Soviet Jump Game takes the game genre of battle royale and puts it into a bootleg-like platforming game.

SJG harkens back to the days of the Dendy console (a SNES knockoff), when Russia would make bootleg games full of glitchy goodness, like Mario jumping through Adventure Island or Joe & Mac's world.

With this in mind, Soviet Jump Game's aesthetics make a lot more sense: it's styled as a Mario-like platformer game, copying just enough things from Super Mario to be very recognizable, but changing just enough things so as to be legally different from Super Mario.

As part of this aesthetic, Soviet Jump Game also has occasional hiccups in the graphics -- tiles will sometimes appear to glitch out and swap for inappropriate tiles. Much like you'd expect from a bootleg, but thankfully not nearly as detrimental to the play experience. (This is optional and can be toggled on and off. See the Options section in the table of contents.)

As a game journal put it, (paraphrased): "The world needed a platformer battle royale game, and it didn't even know it. Soviet Jump Game could be that game."

Caution: As of February 2020, there is lag. I expect it to slowly go away as development continues. You might find it gets in the way of gameplay. Some people do; I don't.

Soviet Jump Game takes between 2 and 50 online players and drops them into a platforming level with one simple objective: Be the last player surviving.

Some players prefer to go on the defensive, staying away from others and staying safe. Others prefer to go on the offensive, finding the best tactical positions in the level and attacking from there.

Use powerups, level hazards, and head-stomping to earn yourself a victory.

Controls are simple: Jump, run, and "select."
Controls for keyboard and controller:
Arrow keys or D-pad = Move
Z key or A button = Jump (or enter in menus)
X key or B button = Run, and use powerup (or cancel in menus)
C key or Select button = Deploy an inventory item
A key or north face button = Emote
ESC or Start button = Pause
You can customize controls, as well. The Options > Controls menu allows you to rebind your keyboard controls to different keys, or change to using a game controller.

Jumping
One of the best ways to survive Soviet Jump Game is to make sure your opponents do not survive. If you jump on top of an opponent's head, they will take damage.

(If you land a jump on another player from your client-side perspective, but the jump doesn't hit/register on the server, you'll hear a "plink" sound and do zero damage. Expect this to improve as the game develops.)

Be careful: if you jump into an opponent's feet, that counts as them stomping you, and you'll get hurt.

You can jump 4 tiles high. If you have a good running start, you can jump up to 5 tiles high.

Running/powerup
Continue running for a short while, and you'll hit your top speed (your animation will change).
You can run over one-tile-wide gaps, even when not at top speed. You keep your top speed if you jump, but not off you fall off a platform's edge.

If you have a powerup, the run button doubles as the button to use your powerup. For details on every powerup in the game, see the Powerups section in the table of contents.

When the game isn't lagging, movement feels pretty solid. You carry a bit of momentum, like classic games tended to do (e.g. Super Mario Bros), which makes movement more skillful but still responsive -- an important aspect of a competitive platformer.

Being tiny
If you have no powerup, you will be small. Small characters will die in one hit. You are vulnerable in this state, so I would advise finding a powerup ASAP. However, small characters do have one advantage: they can fit in between gaps of blocks that are one block tall (vertically). Perhaps you can use this to hide or get through places that big players cannot.

The select button is used to deploy the item held in your inventory. For details, see the bottom of the Powerups section in the table of contents.

Emote wheel: To pop open your emote wheel, hold down the A key or north controller face button. From there, hold up/down/left/right to pick an emote, then let go of the key/button.

If you have a powerup equipped and you take damage, you will lose the powerup and go back to small size.

Note: While your avatar is playing the transformation animation of getting or losing a powerup, you are briefly invincible. Use this brief moment to protect yourself from attack, and even attack your opponent! But you're also immobile for a second, so don't do this near the Pain Wall.

Potato
With the Potato powerup, you turn from small to big. You can't fit in 1-tile-high spaces anymore (unless you crouch), but you can survive one hit without dying -- one hit makes you go back to small size. In fact, that's what one hit does to almost all these powerups.
When it comes out of an item block, the Potato will crawl along the level left or right, and fall off ledges.

Poison Potato
This is the opposite of the Potato. Touching it from any side will make you lose your powerup. Luckily, it cannot harm you if you are already small -- you can't die from it.
When it comes out of an item block, the Poison Potato will crawl along the level left or right, and fall off ledges. It will chase players down, trying to touch them. It can jump 1.5 tiles high to avoid falls or climb stairs. They take a really long time to disappear, so don't try to "wait them out."

Matryoshka Doll
Wearing a Matryoshka Doll is good protection! It's kind of like having a double Potato. You'll be encased in two protective shells.
The biggest doll is 1 tile wide, 2 tiles tall. You cannot crouch. Your traction suffers while wearing this doll (but while running at full speed, you deal great knockback if you bump someone).
If you get hurt, the biggest doll breaks and you're left in a smaller doll. The smaller doll has decent traction.
If you get hurt again after that, then you have no dolls left and you're back to small size.

