How to play

Getting started

Blaster, joining, before the game

Connect your blaster

Switch the blaster on and tap the blaster icon at the top. NovaCoil lists the blasters nearby: tap yours. Every shot of a blaster flashes its row, so you see which one belongs to your phone – give it a name to tell blasters of the same type apart.

No blaster at hand? Use the simulated blaster: buttons on the screen fire and reload. The small bar under the blaster icon shows its charge; in the blaster list it shows in percent. Recoil on or off is in the settings, unless the game master switches it on for everyone.

Join a game

Be on the same Wi-Fi as the game; it needs no internet. Open games show up by themselves – tap one to join. Not found? Scan the host's QR code (in the host's lobby, and during the game in its top bar) or enter its address. Over the internet: enter the host's public address (see Game master → Play over the internet).

In the lobby the host moves players between the teams. "Rules" shows the game's settings, "How to play" its guide. The game starts when the host starts it.

Before the game

Charge the blasters and phones. Allow location: the map modes need GPS, and virtual cards work only with GPS within ±20 m. Keep NovaCoil open during the game and switch off battery saving for it, or the phone may cut the connection.

Turn on the voice in the settings: it says hits, health, out and respawn, so you can keep the phone in your pocket. Headphones are best for team voice.

In the game

The screen, out and respawn, weapons, team, map

The screen

At the bottom your health and ammo: the clip and the spare clips. Reload with the blaster's reload button. Above them the tacticals: your weapons and items – tap to use, hold to see the card.

The map shows you, your team, the playing field and the cards; the "?" on the map explains every symbol. The event line shows hits, kills and cards, at the top are the score and the time left.

Hits, out and respawn

Every hit costs health, by the weapon; the voice says what is left. At 0 you are out: the blaster is blocked, and the screen shows who took you out and when you are back.

Then you are back in by the clock – or, in games with bases or respawn points, only there: scan its card or stand in it. With lives, every out costs one; without lives left you are eliminated and watch. A healing card brings you back to full health, but not right after a hit.

Weapons and items

You start with your blaster's start weapon: the assault rifle on the rifle, the pistol on the pistol. More weapons and the tacticals come from loot boxes. Tap a weapon in the tacticals to take it up; a short press of the blaster's power button switches to the next one.

Every weapon has its own damage, clip and range – see "Weapons" below. A weapon with a pause between shots shows a ring running empty, and buzzes when it is ready again.

Your team

Team voice: hold the blaster's walkie-talkie button, or the microphone on the screen, to talk to your team – like a walkie-talkie, one at a time.

Ping: tap the map to mark a spot for your team; tap your ping again to take it away. Your team's dots are on the map; the opponents only with a sonar, or where the mode shows them.

The map

Your dot follows your phone's GPS. The line is the playing field's boundary – outside it a hazard may hurt. HQ marks the device that runs the game. A red circle: an air strike is coming – get out.

A virtual card works when you stand in its circle for a few seconds; it needs GPS within ±20 m. The top of the screen warns you when you leave the field.

Game master

Fields, maps, setup, remote control, Wi-Fi, internet

Build a playing field

Open the playing fields with the map icon at the top and tap "New playing field". Name it and tap the map to draw its boundary, point by point. Once the boundary is saved, NovaCoil downloads the offline map of the field (while there is internet), so the map also works on the field without it.

The game server hands the fields and their offline maps to every device that joins – the players need no download of their own.

Game maps: set up, assign, choose

On a field you set up game maps: one field can have several, e.g. one for Capture the Flag and one for Assault. Choose which modes a map is for, and place its markers: healing, ammo, loot boxes, bases for the teams, control points ALPHA to ECHO, respawn points. Each marker is a printed QR card, a virtual card with a circle, or a device in the field. Place QR cards on the map too, where they hang – then every player sees them.

When setting up the game, choose the playing field and the game map. The editor checks the map for the mode and tells you what is missing: Domination needs control points from ALPHA on, Assault at least three, Capture the Flag a base for every team. The game only starts when the map is ready.

Host and set up the game

Host & play: your phone runs the game and you play along. Game master only: the device runs the game without playing – a tablet shows the dashboard with map, players, score and the events.

Choose the mode (hold a tile for its guide), then the rules: health, game time, respawn time, lives, teams, ranked or not, free choice of weapons, recoil for everyone, spare clips. "More rules" has friendly fire, refilling at the bases, team voice, loot boxes for kill streaks, losing loot when out, HQ on the map, the hazard at the field boundary and more. In the lobby tap a player to move them to the next team, then start.

Set up remote control

Remote control lets other phones run the game: as admins they set up, start and end games from their own phone, e.g. while the tablet lies in the base. On the host, open "Remote control": it shows the admin code and its QR code; "New code" makes a new one.

On the admin's phone, join the game, open "Remote control" and type the code or scan the QR code. The host remembers its admins; remove one in the list. After five wrong codes the host takes no more codes from that phone until it restarts.

