Though at its heart, Off the Grid is basically a standard third-person shooter game, there are several extra layers of complexity that make every match different and compelling. So let’s dive into it and tell you everything you need to know to get started.
What is Off the Grid?
Set in a future world, Off the Grid is a deadly, competitive game show where contestants sacrifice their natural limbs in order to equip enhanced prosthetics and compete in the game arena for wealth and fame.
Wealth in the Off the Grid comes in the form of an in-game currency called GUN, and a wide selection of weapons, equipment, and cosmetic items. Earn experience and tokens by playing and use them to claim rewards through a progression and battle pass type system. Find special HEX loot in-game and extract them for even more rewards!
Off The Grid is a third person, multiplayer shooter currently available in early access on PC, Xbox, and PS5 devices. (note: currently these systems are isolated from each other so you’re not playing against players on other types of devices).
Players compete in ten teams of three, fighting to be the last ones left while also hopefully gathering some permanent loot. Everyone airdrops into the city, which includes several different zones and a variety of terrain to navigate.
Players begin the matches with basic equipment. But throughout the map are scattered loot chests that can hold weapons, ammo, consumable items, and bionic implants. Some loot chests will hold special items called HEXes, which when extracted, go into the players’ permanent inventory.
Players also have the option of designating specific loadouts using items that they own. You won’t start the match with these items equipped. But if you grab enough cash from the resources boxes on the map, you can have your specified loadout airdropped to you.
The matches continue until only one team remains.
How can I access Off the Grid?
Off the Grid is free to play and available for PCs, Xbox, and PS5 systems. Head over the official website to download the game or use the links below.
Off the Grid Download links.
- Epic Games Store: https://otg.gg/EpicGamesStore
- PlayStation 5: https://otg.gg/PlayStation5
- Xbox Series X: https://otg.gg/xbox
Just install the game and start it up. No need to create a wallet or jump through any extra hoops in order to start playing.
How do I play Off the Grid?
You can play Off the Grid solo and the system will assign you to a team. Or you can group up with friends for (hopefully) better coordination.
The Basics
Off the Grid is a third person shooter with pretty standard controls. W-A-S-D to move around. Mouse for looking, aiming and shooting. Hotkeys for special abilities. The controls for consoles will follow the standard format as well. And of course you can change the button and key mappings if you prefer a different setup.
The game map is pretty big. But luckily, you don’t have to run everywhere. Every player in the game also has a jetpack. This jetpack isn’t great at going straight up, but if you launch from a high spot, such as the many, many buildings, cranes, and other map features available, you can glide quite a ways, with good control on where and how you land. There are also zip lines around the map that will help you get up into the air and on top of some buildings.
For the first few minutes of the game, players will automatically respawn when killed. But, as the match progresses, automatic respawns end, and players can only be brought back if their teammate visits and uses a special spawn station. Wounded players have a short timer where their teammates can revive them. If at any point, everyone on your team is dead at the same time, then your entire team is eliminated from the match.
Open loot boxes that are very liberally placed around the map to find and equip weapons, equipment, and bionic limbs. You can also take the limbs of another player if you kill and loot them.
The only game mode available in Off the Grid at the moment is Extraction Royale. This type of match is battle royale style, with a steadily closing circle of doom. Stay within the safe zone, kill other players, and try to find HEXes to extract.
Players have plenty of customization options when creating their character, including body type, facial features, clothing, and emote selection. There are enough options to give everyone some variety from the start, but you’ll need to acquire specific items to unlock the cooler stuff, such as this stylish green beard!
Loadouts in Off the Grid
Players have quite a bit of options when building a loadout. Though everything except the basics will have to be found or purchased first. In the loadout screen players can choose a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, a sidewarm, a bionic legs enhancement, two different arm enhancements, an armor kit and a backpack.
Additionally, each weapon selection can be further modified with Attachments. Just like everything else, Attachments are items found in HEXes. Weapons have a different number of Attachment points based on the weapon type. And the number of Attachments a player can use on a specific weapon is determined by the weapon’s rarity.
Players can also customize their weapon and equipment appearance with skins through the loadout screen.
Weapons and Attachments all come in varying rarities. More rare items will have slightly better stats. You’re allowed to set up multiple loadouts, so you can choose the right one that fits your current battle situation.
Each loadout has a cost associated with it. This is based on the number, type, and rarity of the items added to the loadout. More items equals more cost. This cost is how much cash players need to acquire during a match in order to summon a loadout.
Once you have enough cash in a match, you can summon your loadout to be delivered via drone (press B on PCs). Select a flat location and wait for the drone to come drop off your box of equipment. Players can summon loadouts multiple times throughout a match as long as they have enough funds to do so.
CyberLimbs
With all four limbs removed before even being allowed into the Off the Grid contest, players are equipped with bionic replacements called Cyberlimbs. And though the basic Cyberlimbs are decent, upgrading them with special versions can really boost your fighting potential.
At any given point, players can have one set of bionic legs and two bionic arms equipped. Any bionic limbs that have special abilities can be activated with the associated hotkey or button press. There is a recharge time for special abilities from Cyberlimbs, so use them wisely! If your Cyberlimb is damaged too much, you won’t be able to use its ability.
Cyberlimbs are not permanent attachments. They can be switched at any time, even in the middle of a match! Cyberlimbs be found in chests in-game, taken from other players, or acquired through a loadout drop.
Leg types include Leapers, Thumpers, Hammerheads, and Roadrunners, each with their own special ability.