Comrade Duck
This powerup makes you more agile in the air. Press jump again and again in the air to flap Comrade Duck's wings, granting you weak double-jumps. These are useful when both you and an opponent are jumping at one another to land a stomp -- if only one of you has a double-jump, advantage!
Or if you don't like that, then you can hold the jump button and gain a much slower descent, gliding across long gaps or gliding carefully back down to earth. It might help you more accurately land on an opponent, albeit slower.

Disguise
This pair of groucho glasses gives you a block on your head.
Hold the run button and tap down. Keep holding the run button. You'll transform into a fake item block.
You can activate this on the ground or in midair. If you do it in midair, you'll stay suspended in midair.
Tap right to change from a fake item block into a fake empty item block. Or tap left to change into a fake brick block.
Careful! If an opponent jumps and hits the bottom of your fake block, OR hops on top of your fake block, you'll take damage!
Let go of the run button to turn back to normal (this takes a second, it's not immediate). After this, you'll have to wait 2 seconds to be able to use it again.

Baseball Bat
Hold the run button to charge up your Baseball Bat. The longer you charge it, the more power it'll have. When you let go of the run button, you swing your bat. You must have good timing!
The bat does not damage opponents, but it does send them flying to the side. They go flying farther if you charge up the bat first. An offensive use for the bat is sending opponents flying into level hazards! The bat is great when the Pain Wall is near.
A defensive use for the bat is reflecting projectiles. If you have the bat charged up (hold down the button) and you're not running, and a projectile comes your way, the bat will automatically swing and hit it back the way it came.
You can send other things flying too (not automatically, but by swinging with good timing): Poison Potatoes, moles, crabs... And the bat also breaks/hits blocks.

Battery
When you get a battery, your body is yellow and electrified. Tap the run button as many times as you like, you'll fire small balls of electricity. These balls travel diagonally downward until they hit the ground, and then they start bouncing along the ground. They travel quickly and they travel a long way if they don't hit a wall. They're fantastic long-range items. The balls don't hit blocks, but they do damage opponents.

Hammers & Sickles
This toolbox item gives you a hard hat and infinite hammers and sickles to throw.
Tap the run button to throw hammers and sickles, one by one. They travel in an arc through the air, and you can only have one on screen at a time.
They're a long-range weapon, good for doing damage to opponents above you or far away from you. Hammers & Sickles are the perfect counter to opponents above you, looking to jump on your head.
Hammers/sickles can go through blocks on their way up. but not on their way down. When they're on their way down, they'll hit a block and stop. So when you're throwing hammers/sickles, they're most effective if their path has clearance on the way down.
Exception: Hammers/sickles can't go up through one-way ceiling platforms. They'll reflect back down, allowing you to throw them more downward than usual.
When hit with one, brick blocks will break and item blocks will deploy their item.

Beekeeper
When the Beehive item comes out of the block, it flies either left or right in a lazy wave pattern. Chase it down and touch it.
Hold down the run button to hold a beehive in your hand. You'll see a crosshair moving up and down automatically, and you'll be locked into facing either left or right, even if you run backwards. Let go of the run button when the crosshair is aimed in the direction you want to throw, and you'll throw the beehive. You can only have one beehive on screen at a time. Beehives arc through the air, then bounce and land on blocks, affected by gravity.
If a beehive hits an opponent, it doesn't damage them, but it does stun them and knock them back.
After a couple seconds (usually after it's landed and come to a stop), the beehive explodes, and that does do damage to opponents (and blocks as well). It doesn't damage the beekeeper who threw it.
(Edit: Beehives can no longer be jumped on.)

Bomber
Use down + run button to activate this powerup. You'll turn into a bomb, and fall straight down until you hit blocks or an opponent.
When you land on an opponent, you do damage like a stomp would, and you don't explode just yet -- not until you touch ground.
When you land on blocks, you break/hit them, and you create an explosion. The area-of-effect explosion is mostly to the left and right, but there's a small damage zone above and below too. It damages opponents (unless they're small, then it only does knockback). The very center of the explosion deals damage to anyone. The explosion also goes through walls.
The Bomber has a 3 second recharge: After you use it, you turn grey, and can't use the bomb. Once your colour returns in 3 seconds, you can use the bomb again.

