Bopl Battle: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Bopl Battle, the chaotic slime brawler: how matches work, what the abilities do, combos that win games, online and local setup, and how to unlock the tricky achievements.

Researched September 2026 — current as of version 2.5.1 (July 7, 2025 bug-fix patch after the 2.5.0 level update; no newer patch notes had been posted as of September 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

What It Is

Bopl Battle (Johan Grönvall, published by Zapray Games, full release November 2023) is a couch and online party brawler. Every player is a goofy slime with a loadout of wild abilities, and the last slime standing wins the round. It's multiplayer only, with no single-player and no bots, so bring friends or use the built-in online matchmaking.

Key facts:

Local play: only one player per PC can use keyboard and mouse. Everyone else needs a controller.
Online matchmaking arrived in patch 2.2.0 (April 2024). There's no ranked mode, per the developer's patch notes. The "Find Players" button broke for a while in June 2025 because of a Steam issue and was fixed on June 24, 2025.
Remote Play Together works (it was fixed again in 2.4.3).
Team vs team mode is available alongside free-for-all.
Version 2.5.0 (May 2025) added 60 new levels, roughly doubling the level count.
Photosensitivity warning: the game has flashing lights.

Quick Start

Pick three abilities. Your loadout of three is your whole kit for the match, and the fun is in how they combine.
Learn movement first. Run the tutorial. There's even an achievement (LET'S FRICKIN' GOOOOO!!) for clearing it in under 9 seconds once you're good.
Take one mobility tool. Dash, Blink Gun, Grappling Hook, Roll, or Teleport get you out of trouble and onto enemies.
Take one "answer" ability. Something that protects you or denies space, like Rock (turn into an invincible rock), Time Stop, or Platform.
Then add damage. Grenade, Bow, Beam, Missile, Spike, Meteor, and Drill all kill.
Watch cooldowns. Most fights are about baiting an ability and punishing its cooldown.
Stay away from the edges and from hazards like spikes and black holes.
Try RANDOM. Rolling random abilities is a great way to learn the whole kit, and everyone picking RANDOM unlocks the Embrace the chaos achievement.

How a Match Works

Up to four slimes spawn on a stage. The last slime standing wins the round.
Matches are played over several rounds. Respawning players can be attacked during their spawn animation (since 2.1.0), so don't relax on spawn.
You die by getting hit by damaging abilities, crushed, dropped out of the stage, or swallowed by a black hole.
Draws happen. If every remaining slime dies at once, nobody wins the round (and a four-player draw earns What happened there?).

Abilities Overview

Bopl has a big ability pool that grew with every update. This table only lists abilities named in the official store text and patch notes. Exact numbers change with balance patches, so check in-game tooltips.

Ability	What it does	Notes
Grenade	Throw an explosive	Hold it too long and it blows up in your hand (achievement: Whoops!)
Smoke	A smoke grenade (since 2.1.0) that covers the stage in flammable smoke	Ignite it for chain explosions (BOOOOOMMM! needs 10 in a row)
Engine	Attach a rocket engine to a platform and send it flying	Up to 4 engines at once since 2.1.0. Kill with it for Rocket science
Black hole	Create a black hole that swallows the stage	It grows. A very big one earns World ender. Grappling hooks can hit it and pull you in
Growth Ray / Shrink Ray	Permanently enlarge or shrink anything: arrows, grenades, players, even the stage	Works on teleport and revive markers too (2.4.0). Growth-ray yourself for an achievement
Time Stop	Freeze time and set up a deadly situation	Mines arm during your own time stop. Two kills right after it ends earns You're already dead.
Platform	Create platforms and grab the stage to move it around	Core of many combos in the store description
Rock	Turn into an invincible rock	Two kills with one Rock earns 2 birds 1 stone
Drill	Turn into a drill form to attack	Stay in drill form 10 seconds for Boring master
Meteor	A heavy meteor attack	Big burst. Fixed in 2.5.1 so it no longer dies at random
Blink Gun	Teleports what it hits	Can blink players into platforms (being squished was made less likely in 2.5.1). Can hit your clones
Bow	Fire arrows	Tap-shooting was slowed in 2.2.4. Land a long-range arrow for Sniper
Dash	Quick burst of movement	Three Dashes is a known meme loadout (achievements reference "Jakob")
Gust	A blast of wind that pushes things	Gust a grenade into a player for NOICE
Grappling Hook	Hook onto terrain, objects, or players	Good mobility and repositioning
Beam	A damaging beam (added in 2.2.0, April 2024)	Clones of the same color can hurt each other with it
Duplicator	Create clones of yourself (added in 2.3.0, August 2024)	Clone 16 times for its achievement (But my lord, there is no such force)
Magnet Gun	Turn into a gun and pull things to you (added in 2.4.0, February 2025; tweaked in 2.4.2)	Community guides show movement tricks with it and Time Stop
Spike	A damaging spike attack	Unlocked in a 2023 patch ("SPIKE and MISSILE are now UNLOCKED!!")
Missile	Fire a missile	Unlocked alongside Spike
Mine	Place a mine	Arms during your own time stop
Roll	Roll along the ground	Can be charged in the air since 2.2.4
Teleport and Revive	Place markers to teleport to or revive from	Growth and Shrink Ray can affect the markers
Invisibility	Turn invisible	Online, you can see yourself while invisible (2.1.0)
Throw	A throwing ability named in the patch notes	Check the in-game tooltip for what it can grab
Macho Slime	A slime-form ability named in the patch notes	Stack them for the Totem pole! achievement

Patch notes call some of these by slightly different names (Grappling Hook appears as "Hookshot", Blink Gun as "Blink", Mine as "Mines"), so match by icon if a name looks off.