How players join

Found by itself: on the same Wi-Fi the game shows up in the players' lobby – one tap to join. By QR code: the host shows its QR code in the lobby, and during the game in its top bar; players scan it with "Scan the host's QR code". By address: "Enter server address" takes the host's IP address, which the host shows in its lobby – or IP:port for another port (e.g. 203.0.113.7:9000); without a port it is 8765.

Who joins during a game plays along from the next respawn; in Battle Royale they only watch. Without a blaster a player can still join, e.g. with the simulated blaster.

A Wi-Fi on the field

NovaCoil needs a Wi-Fi that all devices are on – not the internet. Easiest is a small travel router or any Wi-Fi router, switched on in the field: all phones and the tablet join it, and the game is found by itself.

Without a router, the device that runs the game opens a mobile hotspot, and the players join that hotspot. Make sure the Wi-Fi lets devices see each other: guest networks and "client isolation" block that. A hotspot without mobile data is fine; the offline maps come from the game server.

Play over the internet

The server can also be reached over the internet, e.g. when players are not on the same Wi-Fi. On the device that runs the game it always listens on port 8765 (TCP). In that device's router, forward a port to the device's IP address, port 8765 – the same 8765 outside, or another one, e.g. 9000. Players then use "Enter server address" with the router's public IP address or its DynDNS name: just the address for 8765, or address:port for another port (203.0.113.7:9000). The address the host shows in its lobby is the local one (e.g. 192.168.x.x) and does not work over the internet; the public IP address is in the router's settings or on a page like "what is my IP".

The game is not found by itself over the internet, and a phone on mobile data usually cannot host, because the carrier has no public address for it. The connection is not encrypted and anyone with the address can join: open the port only for the game, and close it afterwards.

A server on mobile data only

On mobile data a phone gets no public address – the carrier shares one among many – so no port can be forwarded to it. A VPN mesh like Tailscale (free for small groups) connects the devices anyway: install the Tailscale app on the device that runs the game and on every player's phone, sign in to the same Tailscale network (the host invites the players) and switch it on.

The server device then has its own Tailscale address (100.x.y.z, shown in the Tailscale app). Players tap "Enter server address" and type it – no router, no port forwarding. The game is not found by itself this way; team voice and the offline map work as on a Wi-Fi. The offline map goes to every player once over mobile data, which can be a few megabytes.

Game modes

Free For All

Take out as many players as you can.

How it works

Everyone against everyone. Every hit costs health, depending on the weapon; at 0 you are out, the shooter scores a kill. After the respawn time you are back in.

How to win

The most kills when the time is up – or the first to the kill limit, if the game master set one.

You need

Only blasters and phones. No map, no cards.

Tips

Healing only starts after 5 s without a hit – get out of sight. Watch your ammo and reload under cover.

Team Deathmatch

Your team takes out more opponents than the others.

How it works

Two to six teams. Every kill counts for your team. Hits by teammates only cost health if friendly fire is on; a teammate kill scores nothing.

How to win

The team with the most kills when the time is up – or the first team to the kill limit.

You need

Only blasters and phones. If your team has a base (BASE card or virtual), you respawn only there.

Tips

Stay together and cover each other; talk over team voice.

Elimination

Be the last team with a player in the game.

How it works

Each team has a number of respawns (tickets) for all its players together. Every time a player is out, the team loses one. Without tickets left, whoever is out stays out. No time limit.

How to win

The last team with a player still in the game.

You need

Only blasters and phones.

Tips

Every respawn costs the whole team – play carefully, don't rush in alone.

Capture the Flag

Take the opponents' flag and bring it to your base.

How it works

Each team's flag stands at its base (a BASE card, or a virtual base on the map). Scan the opponents' base or stand in it to take their flag, then bring it to your own base – this only counts while your own flag is at home. A carrier who is taken out drops the flag: opponents can pick it up again; your own team brings it home by standing in it, otherwise it goes home after 30 s. Everyone sees the carrier on the map.

How to win

The first team to the number of captures the game master set – or the most captures when the time is up. Kills don't score.

You need

A base for every team: BASE cards or virtual bases on the playing field.

Tips

Leave someone at home: you can only score while your own flag is there. Protect your carrier – everyone sees where they are.

Domination

Hold the control points longer than the other team.

How it works

The control points are QR cards (ALPHA to ECHO) on the field. Scan a point to take it for your team – also from another team. Every point a team holds scores one point per second. Kills don't score.

How to win

The first team to reach the score – or the highest score when the time is up.

You need

The control point cards ALPHA up to ECHO, placed across the field. You decide how many control points are in the game.

Tips

Holding two points beats fighting for all of them. Retake a point quickly – the opponents score every second.

Assault

Attackers push along the control points to the defenders' spawn – defenders hold them until time runs out.

How it works

The control points lie in a row across the field, at least three: ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, … ALPHA is the attackers' start, the last point is the defenders' spawn; the points in between are fought over, one after another. Only the next point can be taken: it fills while attackers and no defenders are on it (on a QR point, a scan counts for 10 s), faster with two or three attackers. Every point taken adds time and moves the front.