Tank
Tap the run button to fire a cannonball. It slowly travels in a straight line to the left or right, unaffected by gravity and going through walls. After 6 seconds (or hitting 3 blocks), the cannonball disappears. You can't fire rapidly, but you can have up to three cannonballs on screen simultaneously.
Beware the kickback! Every time you fire, the tank jerks backward 3 tiles. Don't push yourself into level hazards! The Tank is terrible when the Pain Wall is near. (This kickback can be negated while running if you: run left, quickly turn right and fire behind you, then run left again.)
Cannonballs can break/hit blocks, and damage opponents. When you're in the tank, you're 2 tiles tall and a little over 1 tile wide. You cannot fit into 1-tile-wide gaps.
(Edit: Cannonballs can no longer be jumped on.)

Vodka
When it comes out of an item block, the Vodka bottle bounces around the level at a very high arc. Try to touch it!
Once you do, everything will flash colours, fast music will start to play, and you'll be invincible for 8.5 seconds (except to the Pain Wall and Stone Stalin Squishers).
You become a living weapon! Any opponents that you touch with your body will get hurt!
Once the flashing colours and music wears off, you are no longer invincible.
Vodka can be stacked with other powerups -- you can have Vodka and Beekeeper at the same time, for example. Or Vodka + being small.
Collecting a second Vodka while Vodka is already active reverses your controls and makes the screen even more garbled. I'd avoid getting two if I were you.

Except for the Potato, Poison Potato, Beehive, and Vodka, all these items stay put on top of the item block they came out of.

If you collect one powerup, and then you collect a second powerup, that means your second powerup will be equipped, and your first powerup will move into your inventory.

Exception 1: if you collect a Potato while you're currently equipped with a Potato or better. In that case, the Potato will move into your inventory instead of the better powerup.

Exception 2: if you collect a Potato while you're both equipped with and holding two superior powerups, then the Potato won't do anything (except hogging it to yourself and preventing other players from collecting it).

Your inventory is this square at the top-middle of the screen. At any time, hit the C key/select button and your inventory will drop its contents slowly straight down from the square. While it's slowly falling, a player (any player) can touch it to equip it.

Be wary of thieves. Be careful when and where you deploy your inventory item. At the same time, feel free to be a thief yourself if you see a powerup falling from the sky.

Since it takes so long for the item to slowly fall from the sky, one strategy is to enter a pipe at the same time you hit the inventory button. Then as you exit the pipe, you can grab your powerup. It's a safety tactic, as you have some time to bide and you're not vulnerable during a pipe transition.

When you start matchmaking for a game, you'll be dropped into the gym, which serves as a lobby for players to collect, and practice using the powerups. Russian Bots (AI players) will also fill the gym.
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When the timer in the gym runs out (or the player number maxes out at ~50), all the players are dumped into the level selection screen. From here, you can run to four different screens. Each screen represents two levels (aka biomes).

If the number of players in a match is a somewhat low number, then some of the levels will be closed off. Which levels are closed off seems to cycle at random.

If you have 40 or 50 players in a match, then all the levels are open simultaneously. During the match you can move between the levels seamlessly by running left and right and going through conduit pipes.

Each level duo has one overworld and one underworld. Players can hop on top of one of the eight pipes to pick where they would like to spawn in the level. If three players enter the same pipe, then that pipe will be full and closed off. If you do not enter any pipes, then you'll be spawned into the level at a random place, which is perfectly fine too.

In addition, Soviet Jump Game has Map A and Map B. Every few weeks or so, the devs change the game from Map A to Map B or vice versa. These are different layouts of the same biomes. They use the same hazards for all 8 levels, but the arrangements of them and the layout of the blocks are different. The colour palette is also different. For example, Moscow Streets Map B is nighttime.

This is how level 1+2 appear in the level selection screen.

Moscow Streets has geysers, tetrominoes, and sawblades, as well as some very basic elements.

Moscow Sewers has a mix of water and land gameplay.

This is how level 3+4 appear in the level selection screen.

Mountains of Siberia has short piles of snow the slow you down, tall white bushes that hide your presence, ice blocks with low traction, and sawblades.

Nuclear Bunker has some shallow water, bunker zappers, and hydraulic crushers.

This is how level 5+6 appear in the level selection screen.

Skies Over Chernobyl has clouds, girders, moving platforms, and weighted platforms.

If you're in Skies Over Chernobyl and you fall in a pit, instead of getting hurt and bubbled, you will fall harmlessly into the underworld level Irradiated Waters.

However, if you're in Irradiated Waters close to the top of the screen where there is no ceiling,
A) you cannot jump up into Skies Over Chernobyl
and B) you run the risk of an opponent falling on your head from above.

Irradiated Waters has electric coral, bubble currents, and naval mines.
While you're in this water level, your left/right movement is so slow that escaping the Pain Wall is a real challenge.

This is how level 7+8 appear in the level selection screen.

Kremlin Castle has spinning electric cords, chandeliers, acid pits, and fireballs.

The Crypts have Stone Stalin Squishers, spikes, falling blocks, and shock boxes.