Loadout Building

Good loadouts cover three jobs:

Slot	Job	Examples
1	Get around and escape	Dash, Blink Gun, Grappling Hook, Roll, Teleport
2	Kill	Grenade, Bow, Beam, Missile, Spike, Meteor, Drill
3	Control or survive	Rock, Time Stop, Platform, Gust, Black hole, Growth or Shrink Ray

Combos worth trying

These come from the official store description and community favorites:

Platform + Engine + something heavy: make a platform, strap an engine to it, and turn the stage into a missile. The store describes a create-platform plus control-platform plus big-sword combo in this spirit.
Smoke + Grenade + Rock: fill the stage with flammable smoke, set it off with a grenade, and turn into an invincible rock while it explodes. This one is straight from the store page.
Time Stop + Mine or Grenade: stop time, set traps or throws next to frozen enemies, and let them go off as time resumes.
Growth Ray + anything that shoots: enlarge your own arrows or grenades for huge hitboxes.
Black hole + Gust: push enemies (or their grenades) toward your black hole.
Magnet Gun + Time Stop: a community-documented flying trick.
Team mode: one player sets up (Platform, Black hole, Time Stop) while the other cashes in (Bow, Beam, Grenade).

Online and Local Setup

Online: use "Find Players" for matchmaking or invite friends through Steam. If matchmaking seems stuck, check the Steam news. It has broken because of Steam-side issues before.
Local: one keyboard-and-mouse player per computer, and every other local player needs a controller.
Remote Play Together: lets friends without the game join your local session over Steam.

Achievements

There are 28 Steam achievements. Easy ones come naturally (Big brain, Scientist, Crunchy!). The hard ones need planning:

Achievement	Requirement	Tip
Triple!!	Kill three players at once	Black hole, big Grenade, or Meteor into a crowd in a 4-player lobby
Built different	Win a 1v3	Team mode with a friendly group, or a very defensive loadout
Dominator	Reach 100 wins	Just keep playing. Private lobbies with friends help
LET'S FRICKIN' GOOOOO!!	Clear the tutorial in under 9 seconds	Practice the route; mobility is everything
Begun, the blink war has	Everyone picks only Blink Guns	Coordinate with friends
Moonwalker	Moonwalk like a boss	See the community guides on the Steam hub
Totem pole!	Build a tower of Macho-slime	Check the "A Guide To All Achievements!" community guide for the setup
Embrace the chaos	Everyone picks RANDOM	Coordinate in a private lobby
I AM BECOME JAKOB, DESTROYER OF FUN	Win with 3 Dashes	Pure movement and dodging, then let hazards do the work
gg ez	Win without doing anything	Let everyone else kill each other, and hide

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Three damage abilities and no escape. You'll win trades and lose rounds.
Using your defensive ability first. Save Rock or Time Stop to answer the enemy's big move.
Standing near your own black hole or smoke. Friendly chaos kills you just as dead.
Forgetting about clones. Duplicator clones of the same color can hurt each other with beam, rock, drill, and meteor.
Trying to play solo. There are no bots. Queue online or invite friends.
Everyone on keyboard locally. Only one keyboard and mouse player is supported per PC.

Advanced Tips

Bait cooldowns. Fake an approach, wait for the enemy's panic ability, then commit while it's on cooldown.
Stage control beats aim. Moving or shrinking the stage (Platform, Growth or Shrink Ray, Engine) often kills more than direct hits.
Use time stop to line up multi-kills. You're already dead is earned exactly this way.
Grow projectiles, not yourself, unless you're going for the achievement. A huge slime is a huge target.
In teams, split roles: one controller, one killer, and don't overlap cooldown-heavy abilities.
Grappling hook and black holes: since 2.3.3 your hook can hit black holes and pull you in. Don't grapple toward one by accident.

FAQ

Does Bopl Battle have single-player or bots? No. It's multiplayer only: local or online.

Is there ranked? No. The developer said so when matchmaking launched in 2.2.0.

Why is "Find Players" searching forever? In June 2025 a Steam-side problem broke it until Steam fixed it on June 24, 2025. If it happens again, check the Steam news page and invite friends directly in the meantime.

Can I play local multiplayer with keyboards? Only one keyboard and mouse player per computer. Everyone else needs controllers.

How many abilities do I pick? Three per player, which is what makes the combos in the store description possible.

Is there a demo? Yes. There's a demo on Steam, and matchmaking kept working there during the June 2025 outage.