Versus · Shooter New

Hot Lead

A top-down run-and-gun built for one thumb. Drag to move, your mercenary aims and fires on her own. Dash through bullets, grab nine glowing guns, chain kills for a ×4 multiplier, pick a perk after every wave and topple the Warlord every fifth.

Difficulty

Touch: drag anywhere to move · DASH button rolls through bullets · SWAP changes gun. Desktop: WASD + mouse aim · Space dash · Q swap · P pause

Auto-aim, your job is to move: the merc locks the nearest raider. Keep her moving and dash when the red lines go solid
Keep the chain alive: kill again within 2.5 s to grow the multiplier up to ×4
Walk over glowing pods: carry two guns, swap when a fight calls for it, and pray for Hot Lead

About Hot Lead

Hot Lead is a top-down run-and-gun shooter built for one thumb. Your mercenary aims and fires on their own while you move, dash and swap between guns that drop from enemies across five arenas.

How to play

Drag anywhere to move; your merc auto-aims at the nearest enemy. Tap DASH to roll through bullets and SWAP to change guns.
Walk over glowing gun pods to pick up shotguns, rifles, snipers, miniguns, rockets, lasers and plasma. You carry two, and the pistol never runs out.
Every wave gets harder, with a Warlord mech boss every 5th wave. Pick one of three perks between waves, and keep the kill chain alive for a bigger multiplier.

Controls

Floating joystick and DASH, SWAP buttons on touch screens. On desktop, WASD to move, mouse to aim, Space to dash and Q to swap.

Good to know

Free to play, no account needed. Plays in any modern browser on phone, tablet or computer. Sign in to put your scores on the Hot Lead leaderboard.

More about Hot Lead

Hot Lead is a game about movement and priorities. Because your mercenary aims and fires on her own, all of your attention goes to where you stand, when you dash and which enemy is the real threat right now. Over a run you learn to kite enemies around cover, to pick guns that suit the wave, and to keep a kill chain alive without wandering into a crossfire.

Wave 1 is a warm-up. New enemies arrive as the waves climb: fast drones from wave 2, tough brutes from wave 3, snipers from wave 4, shield carriers from wave 6 and flamethrowers from wave 7. Every fifth wave brings a Warlord boss, and the arena changes every five waves. Between waves, your chosen perks stack into a build that shapes the rest of the run.

Scoring and progress

Kills earn points that are multiplied by your kill chain: the multiplier starts at ×1 and rises by 0.1 per kill in the chain, reaching ×4 at 30 kills. Clearing a wave pays a bonus that grows with the wave number, and the Warlord pays a large bounty. Easy scores ×0.8 with 150 HP, Medium is ×1 with 100 HP, and Hard is ×1.3 with 75 HP. The final grade runs from D to S, with S starting at 80,000 points.

Common questions

How many weapons can I carry?
Two at a time. The pistol never runs out of ammo, while the other eight guns (SMG, shotgun, rifle, sniper, minigun, rocket launcher, laser rifle and plasma orb) have limited ammo.

Do I keep my progress if I quit mid-run?
No. A run you quit is not saved, so no score, XP or history is recorded for it.

What does each difficulty change?
Starting health, enemy toughness and damage, how often medkits drop, and the score multiplier. Easy has 150 HP, Medium 100 HP and Hard 75 HP.

Tips and strategy

Keep moving between kills. Standing still to finish a straggler is how most hits are taken, and getting hit drains the chain timer.
Save your dash for a real threat, such as a sniper shot or a flamer closing in. It recharges, but it is your only way to roll through bullets.
Watch ammo. Every gun except the pistol runs dry and is dropped when empty, so swap before the magazine is gone and let the pistol cover the gaps.
Shield carriers block shots from the front. Circle around them or use splash weapons like the rocket launcher and plasma orb.
Take perks that help you survive early, such as Plated Vest, Field Armor or Second Wind, and add damage perks once you are comfortable through wave 10.
Prepare for the Warlord on wave 5, 10 and so on. It has three phases, so arrive with a heavy weapon loaded and some health in reserve.

More advice in the Streaky guides.

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