Pipes come in all colours, but they're the same. They can stick up from the ground, stick out sideways from a wall, or stick down from the ceiling/sky. While touching the middle of the pipe's opening, press your joystick or arrow keys toward it to enter the pipe.

The pipe will take you to the level directly above or below you, since each level comes in pairs.
Note: if you're in an underworld, a downwards pipe will still take you to the overworld, as confusing as that seems.

Pipes going between the overworld and underworld allow for counter-play. If you don't have a positional advantage, or a strategic advantage (no powerups), then you can always duck into another level to fight another day.

One-way platforms. You can stand on top, and if you're below them, you can jump straight through them, from below to above.
They come in a few different appearances. Often they look thin.
Note: The one-way girders and the hard-block girders look similar, but the one-way ones emphasize the thin platform on top with their colour.

One-way ceilings are the opposite: You can pass through them from above to below, but not from below to above. They're tricky to tell apart from the normal thin platforms, so take note of the panelling they have on the bottom. Sometimes they hold up bodies of water to make the water seem to float in the air.

Falling platforms will plummet downward shortly after you step on them. Beware! They're sometimes above a pit. After they've fallen, a few seconds later they'll reappear.

Moving platforms move at a slow pace, following the dotted line. When they reach the end, they reverse and go the other way. They don't fall.

Weighted platforms come in pairs. When there's more weight standing on one side then the other side, the heavier side moves down. Don't worry, they won't break and fall.

The last three entries all act as one-way platforms too, by the way.

There are five types of blocks. Keep in mind that the colours will change depending on what level you are in. Except for real item blocks, those are always the colours seen here.

Hard blocks (aka ground blocks) have the most visual variation of all blocks, but generally speaking, they will look solid. They all get across the idea that they cannot be broken. They are immovable, indestructible.

Ice blocks are a type of hard block that make you slide with low traction if you try to change direction while atop them. You can avoid this if you jump.
They are only found in Mountains of Siberia.

Falling blocks will shake, then plummet downward shortly after you step on them. Beware! They're usually above a pit or spike trap. After they've fallen, a few seconds later they'll reappear. (You cannot jump through them from below.) Falling blocks don't harm players they fall on.

Brick blocks (aka breakable blocks) look like stacked bricks.
The most common way to break them is to have a powerup (any powerup) and jump to hit the brick block from below. If you don't have a powerup (if you're small-sized), then you cannot break them.
Other ways to break brick blocks include flinging a hammer/sickle at them, shooting them (from the side) with a cannonball while you have the tank powerup, or dropping a bomb on them (from above) when you have the bomb powerup.

Item blocks are the most important, labelled with the Russian letter Ч. If they look fully yellow, like this, then they have an item inside, ready to be deployed.
Jump and hit them from below to make the item come out from the top of the block.
(Or, you can use powerups like the hammer/sickle, tank, or bomb (see above). Items will come out of the opposite end that you struck.)
What comes out of the top is random. If you're lucky, a powerup item will come out. If you're less lucky, you'll only get one coin. If you're unlucky, a wild animal NPC enemy will come out.

Once a player (any player) hits an item block, it turns brown, like this. There is no longer an item inside, so don't bother hitting it.

Slowly, the item block will fill back up with orange colour, like this. This takes 30 seconds. Once it's all the way filled up, there's another item inside, so it's time to hit it again!

These blocks are deceptive. They look like item blocks, but in reality, they are hard blocks. You can tell by the colour -- it varies by level type, but it's never yellow nor brown like real item blocks are. They also don't have dots on each corner.

Other players are your main cause of danger, but there are a couple of wild animals (NPCs) that could kill you too.
They will only appear in a level when someone hits an item block, and even then, it's random chance.
When one of them comes out of an item block, they take a second to emerge. There's just enough time to jump above the block and stomp on them if you want to. Even touching them from the side while they're still emerging, will kill them.
Once they're out of the block, though? Don't touch these creatures from the sides or from the bottom, they will hurt you from a mere touch.
Luckily, there's only two of them to keep track of.

Naked mole rats (aka Moles) will simply walk forward. They turn around if they hit a wall/block, but they don't turn around if they are going to fall down stairs or into a pit.
If you jump on them or hit them with a powerup's power, they die in one hit. They also die if they touch a level hazard (except water).
But if they're walking around somewhere safe, they'll never de-spawn.

This hermit crab works just like the mole, with a couple exceptions:
Sometimes it turns around when it reaches the end of a platform and sometimes it doesn't. (Possible bug?)
If you jump on it, only the tin can is left over. Jumping on the can or walking into it from the side will cause the can to move just like a Koopa Shell from the Super Mario series. It's fast and dangerous, to both you and your opponents. Don't touch it at all when it's in motion.
The moving tin can eventually de-spawns, but the walking crab does not de-spawn.
They can be killed by powerups and level hazards.

