How to Play Past Strike
Past Strike is a free, real-time multiplayer arena game that runs in your browser on desktop and mobile — no download, no sign-up required. Every player controls two things at once: a Body that hunts and a Core that walks the Body's exact path a few seconds later. Your Body can never be destroyed. Your Core is your only weakness.
The three pieces
Body — your weapon
Moves instantly wherever you aim. It is invincible: nothing can hurt it. Touch an enemy Core with your Body and that player is consumed, bursting into energy you can collect.
Core — your weakness
A glowing orb that retraces your route with a time delay called the echo. If any enemy Body touches it, you are out. It cannot be steered directly — only by where your Body has already been.
Tether — the prophecy
The neon line from Core to Body is the exact path the Core will travel. The small dots on it mark where the Core will be every third of a second. Read enemy tethers to know where their Core is heading next.
Controls
- Desktop: move the mouse — your Body follows the cursor, and the farther the cursor, the faster you move. Click or Space triggers Surge, a short dash with extra knockback (about a 3-second cooldown). WASD or the arrow keys also work.
- Mobile: touch and drag anywhere to steer with the floating joystick, and tap the SURGE button to dash.
The echo: growth versus risk
You start small, with a 5-second echo: your Core is far behind you and hard to find, so sneaking, ambushing and escaping are your strengths. Collect energy orbs and consume other players to gain mass. As you grow, your Body and Core get bigger and the echo shrinks — down to half a second at the top.
Big players dominate the arena and push everyone around, but their Core rides right behind them. One mistake and a small, fast player can loop around and strike it. When a player gets very large their mass slowly decays, so the leader has to keep fighting — and the current leader is marked with a gold star on everyone's minimap.
Collisions and knockback
Body against Body: nobody dies, but both are knocked back. Heavier Bodies push harder, and a Surge more than doubles your push. Use it to throw an enemy away from their own Core — or away from yours.
Wall-bounce trap: knock an enemy hard into a wall and they are stunned for a moment. Because their Core follows the same path, it will stall in exactly the same spot a few seconds later — a sitting target.
The arena
- Solid blocks: hide your Body behind a wall while your Core passes safely on the other side.
- Line of sight: walls block vision. You only see what your Body and your Core can see — the server does not even send hidden positions, so wallhacks cannot work.
- Choke points: narrow corridors fit one player. The largest players cannot enter them at all, and a big player who does squeeze in makes their Core's path completely predictable for anyone waiting at the exit.
- Core Zone: the glowing center of the map spawns more energy. Controlling it is powerful — and dangerous.
Advanced tactics
- Body blocking: park your invincible Body between an attacker and your incoming Core.
- Ambush corners: circle a block slowly so enemies expect your Core on one side, then burst out of the other.
- Loop-de-loop: spin in a tight area to tie your tether into a knot and hide where your Core will come out.
- Hit the side, not the front: a large enemy's Core is close behind them — flank it instead of chasing the Body.
- Watch the core cam: when your Core is off screen, a round inset in the corner shows it, and an arrow points to it. A red pulse means an enemy Body is near your Core.
Ranks and Rank Points
You earn Rank Points (RP) by consuming players — more for bigger and higher-ranked victims — plus a bonus for your peak mass and survival time. Dying costs RP from Silver upward; Bronze players never lose points. Tiers: Bronze, Silver (250), Gold (600), Platinum (1,100), Diamond (1,800), Master (2,700) and Legend (4,000). To keep rankings fair, repeated kills of the same player within five minutes, kills of brand-new players and kills from the same network give no RP. Leaderboards show the overall rating, today's best and all-time records.
Guest or account
Play instantly as a guest — your progress is saved on that device. Or create a free account to keep your rank on any device, get a verified badge and make sure nobody else can play under your name. Accounts support two-factor authentication and one-time recovery codes, and no email address is needed.
Arenas and playing with friends
Players are spread across arenas automatically, and new arenas open when busy. Press Invite in the menu to copy a link that puts your friends in your arena.
Frequently asked questions
Is Past Strike free?
Yes. It is funded by ads shown outside gameplay and by voluntary support from players. There is nothing to buy and no pay-to-win.
Do I need to download anything?
No. It runs in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
Why can't I see an enemy behind a wall?
That is line of sight, a core part of the strategy. Use walls to hide and to set up ambushes.
I forgot my password. What now?
Use one of the recovery codes you saved when you signed up, via "Forgot password?" on the log-in screen.
How do I report a cheater or appeal a ban?
Visit the contact page and include the player name, arena number and time.