Who spawns where

Nobody comes back on the point fought over. Attackers respawn at the point they took last – at the start, ALPHA. Defenders respawn at the point behind the one under attack – at the start, the one after BRAVO. When a point falls, both spawns move one point on, and a voice tells your team its new spawn. Out, you go to your spawn and scan it or stand in it once the respawn time is over. On the map your spawn has a ring in your team's color ("SPAWN"), the point to attack or hold a thick ring ("ATTACK" / "DEFEND"), the enemy's spawn a thin ring.

How to win

The attackers by taking the last point before the defenders' spawn; the defenders when the time runs out. If attackers are on the point at the end, the game goes into overtime. With three points it is a single fight, for BRAVO.

You need

At least three control points in a row on the game map – the QR cards ALPHA, BRAVO, CHARLIE, … placed on the map, or virtual points. No bases. Put the point to fight over halfway between the spawns: equal ways for both teams are fair.

Tips

Defenders: one defender on the point stops it filling – and your way back from the spawn is short, use it. Attackers: come together – three fill a point twice as fast as one.

Battle Royale

Be the last one standing.

How it works

Everyone against everyone, one life each. After a calm start the safe zone appears on the map and shrinks in four announced steps; the next circle shows dashed. Outside it you lose health: 5, then 10, 15 and 20 every 5 s. Loot boxes dropped inside the next circle give weapons and tacticals. Who joins after the start only watches.

How to win

The last player in the game.

You need

GPS on every phone. A playing field on the map is best; without one the zone forms around the players.

Tips

Keep an eye on the map and move to the next zone early. The zone's edge is where the fights are.

Running Man

Runner: survive until the time is up. Hunters: take the runner out.

How it works

The host taps a player in the lobby to make them the runner. The runner has to keep moving: faster than walking builds a shield that takes a share off every hit; standing still takes it down twice as fast. The runner has more health, one life and unlimited ammo. The hunters see the runner on the map for only 2 s every 10 s, respawn without limit (a little later each time) and refill their ammo at loot boxes dropped in the field.

How to win

The runner by being alive when the time is up; the hunters by taking the runner out.

You need

GPS on every phone; the runner carries the phone so it can measure the speed.

Tips

Runner: keep moving, even slowly – standing is the most dangerous. Hunters: spread out and close in between the 10-second sightings.

Tacticals

Every item and what it does

Weapons

Rifle (SR-12)

Pistol (RK-45)

Club & profiles

Profiles, PIN, club, roles, members, what counts

Profiles and "Who is playing?"

Your profile lives on the server, not on the phone: callsign, portrait or picture, your games and your rating – so any phone and blaster will do. Joining a game asks "Who is playing?" with the server's players; the profile this phone remembered for that server comes first, in a box with "Continue" – on a new server your callsign, to play there with one tap. Tick "Stay signed in on this phone" on your own phone; without it a lent phone forgets you after 12 hours. Change your callsign in the lobby; your picture, PIN and player card are in your player profile – tap your picture in the lobby. A callsign is one player's on a server.

Protect a profile with a PIN

With a 4-digit PIN nobody else plays under your name. Set, change or remove it in your player profile: tap your picture in the lobby. It is asked whenever someone picks your profile under "Who is playing?" – a wrong PIN is said at once; after five wrong ones the next try waits a minute. A phone that stays signed in as you does not ask.

Found a club

A club keeps the ranking of its players, and its admins decide who may do what. The club belongs to a server – best the Pi or the tablet, which are always there: be in its lobby (join a game or host one), open the club icon at the top (the crest). To found one, your profile needs a PIN; you become the club's first admin. Everything about the club is changed there, in the server's lobby – no game has to start.

Roles and rights

Admin: takes in members, gives roles, merges and deletes profiles, deletes games and marks them as not counting, approves servers.
Host: runs games that count for the club.
Member: in the club's statistics and ranking.
Guest: everyone else – plays along, but not in the club's ranking.

Admins and hosts need a PIN and cannot remove it; the club always keeps an admin. Hosting a game of your own gives no rights over the club. Not to mix up with the admins of the remote control: they only run the game of one server.

Manage members

As an admin, open Club while you are in the server's lobby and tap a player: give a role (admin, host, member or guest), merge, or delete the profile. New members and hosts: tap "Invite members" or "Invite a host"; the invited player gives the code in the lobby under Club → "Accept an invitation", or scans its QR code. A host's role needs a PIN.

Merge is for a player with two profiles: the second one goes, its games and rating count for the other from then on. Delete takes a profile out of "Who is playing?" and the rankings; its games stay in the history.

Which games count

A game counts for career and ratings unless it is a test game, has fewer than 4 players, is shorter than 5 minutes, was ended early by the host or was marked afterwards.

For the club's ranking it also has to be a club game: started by a club host or admin, or on a server an admin approved. Approve the tablet or the Pi once: in its lobby an admin taps "Approve this server for the club". A quick round started by a guest still counts for everyone's career.

Statistics and records

Only the club's admins mark a game as not counting, remove a player from the records or delete a game for the whole group; the others delete a game only from their own phone. A game swiped to the left in the list is deleted after asking. Without a club, the host and the admins of the remote control do this as before.