There are two strategies to dealing with these suckers:
1) Avoid them entirely. This won't put you in harm's way and it leaves obstacles for your opponents to (potentially) deal with.
2) Stomp 'em. This is a little more dangerous since you might get hurt by mistake, but you do get a few experience points for every NPC you kill, so it might be worth your while to take them out.
It's a risk vs. reward system. It's up to your play style, and the situation unfolding on the battlefield at the time.
Note: No, you can't kill them by hitting the block under them, no matter what Mario taught you.

Gold coins. Collecting them doesn't do anything during the match, but it does add to your exp points, so they're useful for getting a boost toward your next level-up.

Conduit (aka Pipes) come in all colours, but they're the same. They can stick up from the ground, stick out sideways from a wall, or stick down from the ceiling/sky.
While touching the middle of the pipe's opening, press your joystick or arrow keys toward it to enter the pipe.
The pipe will take you to the level directly above or below you, since each level comes in pairs.
Note: if you're in an underworld, a downwards pipe will still take you to the overworld, as confusing as that seems. And sometimes sideways pipes will take you to the other side of the level instead of to the level above/below you.
Pipes that are blocked on the other side by the Pain Wall or that have caps on them cannot be entered.

Water! When you're under the water, you can jump over and over again, mid-water. And let go to sink down. Use that to control your height.
For even more control over your movement, you can hold down while tapping jump -- that will make you swim upward in small increments instead of your normal swim. This is great when you want to swim left/right staying roughly level. Or, you can hold up while tapping jump -- that will make you swim upward in big bursts.
You can hold your breath forever, so don't worry about that.

Shallow water in Nuclear Bunker is something you can run across, but it slows your running speed.

Small snow piles also slow down your running when you go through them.
They are only found in Mountains of Siberia.

Tall bushes don't slow your running. Instead, if you're short enough, you can hide behind them from other players, because your avatar sprite goes behind them. Even your nametag is hidden.
Careful: you can still be hurt or pushed around while behind a bush.
They are only found in Mountains of Siberia.

Manhole geysers look like innocent ground at first, but when a player steps on them, a geyser shoots into the air, taking the manhole cover with it.
The manhole cover is still a stable platform, and can be used to reach new heights for a couple seconds. The geyser itself acts as a temporary wall, until it goes back down again.
They appear in Moscow Streets.

Tetrominoes only appear in one section of Moscow Streets.
One after the other, they slowly descend from the sky into a pit. Very shortly after any player jumps off of a tetromino, it rotates 90 degrees. Take care not to be pushed off.

Glitch effects appear here and there in every level, especially in the background and on top of hard blocks.

If you see a big mass of glitch effects, that's where a player died. Every player death causes a burst of glitch artifacts that linger in the background and on top of blocks (especially hard blocks).

(The lore behind this is that the Dendy console can't render ambitious particle effects very well, and instead of displaying particle effects upon death, the screen in that area becomes glitchy.)

If you want to practice and experiment with how level hazards interact with you and opponents: Select "Practice" from the main menu, and break your way into the secret room on the left side of the screen.

Let's separate them into categories.
Bubble currents pull you up or down, probably toward a second hazard. Fight the current!
They are found in Irradiated Waters.

Bunker crushers open wide, then press together slowly.
The crushers do this on an automatic cycle, instead of being motion-triggered.
Luckily, they give you plenty of warning and don't move fast.
If a player is caught between them when they press together, they will get a little stuck, but it's harmless. Escape is usually possible by jumping left/right.
Exception: Matryoshka Dolls and Tanks are tall enough to get damaged by the crushers when they put on the squeeze. And small players (no powerup) fit right through with ease.
When they're closed, they're very hard to squeeze into, basically becoming walls. You have to wait to open back up on their own (unless you can aim a very tricky crouch-jump inside). This can be dangerous if a threat is at your heels.

These hazards will not kill you nor make you lose your powerup. Instead, you'll be knocked backward and momentarily stunned. This isn't a big deal on its own, but it can be the difference between life and death if an opponent (or other hazard) is nearby to take advantage of your vulnerability.

Electric conduit (aka Electric pipes) act like normal pipes do, with one exception. See those exposed wires? Every once in a while, you'll see them spark a little bit. That's a warning that they're about to send a big electric shock through that pipe soon. Standing close enough to touch the blue electricity will stun you and knock you back.
If the wires aren't sparking, then it's safe to stand on the pipe and enter it.

Electric Coral stays still and waits for you to swim into it by accident, or get pulled toward it by bubble currents.
It's found in Irradiated Waters.


Spinning electric cords rotate slowly around one fixed point (one hard block).
Touching them will knock you backward and stun you, and this can be very dangerous with other hazards nearby. They're found in Kremlin Castle.

