Machines are the floor objective: Toons extract from the required stations while Twisteds create time and routing pressure. Strong machine play combines the right Toon, a safe location, consistent Skill Checks, and an exit plan. Maximum extraction on a trapped station is not efficient.
Select a station
Prefer two exits, solid cover, and an approach you can hear. Avoid dead ends when using Vee, Rodger, Shelly, or another Toon whose machine strength exceeds movement safety. Let a distractor move pressure before starting an exposed station.
Call the machine location and whether another extractor is joining. Several players can complete faster, but clustering can also redirect a chase through the entire team.
Extraction contribution
Steady Extraction Speed adds continuous progress. Skill Checks add burst progress when landed. The strongest user depends on the Toon and player: a high-check profile requires consistent timing, while a high extraction profile requires safe uninterrupted work.
Shared machine contribution is useful when the floor needs speed, but spread out when parallel safe stations exist. The team should optimize the floor, not individual score.
Skill Check operation
Focus the indicator, reduce distractions, and choose a consistency Trinket when misses repeat. Latency or unfamiliar timing is a real constraint. Move to a safer machine or let another player take over instead of hiding failures.
Call every failed check. Nearby Twisteds may investigate, and Astro can attack progress from across the floor according to current guides. Leave the station until the response is understood.
Items and Trinkets
Wrench and first-machine tools create opening tempo. Machine Manual and other sustained effects support longer work. Instructions, Jumper Cable, and Valve convert inventory into progress. Use each trigger on a station you can stay on or whose completion changes the floor.
Keep a defensive slot or escape item when leaving machines causes hits. A build succeeds by completing floors and reaching the elevator, not by producing a perfect isolated number.
Last machine and Panic Mode
Before completing the last required machine, call it. Teammates begin moving toward the elevator, the distractor prepares to break, and distant players stop low-value exploration.
On completion, leave immediately if Twisted Dandy or another response makes the station dangerous. Use the known elevator route, preserve a second path, and avoid crowding one doorway.
Machine recovery
After interruption, ask whether returning is still safe. A Twisted may camp the corridor or Astro may have drained progress. Another machine can be the better target even when the original was nearly done.
When only one dangerous machine remains, assign distraction, stage extraction items, and agree on the completion call. Do not send players independently until someone succeeds by luck.
Machine mistakes
- Starting without checking exits.
- Waiting for a Twisted to reach the station.
- Hiding failed Skill Checks.
- Using timed extraction as the route becomes unsafe.
- Clustering all extractors on one threatened machine.
- Finishing the last machine without warning distant players.
Machines FAQ
What makes a machine safe?
Two exits, nearby sight breaks, audible approaches, known Twisted location, and a player with enough stamina to leave.
Should several Toons work one machine?
When faster completion matters and the route is controlled. Otherwise parallel work spreads risk and increases total progress.
Why did a failed check attract danger?
Failed checks create noise for nearby Twisteds, and special enemies can react from farther away or impose additional penalties.
What starts Panic Mode?
Completing the required machines for the floor. The live UI owns the current requirement and progress display.
Review the route before committing
A machine is not valuable merely because it is close. Pause long enough to identify the nearest corner, the next room, and the direction a teammate would use to pull danger away. If the only exit crosses another active machine, choose a different station or coordinate first. During the interaction, keep enough attention on sound and team calls to abandon progress early. A clean disengage preserves health and lets the group return; waiting for visual confirmation can turn a manageable approach into a hit. After a failed check, assume the risk has changed and reassess instead of immediately resuming.