Updated 2026-10-10
Fakeout is a free 4v4 capture-the-flag game that runs in your browser: steer a ball with WASD or the arrow keys, grab the enemy flag, and carry it back to your own base — most captures when the 6-minute clock runs out wins.
The controls
WASD or the arrow keys move. That's the whole scheme to get started — there's no jump, no shoot, no aim.
You steer a ball with momentum, not a fixed speed: you accelerate into a direction, coast when you let go, and slide wide if you turn too hard. That's the whole game underneath everything else. Full controls and remapping → · Why the momentum feels this way →
The objective
- Go to the enemy base and touch their flag. You're now carrying it.
- Carry it back to your own base. Step onto your own endzone while holding it to score.
- The leader when the 6:00 clock runs out wins — and a tie goes to golden cap: play continues, next capture wins. Build a 3-capture lead before that and it ends early: that's mercy. (Neutral Flag scores faster, so there mercy takes six.)
Why can't I capture?
The one rule that trips everyone up
You can only capture if your own flag is home. If the enemy has stolen it, carrying theirs into your base does nothing — a teammate has to pop their carrier and return your flag first.
What happens when you get tagged?
Run into an enemy while either of you is carrying a flag and the carrier pops — touch an enemy without a flag involved and nothing happens. Popping is normal; you respawn a few seconds later. It costs you time, not the game.
Two modes, thirty maps
- CTF — two flags, steal theirs, defend yours. Seventeen CTF maps: Shellwork (bouncy back walls behind each flag), Grease Trap (oil chutes ending in spike banks — brake or perish), Tarpit Mid (a tar-ringed powerup nest in the middle), Proving Ground (no oil, tar, bounce, spikes, gates, or wells — just movement), Deadbolt (spike-flanked gate buttons plus Drop Bomb pickups), Thicket (gravity wells at a wide contested waist), Redline (a rail-lined boost spine through mid), Tremor (a spike-and-bomb fault line splitting the smallest arena), Warp (attack and recall portals around a narrow bridge), Gambit (a spike-lined fast lane — take the bet or take the walk), Portcullis (gated doors with buttons out on the lanes), Foundry (a furnace chamber with gated mouths and a bounce core), Caltrop (shard-anchored spike gardens), Maelstrom (six wells with bounce rims to slingshot off), Apogee (the big orbital arena), Dyson (team-tile lanes and four pillars at mid), and Saltworks (the vertical arena, tar guarding every approach).
- Neutral Flag — one flag in the middle. Tag the carrier and the flag transfers to you on the spot, no return trip needed. Thirteen NF maps: Lockup (each endzone a vault behind a gate resting in its owner's colour), Skate Park (an oil tunnel straight into each endzone), Cold Storage (a tar locker you cross corner to corner), Undertow (team-only speed pads line each side's route home), Husk (a four-pillar shell around the flag, oil on both runs), Backdraft (the flag inside a bounce-wall diamond), Crescendo (well fields thickening toward each endzone), Afterburn (pad-chained runs checked by tar), Yaw (team-tile currents and a churning waist), Relic (a gated short door with its button out in the field), Slipstream (portal rotations to the flank and home), Overcast (drifting wall masses and spike hail), and Recoil (bounce bars angling every lane). The mode differences → · Every map's layout and strategy →
What should you do in your first game?
Split your team: two on offense, two on defense. Offense pushes for the enemy flag; defense sits near your own and chases down anyone who takes it.
- On offense: get to their base, grab the flag, bring it home. Don't grab it alone with no backup — wait a beat for a teammate to clear the way.
- On defense: stay near your own flag. The moment it's taken, chase the carrier — your team can't score until you get it back.
No download, no account
Fakeout runs entirely in your browser tab. There's nothing to install and no account required — click play and you're in a match.
FAQ
What is Fakeout?
Fakeout is a free browser-based 4v4 capture-the-flag game with momentum physics — two teams of four steer balls around a map and score by carrying the enemy flag home. The physics are calibrated against recorded ranked play.
Is Fakeout free?
Yes. Fakeout is free to play in any modern browser, with no purchase and no download required.
How do you win a match in Fakeout?
Whoever has more captures when the 6:00 clock runs out wins. If time runs out level, the match goes to golden cap and the next capture wins. Build a big enough lead before the clock runs out and the match ends immediately on mercy — three captures in CTF, six in Neutral Flag.
Do you need an account to play Fakeout?
No. You can play as a guest immediately. Creating a handle just lets your matches count toward a saved record on your device.