Zap gaps are vertical "walls" of electricity that turn on and off.
They do this on an automatic cycle, instead of being motion-triggered.
They're found in Nuclear Bunker.




These hazards will make you lose your powerup, or if you don't have a powerup, you'll merely be stunned and knocked back like the previous category. This means they can't kill you all the way on their own.

Sawblades travel left and right along their set path, reversing direction once they hit the end of the line. They're found in Moscow Streets and Mountains of Siberia.

Naval mines float in place underwater.
There are two sizes, but both are equally dangerous.
They are found only in Irradiated Waters.

Fire plumes jump up high from pits of boiling oil/acid.
They do this on an automatic cycle, instead of being motion-triggered.
They're found in Kremlin Castle.

Decadent chandeliers are one-way platforms that players can jump through and step on. If a player steps on them for a very short time, they won't fall. But if a player stands on them for any longer than that, then they will shake, then fall.
Any players touching the bottom or side of the chandelier when it's falling, or even when it's shaking, will take damage. They are found in Kremlin Castle.

Pits are simply the bottom of the level. Anywhere there isn't ground or platforms, you fall off the bottom of the screen and lose your powerup. After that, you slowly float back up in a bubble. You have to wait for it to pop on its own, putting you back on the ground. While you're in a bubble, you're immune to powerups (except the Bat and Vodka) and you're very vulnerable to wild animals and being STOMPED.
(The intention was to take kills/KOs away from the level hazards and give them to the players. The bubble system means a fall in a pit = a player getting that kill/KO.)

There's one exception: Skies Over Chernobyl is a level where you may fall into a pit without harm. It drops you into the underworld level, Irradiated Waters.

These hazards will hurt you. You'll lose your powerup, or if you don't have a powerup, you'll die.

Lava or Acid is a pit of bubbling red or dark-green liquid. It's a common habitat for fireballs. They are found in Kremlin Castle.

Spikes sit still on the floor, ceiling, or wall.
They hurt you if you touch them. Simple as that.

Shock boxes will fire a small electric bolt projectile to the side whenever a player steps on top of the orb or jumps off of it.
The electric bolt travels straight and only stops when it hits a wall/block. This can be used offensively. The player who activated the shock box is immune to the bolt. The player who shot the bolt gets credit for the PVP kill/KO.
The easiest way to dodge the electric bolt is usually ducking.
Shock boxes are found in the Crypts.

These hazards kill you in one hit, regardless of powerups. Even the Vodka will not save you.

The Stone Stalin Squisher will sit still on the ceiling or floor. When any player is above or below Stalin, his eyes light up, and he quickly ascends or descends, smashing into the floor or ceiling. He stays there until he's triggered again.
It's safe to run across his head or touch him from the side. Stalin is found in the Crypts.
By the way, the creepy hands above and below him don't do anything except warn you where Stalin will land.

The Pain Wall (aka the Iron Curtain) is the most dangerous, and final, hazard in the game.
After 30 seconds in every match, the Pain Wall will spawn at some place in the level. It does this in both the overworld and underworld. From that point onward, the Pain Wall, along with its deadly spikes, extends to the side. The walls of the level literally close in on you, making a chunk-chunk-chunk noise as they approach. It moves fast, so make sure to run away.

Warning: Do not try to escape the Pain Wall through a pipe if it is very close by. The Pain Wall is on both the overworld and the underworld, and it can catch up to you during the time it takes to go through a pipe. You may find yourself on the other side, dead on arrival.

You can keep track of where the Pain Wall is on the minimap at the bottom of the screen. The red part with spikes is the Pain Wall and the yellow arrow is your position. When it first appears (as an exclamation mark symbol), it's wise to check.
As the Pain Wall extends, it encroaches on both sides -- the level loops, you see, so when you go off the left side of the minimap, you come back on the right side, and vice versa. The Pain Wall makes the level smaller and smaller.
When the Pain Wall's two sides come close to meeting in the middle, their speed slows dramatically. They will inch toward each other at this point, giving you a very small part of the level to play in. Often, this is the part of the match where the final few players die, leaving just two players remaining.

When the Pain Wall closes in on both sides, and there are only two players remaining, a special event will occur.

This referee will pop up and ask you if you want to duel. If both players hold down crouch for long enough to agree to the duel, then both players will be teleported into a duelling arena: the boxing ring.

The boxing ring has plenty of room and is flat. It provides the two remaining players with a good place to battle on even ground.
(The orange ropes are a little bouncy on top and on the sides. If you hold jump on top of them, you'll jump high.)
When you enter the ring, you'll keep the powerups you had. If you lack powerups, you'll be given two free Potatoes: one equipped, and one in your inventory.
Use your jumping skills and your powerups to defeat your opponent!
However, even in the ring, the Pain Wall will slowly close in on you from either side.

