On the outside Gang Beasts may seem like a simple brawler, but there’s surprisingly quite a lot of depth to it that the Community has found over the years since its developers BoneLoaf originally released it back in December of 2017.
With online matchmaking recently added, the skill gap between old and new players is quite noticeable, with veterans often wiping the floor with newbies. Therefore, if you’re starting out on Gang Beasts or you’re an old hand looking to learn a few new tricks then here’s a couple of tips that could help bring you victory in your next big brawl.
Updated On November 7th, 2021, by Matthew Mckeown:
Gang Beasts is an anarchic multiplayer brawler that lets you ragdoll your friends around in weird and wacky arenas. It’s not too hard to pick up and play, plus it comes with a surprising amount of depth once you scratch past its colorful persona.
With a recent update adding quick matchmaking to the game and new arenas, now is as good a time as any to jump into the fray. For first-timers looking to get an edge on the competition or veterans needing a refresher course, here are a few helpful tips for playing Gang Beasts that are worth checking out.
13 Don’t Rush Into The Melee
Normally your first instinct in a brawler is to run right into the melee and start swinging with your fists. If you do that in Gang Beasts, though, you’re just going to end up dead or knocked out that much quicker.
Most players tend to bum rush the center and it quickly turns into a massive mosh pit. On the bigger levels, this isn’t as much of a problem, but on the smaller levels like Containers or Buoy where you can easily slip off an edge and into oblivion, it’s a much larger issue. So when a match starts, try to wait a minute or two for the anarchy to start then just pick your targets from whoever is left.
12 Stay Mobile
Staying mobile and continually moving is incredibly important in Gang Beasts since standing still only makes you a target to others, especially any players that might be working together. Even though some of the larger maps do have places you can hide, such as on top of the wheel of the Ferris Wheel or inside an office in the back of the Grinder arena, eventually someone is going to find you.
Keep moving and try to find a spot that’s going to cause a lot of trouble for other players to get to you or make it not worth their time to chase you down. A great example of this would be continually jumping between vans on the Trucks map or diving around the various air vents of the Vent map.
11 Each Map Has A Hazard
One of the most deadly features of a Gang Beasts brawl is that every map has a hazard. Some are more dangerous than others, such as the collapsing walls of Billboard, the unstable floor of the Ferris Wheel, or the sudden freeway signs that can smack you off to your doom in Trucks.
Most of them are easy to avoid or you can use them to your advantage by dropping someone into or through a hazard at the right moment, so it’s recommended that you practice with each map first to figure out what the hazard is first so you know what to watch out for.
10 Let Hanging Players Fall
It may sound a little heartless, but the best thing you can do for someone that’s hanging from a ledge is to just stand back and let them drop. Even though you may feel like you want to get the final boot in to knock them off, don’t.
This is because a favorite tactic of some of the more experienced fighters is to hang onto a ledge with one hand, pretend there’s a problem then as you come over to finish them off they will grab your leg and just whip you off either with them in a Kamikaze attack or just try to yank you down to your doom. So if you see someone dangling, just stay back.
9 Your Costume Can Affect Your Hitbox
There are a lot of creative costumes you can make in this multiplayer game as the amount of customization is large and pretty varied. From hats to masks, backpacks, mustaches, and even entire outfits and cozy-looking onesies. But, before you go making the most extravagant-looking blob man around, it’s worth knowing that the type of outfit you wear can have an impact on how you fight.
For example, some of the large mascot heads and big hats all make your hitbox bigger and are much easier to grab. The same also applies to scarves or capes that might drape off your character. So when you’re designing your fighter try to think of an outfit that looks fantastic but is also hard to latch onto.
8 Certain Outfits Have Benefits
One of the best features of Gang Beasts is the costumes you can make. There are so many unique items to wear and you can make some absolute fashion disasters. But an interesting thing about the costumes is that certain clothes can be more beneficial or a liability in a fight.
For example, the Rhino onesie doubles headbutt damage, whilst any of the glasses reduce the impact of head blows. The Luchador leotards make you harder to grab, SWAT gear reduces incoming damage, and wearing gloves improves your grip a small amount. It’s a fun bit of meta that can make your decisions on your outfit be a bit more tactical instead of memey.