- Leaper: Activate these legs to launch a mighty jump to reach new areas or escape combat
- Thumper: Use the Thumper legs to launch a mortar strike at a nearby target
- Hammerhead: Triggering a set of Hammerhead legs will cause you to launch into the air, lading at a target spot where you damage and throw back any nearby enemies
- Roadrunner: When activated, greatly increases movement speed for a limited time and leave a super-speed trail behind you that allies can use to move faster
Arm types are much more varied with fourteen different selections. A few examples of Cyerberlimb arms upgrades are:
- Slugger: Fires a gooey projectile that slows enemies who step on it
- Ripper: Charge forward rapidly and deploy a killing blade to try and take out your opponent
- Hookshot: Fires a grappling hook that reels you in once it hits a solid target
- Ghost: Engage a short duration cloaking device; also protects against scans
Just like all other game equipment, bionic limbs come in varying rarities, with rarer items receiving boosted stats.
HEX Extraction
HEXes are the best loot to find in Off the Grid. If successfully extracted, the HEX will appear in the player’s inventory, and can then be opened to reveal loot items including weapons, bionics, and skins.
HEXes can be found randomly in lootboxes during matches. However, just finding one is half the battle. To get the HEX into your permanent inventory, you must find a HEX Extractor and activate it. Hex Extractors have a delay timer, giving other players a chance to interrupt the transfer and even steal the HEX for themselves!
The best part about extracting Hexes? The whole team gets one! So it doesn’t really matter who picks up the HEX in-game or who activates the Extractor (though you do earn extra GUN tokens for being the extractor), the whole team receives a reward and is incentivized to help protect the extraction process.
Once you’re out of a match, you can go to your inventory and open any HEXes you might have. Opening them requires paying a fee in GUN tokens, with higher rarity HEXes requiring more GUN tokens.
Inside of HEXes are items and skins that can be equipped, or sold on the marketplace if you have a Pro membership and are high enough level.
Match Rewards
At the end of every match players receive awards in the form of player experience, battle pass experience (otherwise known as HEXP), any HEXes their team managed to extract, and potentially GUN tokens.
GUN payouts depend on final placing, number of kills and assists, and number of HEXes extracted. Players with OTG Premium membership receive a significant bonus to their GUN payouts.
You can also earn GUN by completing daily, weekly, and monthly quests. You don’t even need to press a claim button. The quests are automatically flagged as you complete the requirements and the GUN tokens placed into your account.
In-Game Missions
Off the Grid includes another little twist in the form of in-game missions. These are also scattered randomly around the map. When activated, a new mission is begun with a point of interest marked nearby. Players must find this POI and successfully interact with it to receive the reward. As these rewards can include HEX boxes, the missions are worth doing if your team is coordinated enough.
OTG HEX Vault
The OTG HEX Vault is Off the Grid’s version of a battle pass. Level up your HEXP, or battle pass points, to unlock HEX shelves, areas with new items you can purchase with GUN tokens. Players gain HEXP by playing matches.
At the moment, shelves in the HEX Vault are only available to OTG Pro subscribers. But you can signup for a three day trial to grab some loot from the HEX Vault.
The items on the HEX shelves are limited edition, so they won’t be available forever. But luckily, each item in the current HEX vault has 500k available, so you have some time to work on collecting your early access loot.
OTG Pro Subscription
Off the Grid offers an OTG Pro subscription for $11.99 USD per month, payable with in-game GNU tokens or through XSolla. You can cancel at any time and you also get a free, three day trial to start.
OTG Pro members are the only ones who can sell items on the marketplace. Your account must also have reached level 3, making sure that this feature is mostly used by real players.
Additionally, OTG Pro subscribers receive special content packs. The current pack is a Ninja, full body skin, a Ninja Kestrel sniper rifle, and an exclusive ‘Boogie Down’ emote. Other benefits include extra rewards available in the HEX Vault, boosted earnings from matches, and entry into restricted tournaments.
OTG Companion App
Off the Grid offers a mobile, companion app. Players can install the Companion App by scanning a QR code from in-game.
Once installed, link OTG Companion App to see a ton of detailed stats on your match history, even including your hit percentage on different body parts!
The OTG Companion App doubles as a social hub and already has a ton of activity. Through the app you can link up with friends, post gameplay clips, and even receive recommendations on other players to partner with.
NFTs in Off the Grid
Technically, Off the Grid is not actually a web3 game yet. Though players can buy and sell items and accumulate and spend GUN tokens, nothing is actually on the blockchain. Allowing GUN token and item NFT transfers off of the official servers will likely be planned around the mainnet release of the GUNZ Platform which will serve as a foundation for blockchain integration.
Players who are content to work within the game’s marketplace should not see any change in their interactions.
What is the GUNZ Platform?
Off the Grid will run on the GUNZ platform, a gaming-centric app being built by Gunzilla Games. Their focus is on creating tools to allow users to convert game items into NFTs through the games’ own marketplaces. This allows the game to cater to players who want to interact with the blockchain while also supporting those who don’t.
Off the Grid is the second game on the GUNZ platform, with the first, Technocore, a mobile game about piloting a drone around and looking for loot. You may even be able to find and assemble loot that can be used in Off the Grid!
GUNZ is built on the Avalanche blockchain.
Off the Grid Early Access Reception
Off the Grid has received resoundingly positive reviews. It is the darling of the streaming community at the moment and was declared as the most popular free to play game on the Epic Store on October 11th. Reportedly, the game has seen over 5 million wallets registered, which is a pretty astounding number.
The only complaints I have seen involved laggy gameplay, which will improve as the team continues to optimize the game, but which can also often be solved by lowering your video settings.
Even though the game is early access, any items you find through HEX boxes or purchase from the market are yours. There will not be any item wipes. All items will carry over through to the game’s official release.
At some point, the GUN tokens may be reset, but the team promises to provide players with a warning before that happens, giving everyone a chance to spend their hard-earned currency.
Off the Grid is hot right now, and pretty damn fun to play. Head over to their website to get started!