If at least one player declines the duel when the referee asks, then the Pain Wall will continue to close in on both players until there is only one tile left of space to stand.
If you find yourself in this situation, position yourself in the exact middle between the Pain Walls. Be pixel-perfect. (Tip: try looking at the edges of your username to help you. If both edges hit the spikes at the same time, you're in a great spot.)

At the end of every match, you'll see your stats.

• Rank: For example, if you were the last player left surviving, you will be rank 1, or if you were the last player to be killed, you will be rank 2.
  
• PVP kills: How many other players you killed. (~18 points per kill)
  
• NPC kills: How many wild animals you killed. (~16 points per kill)
  
• Coins: How many gold coins you collected. (~5 points per coin)
  
• Time: How long you survived, counting up. This one gets you lots of points. (~4 points per second)
  
• Damage: How many times you dealt damage to other players. (~14 points per damage)
  
• Rank bonus: Extra points awarded for getting a high rank. Only given out in matches with a high player count.

All of these factors are added up to give you more exp points. The more exp points you get, the farther you'll go toward your next level-up.
Levelling up does not give you better strength or stats, but it does give you a free voucher every time.

Every time you level up*, you receive one voucher. You can get to Capitalist Corner by going all the way back to the main menu, and selecting the voucher.

Once in Capitalist Corner, you receive three random Fabergé eggs. Inside are random prizes. You could receive new avatars, new colour palettes for your avatars, new sound effect sets, new particle effects, new calling cards (gravestones), new taunts, or new emotes.

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You get three prizes and you receive all three -- you don't have to "pick."
Press left and right to look at the details of your prizes. If you want to equip some of them right away, you can do that from here. If you change your mind later, you can go to the customization screen later.

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Note: If you receive a colour palette for an avatar you didn't have yet, you receive that avatar. At least, in that one particular colour.

You won't get items that you already had unlocked, luckily.

Please note that everything in these eggs are cosmetic changes for fun only. They will not give you an edge in battle.

*Once you reach level 50, you no longer get a voucher for every level-up, but instead for every five level-ups.

The warehouse is where you can go when you want to use the in-game coins you've earned, or even real money, to buy new customization prizes.
You can get there from the main menu or from the bottom of the customization screen.
Here is the layout of the warehouse:
On the left side, in the big tall box, you can buy new avatars. For example, this zombie.

In the top-middle box, you can buy new sound effect sets (the cassette tapes).

In the top-right box, you can buy new taunts, assigned to specific characters. For example, this taunt can only be used while you're playing as Mr. Klean.
Note: If you see a character in this small box, you are not buying a new avatar to play as. That is a taunt. Buying a taunt for an avatar you do not yet own doesn't mean you'll unlock the avatar.

In the bottom-middle box, you can buy new particle effects. For example, if you buy this one, golden rings will fling out of you when you start running, change direction, etc.

In the bottom-right box, you can buy new calling cards (gravestones). For example, if you KO an opponent, they'll leave behind this cute snake where they died. (Or if you die to an NPC, you'll leave behind your own calling card.)

You cannot buy emotes here.

Unfortunately, the preview windows for sounds, particle effects, and calling cards are currently empty. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update.

Don't like the selection you see here? Every 24 hours, the warehouse will randomize its stock to something different. You can see how long you have left to wait in the top left corner.

In the top right corner, you can see how many Jump Coins you own, and how many Red Coins you own. Either one can be used to buy from the warehouse.
To get Jump Coins, select the button in the top-middle. You will use real-life money to exchange for Jump Coins.
To get Red Coins, you will have to get lucky and find some in one of Capitalist Corner's Fabergé Eggs. But at least those are free with every level-up.
If you can't wait for your next level-up to get a voucher, you can hit the button on the bottom to exchange Jump Coins for vouchers. (You cannot use Red Coins)

Every category of prize costs the same amount -- an avatar and a particle effect (of the same rarity) are the same price, for example. However, the higher the rarity, the more expensive the prize.

• (Peasant and Prole rarity items are not available here.)
  
• Bourgeois rarity is blue. They cost 60 Red Coins or 500 Jump Coins.
  
• Intelligentsia rarity is pink/red. They cost 400 Red Coins or 1000 Jump Coins.
  
• PartyElite rarity is orange. They cost 1200 Red Coins or 1800 Jump Coins.

Please note that you cannot use Gold Coins (from levels) to buy things.
Please note that everything in the warehouse are cosmetic changes for fun only. They will not give you an edge in battle. Therefore, there is zero "pay-to-win" in this game.
Please note that it might be possible to buy something you already own. Don't waste your coins, double-check what you own first.

In the customization screen, you can set your avatar, your avatar's colour palette, your sound effects, your particle effects, your calling card (gravestone), and your taunt.

