Hazard Levels Gameplay Guide: Rifts, Looting, and Survival

Hazard Levels gameplay revolves around entering unstable rifts, collecting unusual ingredients, surviving hostile creatures, and returning to the pub before the expedition goes wrong. The game supports solo play and co-op for up to four players, with procedurally generated dimensions that change their biomes, layouts, hazards, and threats between expeditions. The central challenge is deciding how much loot to carry while keeping your team alive long enough to make it back.

This guide is based on the gameplay information listed on the official Hazard Levels Steam page.

How a Hazard Levels expedition works

Each run begins at the Fox Hole Arms, a traditional British pub that conceals a research facility operated by a group known as The Family. From there, recruits are sent into unstable interdimensional rifts to gather rare ingredients and other loot.

The general gameplay loop is:

1. Prepare at the pub before leaving.
2. Locate dimensional anomalies with the Rift Scanner.
3. Open a portal using a Rift Stabilising Device.
4. Explore a procedurally generated rift.
5. Collect ingredients and sellable objects.
6. Avoid or fight creatures inside the dimension.
7. Decide when to stop pushing deeper.
8. Return with your haul and use it for brewing and progression.

The game’s description emphasizes that deeper areas become stranger and more dangerous. Because rifts generate shifting layouts and randomized hazards, a route that worked during one expedition may not be reliable during the next.

Exploring rift dimensions

Exploration is one of the defining parts of Hazard Levels gameplay. Rift dimensions are procedurally generated, so the environment is not presented as one fixed map with a single optimal route. New biomes, layouts, hazards, and escalating threats force players to adapt while they search for resources.

The Rift Scanner helps identify dimensional anomalies. Once an appropriate anomaly is located, the Rift Stabilising Device can be used to create an unstable portal. The available information does not provide a complete control guide or explain every scanner indicator, so exact button bindings and interface symbols are not independently confirmed.

When exploring, keep the expedition’s return trip in mind. Going farther may provide access to stranger loot, but it also increases exposure to creatures and environmental danger. Hazard Levels is built around the tension between continuing for better rewards and leaving while the team still has a safe path out.

Physics-based looting

Looting uses the Gravity Gauntlet, a tool that can grab, carry, and throw multiple objects at once. This makes collecting items more physical than a conventional inventory-only system. Players must handle objects in the environment while also dealing with the creatures and hazards around them.

The confirmed gameplay features include:

• Grabbing multiple objects with the Gravity Gauntlet
• Carrying bizarre ingredients grown inside rifts
• Throwing objects when needed
• Selling collected ingredients at rift stations
• Bringing valuable materials back to the brewery

The source does not specify individual ingredient names, sell values, carrying limits, or drop rates. Those details should therefore be checked in-game rather than assumed from the general description.

Combat and survival decisions

Creatures lurk throughout the rift dimensions, and combat is not described as the only solution to an encounter. The official description encourages players to study creature behavior, learn weaknesses, and use weapons strategically. It also specifically highlights choosing when to fight and when to keep your distance.

That makes threat evaluation important. A direct confrontation may be appropriate when a creature blocks a route or protects valuable loot, but avoiding an encounter can preserve time and resources for the return journey. Since the supplied material does not list specific enemies, weapon statistics, or weaknesses, there is no confirmed enemy-by-enemy strategy yet.

In co-op, communication is especially important. Hazard Levels includes proximity chat, so players can coordinate while separated during exploration. The game supports one to four players, allowing a group to divide scouting and collecting responsibilities, although the source does not define fixed character roles or class abilities.

Brewing and between-run progression

Collected ingredients are taken back to Brewdragon’s Secret Brewery beneath the pub. There, players can brew special drinks and complete orders. The listed description says that orders help develop and increase the potency of brews.

Drinks can provide powerful abilities, but some also create chaotic effects. This means brewing is not presented as a purely safe upgrade system. Before relying on a drink during an expedition, players should learn what it does and consider whether its effects fit the planned run.

The Fox Hole Arms also functions as the main preparation area. Between expeditions, players can customize their outfit, mix perk drinks, review mission intel, and interact with the jukebox. The available source does not confirm a full skill tree, permanent stat system, or specific upgrade costs.

Practical gameplay priorities

For a first expedition, focus on understanding the loop rather than pushing as deep as possible. Locate an anomaly, learn how portal deployment works, practice using the Gravity Gauntlet, and identify how ingredients are sold at rift stations. Once the team is comfortable with movement, looting, and extraction, deeper exploration becomes easier to manage.

A sensible priority order is:

• Stay aware of the route back to the portal.
• Collect ingredients without lingering in unsafe areas.
• Watch creature behavior before committing to combat.
• Use weapons deliberately rather than treating every encounter as mandatory.
• Coordinate through proximity chat when playing with others.
• Return before the expedition becomes impossible to recover.
• Use recovered ingredients to fulfill brewery orders and improve brews.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hazard Levels single-player or co-op?

Both options are confirmed. Hazard Levels supports single-player gameplay and online co-op for one to four players.

Are the rift maps fixed?

No. The official description states that rift dimensions are procedurally generated, with changing biomes, layouts, hazards, and threats.

What is the main objective during a run?

Players enter rifts, gather bizarre ingredients and other loot, survive or avoid creatures, and return to use the haul at the brewery.

Does the game have combat?

Yes. Creatures inhabit the rifts, and the game includes weapons and strategic combat. Players can also choose when to fight and when to keep their distance.

Are exact controls confirmed?

No complete control scheme is provided in the available source. Specific keyboard, controller, or button bindings are not independently confirmed.