A free team shooter · Windows · Linux · Android

Capture the flag. Against bots, or online.

Artificial Environment Lab puts two teams in a research facility built for combat. Play Capture the Flag, Deathmatch or Survival from 1v1 to 4v4, with bots in the empty seats or people only.

Download free How it plays
A player carrying the enemy flag in Capture the Flag, pistol drawn, while an opponent fires from a ledge in Data Core Alpha
In-game capture Capture the Flag — carrying the enemy flag under fire
Modes
3
Teams
1v1–4v4
Platforms
Windows · Linux · Android
Price
Free
Release
Production
Three modes, one arena

Every match is two teams in Data Core Alpha

Three rounds of two minutes. The mode decides what wins a round.

The start of a Capture the Flag round: the band reads first to 3, round 1 of 3, and both flags at base
In-game capture Capture the Flag — round start

Capture the Flag

Take the other team's flag and bring it home.

First team to 3 captures takes the round.

The start of a Deathmatch round: the band reads first to 10, round 1 of 3
In-game capture Deathmatch — round start

Deathmatch

No flags. The team with the most eliminations wins.

First team to 10 eliminations takes the round.

A Survival round in Data Core Alpha, with forty seconds left on the clock
In-game capture Survival — last team standing

Survival

Stay alive. The last team standing takes the round.

Outlast the other team to take the round.

Play anywhere

One release, one pool of players

The same signed release runs on Windows, Linux and Android, and matchmaking puts everyone in the same queue. On a phone the controls move under your thumbs.

  • Mouse and keyboard, a gamepad, or touch controls you can rearrange
  • No account needed: continue as a guest and queue straight away
  • Drop out and rejoin the match that is still running
See downloads for every platform
The touch controls at a phone's shape: a movement stick, jump, crouch, sprint, aim and fire buttons around a Capture the Flag match
In-game capture Touch controls at a phone's shape
In the game today

What ships, and what is still being built

The game is played and developed at the same time. This is where each part stands in the current release.

In the current release

  • Three team modes Capture the Flag, Deathmatch and Survival, each two teams over three rounds.
  • Online matchmaking Queue for a match from 1v1 to 4v4 with bots filling empty seats, or wait for a match of people only.
  • One pool for every platform Windows, Linux and Android players are matched together. Matchmaking does not separate them by device.
  • Play without an account Continue as a guest and play online straight away. Sign in to be your own player in online matches.
  • Rejoin and backfill Drop out and you can rejoin the match still running. Until the final round, a newcomer can take an open seat.
  • Results and progression Every match ends in a results record: your performance, what the match earned, missions and achievements.
  • Keyboard, gamepad or touch Mouse and keyboard, a gamepad, or on-screen touch controls whose layout you can rearrange.
  • English, Vietnamese and high contrast The whole game in English or Vietnamese, and a high-contrast appearance with an adjustable interface scale.

In development

  • Bots that fight well Today's bot is an early learned policy: it takes a seat and plays the objective, but it barely fights. Teaching it to aim and fight with reinforcement learning is the current research.
  • More arenas Data Core Alpha is the one arena with its own geometry. Three more are named in the game, but share its layout until their own are built.
  • More weapons and abilities Seven more weapons and six abilities, such as Dash and Shield, are built and tested in lab scenarios. No standard match offers them yet.
Latest release

Download it and drop into a match

Free for Windows, Linux and Android. Every download is the signed production release, with its SHA-256 shown beside it.

See all downloads See it in play