At the beginning of your SJG career, you start with the Default sound pack, particle, calling card, and taunt, which are Peasant rarity items. You also play with a randomly-assigned Peasant rarity avatar, at least until you unlock another avatar later on.

Let's start with avatars!
On the top row, you can switch between the characters, sounds, and effects tabs by tapping left/right.

Go down one from the tabs and you'll be on the name of your selected character. Tap left/right to look through all the avatars. Tap jump/confirm to equip the avatar you want -- you'll know it's equipped by the rainbow outline.

Go down one from there and you'll be on the colour palettes (the 5 squares). Most of these are probably locked, but you can tap left/right and equip one of them in the same way.

Below that (you can't select this) are a bunch of coloured lines. These represent all the avatars.

• Dark blue lines are ones you haven't unlocked yet.
  
• White lines (or the three lines on the left here) are Peasant rarity avatars, only available to newcomers who don't have any avatars unlocked yet.
  
• Green lines are Prole rarity avatars that you have unlocked.
  
• Light blue lines are Bourgeois rarity avatars that you have unlocked.
  
• Pink lines are Intelligentsia rarity avatars that you have unlocked.
  
• Orange lines are PartyElite rarity avatars that you have unlocked.
  
• Gold lines are Nomenklatura rarity avatars that you have unlocked. You can only get these by purchasing a starter pack or founder's pack through Steam DLC.
  
• The white box around one rainbow line shows you which avatar you currently have equipped.
  
• The red box around one line shows you which avatar you're currently looking at.

If you go down to the very bottom and then go left, you can toggle "Unlocked only." This will filter out any avatars you don't own yet, and let you pick only from the ones you do own.

Next let's move to the sounds tab.
Go down one from the tabs and you'll be on the poses of your avatar. Tap left/right to browse through all the poses. You'll hear a sample of the sound your avatar will make when it jumps, when it changes direction, when it swims, and when it dies.

Go down one from there and you'll be on the name of your selected sound pack. While you're here, the four sound effects will scroll and play automatically. Tap left/right to look through all the sound packs. You can listen to all of them, even the locked ones! Tap jump/confirm to equip the pack you want -- you'll know it's equipped by the rainbow outline.

If you go down to the very bottom and then go left, you can toggle "Unlocked only." This will filter out any sound packs you don't own yet, and let you pick only from the ones you do own.
Note: This also filters out the Default pack, the one all the way to the left.

Lastt, let's move to the effects tab.
Go down one from the tabs and you'll be on a new set of tabs, where to can flip between setting your particle effects, your calling card, your taunt, and your emotes.

Your particle effects fly off of your avatar's feet when they change direction, when they get bumped by other players from the side, when they reach top run speed, etc.
(Nomenklatura rarity particle effects are exclusive to beta testers and tournament champs.)

Your calling card is like a gravestone. If you KO an opponent, they'll leave behind your calling card object where they died. (Or if you die to a level hazard, you'll leave behind your own calling card.)

Your taunt is a special pose. By default, it's just a normal crouch/duck -- it shows up when you hold down. But every avatar has a unique down taunt that they can unlock or buy. Just one for each avatar! So you can choose between the default crouch or the more custom taunt.

Your emotes are a set of reaction faces you can display at any time during a game or in the lobby. You can hold up to eight at one time. To equip a set of eight emotes, first move your selection onto the first face you want. Press confirm. Move your arrow keys/joystick to one of the eight directions you choose, keep it held there, and press confirm again. Repeat this process with seven other faces until all slots are filled.

If you go down to the very bottom and then go left, you can toggle "Unlocked only." This will filter out any effects you don't own yet, and let you pick only from the ones you do own.
Note: This also filters out the Default effect, the one all the way to the left.

The controls menu allows you to change between keyboard controls or a game controller. You can also rebind your controller controls.

The display menu allows you to:

• Switch between exclusive fullscreen, fullscreen window, maximized window, and windowed mode
  
• Adjust resolution
  
• Adjust refresh rate
  
• Adjust aspect ratio
  
• Adjust scaling to: pixel perfect cropped, pixel perfect letterboxed, stretched interpolated, or stretched nearest neighbour
  
• Toggle V sync on/off
  
• Toggle glitch visual effects on/off

The audio menu allows you to adjust the volume of sound effects and music.

The network menu allows you to:

• Choose the server region you prefer. Where in the world to do you want to connect to? (If you want to join a match with a friend, make sure you're in the same server region, and try to join at the same time.)
  
• Toggle your connection status on/off
  
• Toggle the player names above everyone's heads on/off. (Player names are tied to Steam usernames.)
  
• Join a private match, if you have the room code for it. (As of Febrary 2020, there is no way to create a private match, yet.)