Headliner
THE RULES, ON ONE PAGE

How to play

Grow your town, train your crew, send your band to battles of the bands and take over the map, a few minutes at a time. Here's everything, in the order you'll meet it.

LIVEPlayable now COMINGIn development or designed Balance is still being tuned, so the exact numbers in the game can change.

1. Your town

LIVE

Your home town has one main venue in the middle and lots around it for buildings. Resources pile up while you're away, up to your storage limits. When you come back, a "While you were away" summary tells you what the show earned.

A home town with the main venue in the center and empty building lots around it

Resources

FansFrom your main venue. Every unit is one fan.
CashFrom the Merch Stand. Buildings, units, kit.
GearFrom the Gear Locker. Buildings and units.
BuzzFrom a Club or bigger. Revives silent towns.

The main venue grows through four looks

LOOKLEVELSUNLOCKS
Garage1 to 3Music School, Merch Stand, Gear Locker
Club4 to 6Rehearsal Studio, Vault, Green Room, reviving small silent towns
Theater7 to 9Luthier's Workshop, Tour Bus Depot, Tattoo Parlor, reviving medium silent towns
Arena10 to 12Reviving large silent towns, joining festivals (coming)

Nine buildings, eight lots: one always sits out

Every building does one job. An attack town might skip the Vault; a defense town might skip the Tour Bus Depot. Two build crews work at once.

Music SchoolTrains units faster
Merch StandMakes Cash, sells backstage kit
Gear LockerMakes Gear, raises storage
Rehearsal StudioUnlocks Roadies and Hype Crew
VaultProtects Cash and Gear from raids
Green RoomBurned-out units recover here
Luthier's WorkshopResearches unit levels 1 to 10
Tour Bus DepotMore tours at once, faster travel
Tattoo ParlorLucky tattoos make mishaps rarer

2. Your crew

LIVE

Units are fans with a job. Each costs one Fan plus some Cash and Gear. The Luthier's Workshop levels each type up from 1 to 10.

A Mosher
MoshersATTACKCheap, fast, the core of every takeover.
A Security guard
SecurityDEFENSEStrong at home, no use on the road.
A Roadie
RoadiesCARRY LOOTThey decide how much you bring home.
A Hype Crew member
Hype CrewSCOUTINGSee a rival's crew and stock before you commit.

3. Your band

LIVE
A band posing with their instruments

Your band leads your crew on tour. It has four stats, four gear slots (Instrument, Amp, Stage outfit, Effects pedal) and a three-slot kit bag.

Performance
Your Moshers hit harder when the band leads
Stage presence
Your Security defends better when the band is home
Charisma
More fans won over, more magic moments
Stamina
Less road fatigue, faster recovery

4. Battles of the bands

LIVE

When your tour arrives, your band plays a three-song set against theirs. Win two songs and you win the crowd.

  1. 01StrengthYour Moshers, their levels and your band's Performance, against their Security, their venue and the home crowd.
  2. 02A little luckEvery song can swing. A clearly stronger band wins almost every time; an evenly matched one is a real show.
  3. 03Mishaps and momentsThings go wrong, things go gloriously right. Kit and luck decide which.
Mishap and the fix
  • A snapped stringSpare strings
  • The drummer forgot the sticksSticks taped to the hands
  • The singer lost their voiceTea and honey
  • The amp blew a fuseSpare fuses
  • Also in the kitGaffer tape, a laminated setlist
Lucky tattoos and lucky gear make mishaps rarer too.
Magic moments
  • The whole crowd sings the chorus
  • A perfect solo
  • A stage dive that lands
After the show Lost units mostly burn out and rest in your Green Room, and many come back. Some switch sides and become the winner's fans. Even a win costs something, but never most of what you sent.
Battle won: the crowd cheers the winning band
A win report: the setlist, a crowd meter per song, loot and fans won.
Battle lost: a quiet stage after the show
A loss report leads with what you kept and a way back.

5. The world

LIVE

Around your home town is a map full of places to play. Sending units anywhere is a tour: travel takes time, the battle happens on arrival and the survivors bring loot and fans home. The Tours tab shows everything on the road.

Rival townsOther players' towns. Raid them for loot and fans.
CampsHouse parties and dive bars. Weak guards, loot that regrows. Safe practice.
Silent townsGrey towns where the music stopped. Send a band, Roadies and Buzz, and the town becomes yours.
Scouting firstSend Hype Crew to see their crew and stock. The send screen then says: likely win, close call or likely loss.

6. Fair play

LIVE
  • Home towns can never be taken over.Only raided, and they never fall far below their best fan count.
  • Underdog crowd.Much bigger attackers face a rallied home crowd.
  • Punching down pays nothing.Far above the defender's Fame, loot shrinks and you get no fans, XP or ranking points.
  • Road fatigue.Attacking far from home costs strength.
  • Sold out.Each raid on the same town pays less; raid it too often and it's shielded for a few hours.
  • Beginner protection.New players are protected for their first week.
  • The Vault.Always protects part of your stock.

7. Fame and rankings

LIVE
FameMeasures your size: buildings, units and band levels.
Ranking FameOnly comes from fair fights, and it's what the leaderboard shows. To climb, play people your size.
SeasonsEach world is a roughly ten-week world tour, then a fresh map. Achievements and cosmetics carry over.

8. Coming next

COMING
IN DEVELOPMENT Rockstars and lineups Collectible rockstars with roles, styles, likes and chemistry, recruited through auditions paid with tokens you earn by playing. Meet the rockstars
DESIGNED Styles and setlists Metal, Punk, Pop, Hip-hop and Indie in a wheel where each beats two and loses to two, with Ballad in support. Learn songs, pick a three-song setlist, and play to each town's scene.
DESIGNED Labels and festivals Team up in a label with chat and shared defense, then take on the legendary venues together in timed festivals. Holding them decides the season.
Madison Hall
The Colosseum Bowl
Red Rocks Canyon Stage
Harbour Opera Shell
The Field of Mud
Ready for soundcheck? The rest you'll learn on stage. The game has a How to play guide in its menu too.
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