Controls
Gamepad, keyboard, touch and the Siri Remote all fight. In a fight, the hints on screen use the button symbols of whatever controller you're holding.
Grab a gamepad
Touch works well, but fighting games are made for a pad: a d-pad for clean motion inputs, four face buttons for the four attacks and a shoulder for the special. Any Xbox, PlayStation or MFi extended controller works on every platform, and it's the only way to give a second player their own controls on Apple TV.
Every control
Directions are relative to the way your frame faces: "toward" is toward your opponent. Gamepad names follow the Xbox layout; on PlayStation, A is Cross, B is Circle, X is Square, Y is Triangle and RB is R1.
| Action | Gamepad | Keyboard P1 | Keyboard P2 | Touch | Siri Remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | D-pad Left stick | AD | ←→ or JL | StickAnywhere on the left half | Touch surfaceSwipe and hold |
| Jump | Up | W | ↑ or I | Stick up | Swipe up |
| Crouch | Down | S | ↓ or K | Stick down | Swipe down |
| BlockHold away; down-away for low hits | Hold the direction away from your opponent | ||||
| DashIn or back out | Double-tap toward or away | ||||
| Light punch | X | Q | U or Num 7 | LP | Click |
| Heavy punch | Y | E | O or Num 9 | HP | Gamepad only |
| Light kick | A | Z | M or Num 1 | LK | Gamepad only |
| Heavy kick | B | C | . or Num 3 | HK | Gamepad only |
| SpecialNo motion needed; then recharges | RB | Space | / or Num 0 | SP | Play/Pause |
| Pause | Menu | Esc | Esc | Pause button | Menu |
In menus: arrows, WASD or the d-pad move; Return, Space or A confirm; Esc, Backspace or B go back. Pressing left and right together counts as neither.
One signature move per frame
Do the motion and press any punch (or kick, for NYX), shown here facing right. Or skip the motion and press Special: it fires the same move, then needs a few seconds to recharge. The bar under each name shows when it's ready.
Rail Volley
↓↘→ + Punch
A projectile at chest height. Crouching ducks it.
Crescent Draw
→↓↘ + Punch
A rising anti-air slash. With heavy punch it can't be hit as it starts.
Slag Charge
Hold ↓, then ↑ + Punch
An armoured rush that absorbs one hit and knocks down.
Phase Blink
↓↓ + Kick
A teleport. With heavy kick, NYX reappears behind the opponent.
Which gamepad?
Xbox Wireless Controller
Including the Elite and Adaptive controllers. Pair over Bluetooth.
DualSense and DualShock 4
Including DualSense Edge. Pair over Bluetooth.
Made for iPhone / iPad
Extended controllers such as the Backbone, Razer Kishi and SteelSeries Nimbus.
Pairing a controller
- Put the controller in pairing mode. Xbox: hold the pair button until the Xbox button flashes fast. PlayStation: hold Create (or Share) and the PS button until the light bar flashes.
- On iPhone or iPad open Settings › Bluetooth. On Mac open System Settings › Bluetooth. On Apple TV open Settings › Remotes and Devices › Bluetooth.
- Select the controller, then open the game and press a button.
Who plays which side
Players and devices
- One keyboard: P1 on the left keys, P2 on the arrows (or IJKL, or the numpad).
- A keyboard and one controller: the keyboard plays P1, the controller plays P2.
- Otherwise controllers take P1, then P2, in the order they connected.
- If a controller disconnects, the fight pauses until you reconnect it and resume.
By platform
- iPhone and iPad: touch controls for P1; Couch Versus appears once a keyboard or controller is connected.
- Mac: two players on one keyboard out of the box.
- Apple TV: the Siri Remote moves, light punches and fires the special, and takes whichever side no controller has. A controller is needed for the full move set and for a second player.