Guide · 04

Trap manual: warning first, damage second

Every road hazard gives you a line, a light, a sound, or a timing window. See the tell. Move before the hit.

Traps do not ask whether your guns are good. They ask whether your steering is ready. A large squad is wider and longer, so a hazard can catch soldiers after the centre looks safe. Move early, hold the safe lane until the full formation clears, and do not overcorrect into the next hazard. The road is 12.4 metres wide, but many traps cover only part of it or cycle off long enough to cross.

The first sector teaches spikes. Sector 2 can add flame and mines. Sector 3 can add lasers and crushers. Sector 4 can add airstrikes. Saws, spikes, and toxic pools can appear from the start. Every generated trap leaves a safe line or a safe timing window. When a combination appears, solve the immediate marked danger first; automatic fire handles what it can.

Saw rail

Telegraph: a full-width rail, side housings, red lamps, sparks, and the moving circular blade. Timing: the blade sweeps side to side over a 2.8–3.8 second cycle. Counter: watch the blade, not the lane stripe. Move into the space it just left and cross only when its path is moving away from your formation. The saw itself kills soldiers it touches and shreds zombies too, so do not walk into it to save bullets.

There is no permanently safe side: the blade travels across the whole road. The safe answer is time. At a high squad count, start the move before the blade reaches the centre because rear soldiers trail the formation. Do not hug the blade’s rail; it has a damaging radius around the disc.

Spike plate

Telegraph: a striped rectangular plate with red lights that flash before the spikes rise. Timing: each plate uses a 2.4-second cycle: down, a warning window, up, then retract. Counter: steer around the plate’s marked width, or wait for the spikes to retract before crossing. The plate covers a 5–8 metre portion of the road, never all of it.

Do not cut back across the plate at the last second. Its spikes remain active through the raised part of the cycle. Pick the open side, commit, then straighten out after the full squad clears. The plate also hurts zombies; that does not make its lane safe for you.

Flame bar

Telegraph: a full-width nozzle bar. The five nozzles glow orange before they fire. Timing: alternating nozzle columns fire over a 2.6-second cycle; adjacent columns use opposite phases. Counter: run through the dark nozzles, not the glowing or firing ones. The safe line moves from one set of columns to the other, so watch the individual nozzles instead of treating the bar as one solid wall.

Flame hurts soldiers in a narrow band at the bar, but it also burns zombies for three seconds. Cross cleanly. Do not pause at the row to use it as a damage tool: a late formation can be caught as a nozzle changes state.

Laser fence

Telegraph: posts at both road edges and red horizontal beams. The beams appear dim and flash during warning. Timing: the fence is off for the first part of a 3–4 second cycle, warns briefly, then turns fully on. Counter: cross while it is off. When the beams are on, they cover the full road and are not a lane puzzle.

Respect the warning flash. If you are close when it starts warning, stop trying to force the crossing line and let the timing reset. A live laser is an all-road cut. One clean wait loses less than one full squad contact.

Crusher

Telegraph: a striped hydraulic frame covering half the road; its red ground shadow brightens as the block lowers. Timing: it waits overhead, lowers during warning, slams quickly, stays down, then rises on a 3.2-second cycle. Counter: take the open half immediately. The crusher’s chosen half is fixed for that obstacle, so there is no prize for waiting under it.

Move far enough into the free half that a wide formation does not trail under the block. Do not return until it has fully risen. The slam kills in the covered half-road strip and can erase a careless line instantly.

Minefield

Telegraph: a MINEFIELD sign, scattered dark discs, blinking red LEDs, and a faster beep when a soldier is close. Timing: a mine arms until a soldier or zombie enters its close radius, then beeps for about 0.35 seconds and explodes. Counter: weave through the visible gaps or shoot mines early. Mines are shootable at one hit point; destroying one detonates it, so clear it before the squad reaches its blast radius.

A mine blast damages zombies and can chain into nearby shootable props. That is a bonus, not a reason to stand close. Do not rely on automatic aim to clear every mine when a horde is nearer; steer the safe gap first. Mines are road-length fields, roughly 14–22 metres long, so keep reading past the first clear spot.

Toxic pool

Telegraph: a signed green pool with vapour and bubbling glow. Timing: it is always active. Counter: go around. Toxic pools cover a 4.5–7 metre width and stretch 8–14 metres along the road, leaving a side line. Soldiers standing in the pool take repeated losses about every 0.4 seconds.

This is the trap most likely to punish a slow correction. Entering a pool is not one hit; staying in it keeps paying. Move to the open edge before the formation reaches the front of the pool. Do not drift back across it for a crate unless the reward clearly outweighs the continued loss.

Airstrike zone

Telegraph: an AIRSTRIKE ZONE sign, a whistle, and orange-red circles painted on the road. Timing: while you are inside the 40-metre zone, strikes target where the squad is expected to be and land after roughly 1.35 seconds. Counter: keep moving laterally away from each circle. Do not stop in the centre after dodging one impact; another target can be placed ahead.

The circle is the contract. If the squad is outside it when the bomb lands, it misses. The strike itself also damages enemies, but do not try to use the blast without a clear exit path. Its repeated targets make a straight, stationary run the worst possible plan.

Road hazards that deserve your bullets

Explosive barrels

Red barrels appear with hordes. Shoot them early to create a 3.6-metre explosion that damages nearby zombies. Touching a barrel can set it off near your squad. Do not drive through the barrel cluster. If two barrels are close, a destroyed barrel can leave the next one nearly broken and trigger a chain reaction.

Barricades

A barricade spans the road and physically stops forward movement until it is destroyed. It is labeled SHOOT TO BREAK and is commonly escorted by enemies. Focus it immediately once it becomes the nearest target; standing against it lets the escort pile up and lets later danger catch you. Its health starts around 900 in the first sector and scales by 1.6 per sector.

Enemy turrets

Turrets sit near a road edge with a red sight line. Once within their active range, they fire about every 0.55 seconds and each shot has a chance to pick off one soldier. Destroy the turret rather than racing past it with a weak squad. A turret pays 10 coins when destroyed and its destruction explosion hurts enemies but not your squad.

Supply crates and rescue cages

They are not traps, but they compete for your fire. A crate says SHOOT TO OPEN and contains a weapon tier, grenade, medkit, or coins. A weapon crate at maximum tier becomes 30 coins. A rescue cage says SHOOT TO FREE and grants its displayed survivors. Take either only when it is not pulling aim away from a more urgent enemy, barricade, or turret.

Which sector introduces what

One habit that saves runs

Look ahead as soon as the current problem is solved. The game gives a warning before harm. If you wait until the formation reaches a plate, a beam, or a circle, the decision is already late. Steer toward the safe lane while bullets finish the old target. Then use the new lane to aim your automatic fire at the next target.