Gameplay Reference

1. Game Modes

2. Power-Ups

With default options on most levels, at the start of a match, each player has 1 bomb (allows for one bomb out at any point in time) and a flame size of 2 (explosions will cover the tile upon which the bomb was placed and 2 additional tiles in each cardinal direction).

Standard Power-Ups (available in most levels)
FLAME - increases flame size by 1
GOLDEN FLAME - increases flame size by infinity
BOMB - increases number of simultaneous bombs allowed by 1
LINE BOMB - enables dropping of all bombs at once by double-tapping the drop bomb / primary action button (note: this does not change how many bombs a player has, so does nothing unless combined with a BOMB powerup)
SPEED - increases player speed slightly, about 8% of the base speed, 12 of these will effectively double a player's speed
KICKER - allows players to kick placed bombs by walking into them (note: to kick one of your own bombs, you must place a bomb, walk off it into an adjacent square, and then walk back into it) (additional note: your own kicked bombs can be stopped by pressing the secondary action button)
REMOTE - gives a single remote bomb which can be detonated at will with the secondary action button (note: this can also be configured to Unlimited which gives unlimited remote bombs with one powerup, or One simultaneous per powerup which lets you have one remote bomb in play at any point in time, per remote bomb powerup picked up)
EGG - gives players a mount which will protect them from a single hit (note: in the Mount Contrl game mode, this also enables accumulating points)
VIRUS - probably bad, always infectious, gives one of the following possible effects for 8 seconds (less time if caught from someone else):
  • Bomb fuses are shorter (1 second instead of the normal 2 seconds)
  • Bomb fuses are longer (3 seconds instead of the normal 2 seconds)
  • Player is forced to lay a a bomb if standing in an empty space and they have a bomb available
  • Player is unable to lay any bombs
  • Player moves very fast
  • Player moves very slow
  • Player movement is inverted
  • Bomb flames are reduced to length of 1
  • Bomb flames travel much slower than normal
Advanced Power-Ups (available only if "Advanced Power-Ups" is set to "ON")
PIERCING BOMB - explosions will pass through soft blocks and power-ups
SQUARE BOMB - will create a square-shared explosion instead of a cross
  • The width of the explosion will be smaller than a regular bomb (but possibly fill more squares with flame)
  • Square bombs will be 3x3 if you have no flame power-ups (regular flame size of 2), and then increase in size (to 5x5, etc) at flame sizes 3, 8, and 15
  • To form the square, the bomb sends 4 flames out in the cardinal directions, and each of those sends an additional two flames out perpendicularly at each tile (which may be blocked according to the usual rules)
  • These bombs are known as especially dangerous because they can hit you around a corner
BOUNCY BOMBS - after getting this powerup, all bombs placed will be bouncy. When kicked, a bouncy bomb will bounce off of obstacles instead of stopping. A bomb is visibly shown to be bouncy in that, when charging, it will wobble side to side instead of growing and shrinking.
DASHING STRIKE - allows a player to knock a bomb flying, over obstacles, to a distance of at least 3 squares
  • After getting the powerup, to perform a Dashing Strike, double-tap your movement key or button in the direction you want to send a bomb flying
  • You can strike a bomb in the square you are standing, or in an adjacent square in the direction you dash, allowing you to both throw a bomb immediately after placing it or knock a bomb out of your way
  • Flying bombs will bounce off of the sides of the level and return in the direction they came
  • Flying bombs cannot land on soft tiles, hard tiles, or tunnels
  • If a bomb takes too long to find a place to land (relative to level size), it will fizzle out

3. Initial Power-Ups and Drop Frequency

With default settings, the power-ups players start with, and the frequency at which particular power-ups drop when destroying soft blocks, are specified by each level. Most levels use the defaults of starting with 1 bomb and 2 flame size, however some, such as Polo start you with additional power-ups like a kicker and a mount. Similarly, there is a default set of drop frequencies determining which power-ups will drop during gameplay, but some levels, such as Pandemic, override this, for example to greatly increase the rate of virus power-ups dropping. Information about what power-ups players start with, and which power-ups will be dropping more or less often during gameplay, is shown in the lower right during the few seconds of "warm up" after a new level is chosen before the game begins, as well as in the upper right of the pause menu.

Additionally, when configuring a series of rounds, the room leader can customize power-up options, overriding the per-level settings, specifying the player start with more initial power-ups, or even a smaller initial flame, as well as modifying the drop frequencies so that particular powerups occur more often, less often, or not at all.

Per-series Power-Up Options menu:

4. Controllers

Any number of controllers is supported (up to OS limits - virtually unlimited on Windows, 4 on PS4, plus a keyboard can be used for an additional 2 players). No in-game controller configuration is required, as there are only two main actions ("primary" - drop bomb, and "secondary" for pinging and power-ups) and all face buttons should automatically be assigned alternatingly to those two actions, however buttons can be remapped in controller options for additional customization. Since getting as many people playing Splody at one time, in one location, as easily as possible, is a primary mission of Dashing Strike Games, if you have an odd controller which is not functioning properly in Splody in any way (but is visible/functioning in the Windows "Game Controllers" control panel), please contact us through the Steam forums or email and we will work with you to resolve your issue.

Some Steam options interfere with controllers working in Splody (and other games), especially if you have more than 4 controllers - Steam will disable all but 4 with these options enabled. If you have problems getting controllers to work please check the following:

Xbox 360 controllers are highly recommended, as they are quite common and work trivially with Windows. The wireless receivers are great for ease of use. When setting up large numbers of these we've learned the following things which may be of use:

By default, all controllers have the ability to control game menus, however sometimes young children (or "friends") like disrupting gameplay by pausing, etc, a little too much, so this may be changed under Settings | Controls | Controller Interface Mode to one of the following modes:

5. Room Leader, Custom Levels, Level Lists

6. Audio Option: Steam Playlist

Tired of the music tracks in Splody? Use Steam's music player to select your own music!

  1. In Steam, set up a playlist - relevant settings are under Steam | Settings | Music (choose where your local files are), and then View | Music Details to configure a playlist.
  2. In Splody, change the Music option in the Audio menu to Steam Playlist
  3. Enjoy!

7. Ratings, Rankings, and Leaderboards

Most online games played will affect your Rating, and the people with the highest Rating are ranked at the top of the leaderboards, both on the web and inside the game (accessible from the Play Online menu). Where do you stack up to the competition?

Ratings FAQ