Fix the computer. Then go inside it.
Keep ARK alive
- Four meters: power, heat, memory, integrity. Hit zero integrity and it's over.
- Three actions a day: scavenge the ruins, repair ARK, upgrade BIT.
- Pick the compression speed. Faster finishes sooner but runs hot and loud.
- Random events: a raccoon merchant, a dating app match with a smart fridge, Schrödinger's crate.
Dive into the hardware
- One thumb: drag anywhere to move, BIT fires on his own.
- Level up mid-dive. Max a weapon and evolve it: DDoS, Firestorm, kill -9. Every act unlocks new weapons and upgrades.
- Every zone fights back: falling memory chips, bad sectors, packet trains, sweeping uplink beams.
- Die and you replay the night. ARK takes the damage.
Endless mode
- Pick any part of ARK and survive as long as you can. No days, no timer.
- Malware from all three acts, the twelve new ones included, ramping up forever.
- Bosses drop in on their own. Then two at once. Then three.
- Spend scrap in the workshop after every boss. Beat your best time.
ARK vs. other computers
- Two computers, one motherboard. Send malware down the data buses and burn through their firewalls.
- Bandwidth refills on its own. Spend it on cards, 37 of them.
- Pack your Boot Disk: the 8 cards you bring to each fight.
- Take a firewall for a star. Take their CPU for all three. Three minutes on the clock.
- Six opponents, starting with Gary. Nobody knows what the last one is.
- Every match pays scrap, win or lose. More on Red Team ↓
37 cards. Room for 8.
Red Team grew up. Twenty new kinds of malware, eight tools only ARK has, and a disk too small for all of it. Choose well. Or don't, and get paid anyway.
Pack light
- 37 cards: 26 kinds of malware both sides use, a honeypot, quarantine, BIT himself, and 8 tools only ARK has.
- You start with eight. Every computer you beat hands over its malware.
- Pick the 8 you bring. The rest stay home and sulk.
- Buy ARK's tools with scrap: Antivirus, Fork Bomb, Spam, Evil Twin, Keylogger, Signal Jammer, Patch and Overclock Boost.
Losing pays. Less.
- Every match pays scrap, win or lose.
- Lose and you're paid for the damage you did and the stars you took.
- Win for more, and a bonus the first time you beat a computer.
- Level cards up, five levels each, or buy ARK's tools. Then go back and settle things with Gary.
A few of the new cards
How BIT gets inside.
Plugged in, compressed, streamed
- ARK plugs a cable into BIT and compresses his whole mind down to 4.2 MB.
- BIT streams up the cable into whichever part of ARK is infected tonight.
- Inside, he's microscopic. The malware isn't.
From the RAM to the satellite.
Boot
Inside ARK's own parts: RAM, processor, graphics card, hard drive and power supply. Bugs, worms, Trojan horses, webcam spyware, padlock ransomware and pop-up adware. New: Script Kiddies (in threes), Scareware, Buffer Overflows and Macro Viruses.
The Network
A ping from outside. Into the network card, the wireless router and the wireless card. Botnet zombie PCs, phishing hooks, DDoS swarms, keyloggers and an evil twin. New: SQL Injections, Cookie Stealers, Clickjackers, Pop-up Storms and Browser Hijackers.
The Upload
The satellite passes overhead and the archive is almost compressed. BIT goes outside: the solar panels on the roof, the satellite dish, and up a radio beam to the satellite itself. Zero-days, signal jammers and packet loss. New: Brute Force, Backdoors and Ghost Processes.
Twelve more things that want BIT dead.
The Red Team malware moved into Story and Overclock. Each act gets its own, and you get a heads-up the first time you meet one. After that, you're on your own.
Each one is a classic way computers die.
Earn them. Or find them.
BIT comes in factory cyan. The rest you earn by playing, and four are hidden behind nerd secrets. Every paint job also gives BIT a head start in Story and Overclock.
Every zone looks like the part it is.
Two ways to play.
▶ In your browser
- Open lastboot.io/play on your phone or computer.
- Phone: drag to move. Computer:
WASDor arrow keys,Escto pause. - Your save stays in that browser on that device.
- Want it on your home screen? Tap . It opens full screen and works offline, on Android, iPhone and computers.
⬇ Android app
- Tap Download the APK in Chrome. If Chrome warns about the file type, tap Download anyway.
- Open the file and allow Install unknown apps for Chrome when asked.
- New versions install right over the old one. Your save is kept.
Before you boot.
Is it free?
Yes. No ads, no in-app purchases. An account is only needed to play with friends, and it's just a username and password.
What's new in 2.0?
Play Red Team against your friends, live. Make an account in the game (just a username and password, no email), add friends by name or friend code, see who's online and invite them. Every card is the same level on both sides, so it's fair.
What's new in 1.5?
Red Team got 20 new kinds of malware, 8 tools only ARK has, the Boot Disk, and scrap for every match, win or lose. Twelve of the new malware also turn up at night in Story and Overclock.
Is the APK safe to install?
It's the same game as the browser version, wrapped in a small Android app. It asks for two permissions: vibration, used when BIT gets hit, and internet, used only to play with friends. Android warns about any app installed outside the Play Store; that's normal.
Does it work on iPhone?
Yes, in Safari at lastboot.io/play. Add it to your home screen and it plays full screen, offline.
How long is a game?
About 30 nights across 3 acts, roughly 2 to 3 hours. It saves after every phase, so you can play a night at a time.
Where is my save?
On your device: in the app, or in the browser you played in. Clearing that browser's data clears the save.
The swearing. Can I turn it off?
Settings has a clean mode. ARK is still rude, just with symbols.