3. Visit Kane the Rat — buy or upgrade two weapons, slot attachments, pick augments on the hex grid.
4. Choose a path — biomes branch; see Map & Biomes.
5. Fight elites and mini-bosses — test your build before a capitalist boss.
6. Repeat until victory or death — death sends you to meta progression (check Updates for current unlock rules).

Dual-wielding is mandatory: you carry ten possible weapons across a run but only two active at a time. Swap based on room layout—shotguns for tight halls, rails for open Cyberpunk City rooftops. Synergies get ridiculous by design: a shotgun augment can evolve into a flamethrower; banana-themed pickups can scale into nuke-tier explosions. Browse Items so you recognize high-value augments when Kane offers them.

Movement Is Your First Skill

Do not treat movement as optional flair. In Gunstoppable, a slow Fenix hits like a wet noodle; a fast Fenix deletes elites. From minute one, chain grapple → slide → wall-run between targets. Our Movement & Momentum guide explains multiplier tiers; here is the short version: never reset to zero speed in safe rooms—practice micro-movements while shopping at Kane.

Rail-grinds appear early in urban biomes. Use them to enter fights with free momentum instead of sprinting from a standstill. Underwater sections in Underwater Prison slow you down—plan paths that minimize wading.

Shopping at Kane the Rat

Kane appears between major rooms. Prioritize purchases in this order on run one:

• Heal or armor if you are below half health and the next room icon looks elite-heavy.
• One reliable DPS weapon — check Weapons and the Tier List for community consensus; avoid gimmick augments until you can sustain speed.
• One mobility or sustain augment — slide distance, grapple cooldown, or on-kill healing keeps chains alive.
• Attachment slots — fill before buying a third weapon concept you cannot equip.

Pass on exotic synergies until you understand your baseline damage. The banana-to-nuke pipeline is real, but it needs supporting augments and high speed to pay off.

Reaper Mode — Do Not Forget the Button

Reaper Mode triggers after kill chains, but it does not activate alone. Press Q on keyboard or B on controller when the UI prompts you. Slow time, finish stragglers, and bank style points. New players often die with Reaper ready because they never press the button—read Reaper Mode before your first boss.

Your First Boss

Capitalist bosses gate act breaks. You will hear names like Johnny Jetpack and fight set-piece enemies such as the giant robot crab later. For your first executive fight:

• Enter at full health with ammo stocked.
• Keep wall-run routes mapped—boss arenas punish floor hugging.
• Parry telegraphed melee swings; details in Parry Guide.
• Save Reaper for add waves or phase transitions.

Full patterns live on Bosses; five capitalist bosses anchor the campaign structure.

Habits That Carry Runs

• Reload while moving — animation cancels on slides are legal; use them.
• Check Tools after a few runs for DPS calculators once you have favorite weapons.
• Read patch notes on Updates — augments change; the tier list shifts weekly early in launch.
• Cross-link biomes — if Cyberpunk City feels hard, grind Underwater Prison routes in practice mode if available.

Where to Go Next

After two or three attempts, you should finish How to Play, then specialize in Movement & Momentum and Reaper Mode. Curious about quality-of-life and story delivery? See Game Review. Gunstoppable rewards repetition with mastery—not memorizing one perfect route, but learning how speed, Kane shops, and dual-wield synergies compound across biomes.