7 Learn How To Climb
Although it may seem a bit finicky at first, climbing is a really good tactic to use when you’re playing Gang Beasts. Scaling a prop lets you escape a fight and hide, get into a better position for a dropkick, or pick a new battleground if you’re getting your head rocked off the floor too much. According to the community threads, there are two types, the Normal Climb, and the Bendy Climb.
The Normal Climb is what you think it is and it involves grabbing an object or prop with both hands and then using the jump button and repeated grabs to shimmy yourself along or up and over it. It’s a little dangerous as one wrong jump could cause you to slip and fall, but it’s easy to use in a pinch. The other option is the Bendy Climb, this involves raising your feet above your head to bend your character around tight edges or corners and it’s more complicated. It involves holding a wall and pressing down the kick and headbutt buttons to go limp, then you manipulate the limp ragdoll to position your legs in a good position. Letting go should then flick you around and onto the spot you want. It’s difficult to get down at first, but handy to have once it’s mastered.
6 Don’t Jump Too Much
There aren’t many ways to defend yourself in Gang Beasts once a fight starts going other than punching back or jumping away. So most matches devolve into bunny hopping anarchy within seconds, whilst funny to watch, leaping around puts you at a significant disadvantage in a brawl.
Jumping away may seem like an easy way to quickly get out of someone’s grasp, it opens you up to a quick leg grab and face slam. Or worse, you could be tossed straight off the map. So when fists start flying, try to resist the urge to jump around like a maniac, keep yourself grounded and focus on getting hits in.
5 Grab Everything
Your main way of attacking in Gang Beasts is pretty simple, you can swing your fists or latch onto someone like a demented monkey and hang on for dear life. Whilst the punches are pretty powerful, your best weapon is a good old-fashioned grab.
This is because grabs are a lot harder to get out of as you need to jump around like a lunatic and spam punches to try and break free, but as a match progresses your fighter will start to get tired making the grabs much harder to escape. So if you’re having a particularly difficult time, try grabbing someone to tire them out before dropping them off a ledge or into a hazard that can finish them off.
4 There Are Special Moves To Learn
Despite the combat for Gang Beasts being more of an anarchic brawler, there are surprisingly some interesting and pretty handy special moves you can learn that the Community has come up with.
As an example, there’s one called the Dirt Feeder which involves lifting someone by their legs above you and then slamming them down onto the ground for a KO. There’s also the Resting Knockout, which involves holding X, B, and A down on your controller to lay on the ground playing Possum and when released releases you like a coiled spring into a punch that can send people soaring, sometimes right out of the bounds of the map. It can take quite a bit of trial and error to figure these out, but once you do they can be surprisingly strong.
3 Fight Smart Not Hard
Usually being aggressive and pinning someone down under a deluge of attacks is your best strategy in a fighting game, but not in Gang Beasts. Diving straight into a fight can often result in you being knocked out and thrown off a ledge straight away.
So try to keep your distance and make it much harder for someone to land a hit on you. A good tactic is to try and climb into hard-to-reach areas or position yourself near a hazard that you can trip someone into or off of. Fighting smarter, not harder in Gang Beasts can often lead to an easy victory quicker than you realize.
2 It’s Easy To Knock Yourself Out
Fights in Gang Beasts often devolve into who can knock the other out the fastest, and quite often you will end up knocking yourself out quicker than your opponent can.
In Gang Beasts, if you fall from too high a drop, hit your head hard enough on the ground, or get punched in just the right spot then you’re going for a quick knock-out nap. So try to be aware of that before you start diving around and swinging your fists like a lunatic.
1 Don’t Get Cornered
Despite how large and uniquely creative multiplayer maps in Gang Beasts are, it’s still incredibly easy to get yourself cornered and when that happens the dogpiling ensues.
A good tip is to keep yourself out in the open or near somewhere you can quickly escape to, like another platform, or run near someone that might be an easier target for a pursuer. Having an exit strategy that can be used in a pinch can often mean the difference between a victory or a loss, so always have a way out.
NEXT: Gang Beasts: The Best Costumes
