Getting Started in Beetleball

Beetleball’s first hour is not “find the ball and kick it.” You spawn as a beetle on a 3D picnic, a rabbit hops in with fresh dung, and the only shot that counts is a golden dungball — five dung levels merged into one. Steam Early Access is live (3 September 2026, app 2776270, Bugfight Studio). Buy it, finish the in-game tutorial, then use this page as the checklist that the tutorial is too polite to shout.

You always play BLUE. The enemy net is always RED. That is not a suggestion for colourblind players to memorize team chat; it is the rule of every match, ranked or custom. If a teammate yells “our goal,” they mean the blue one behind you. If they yell “shoot,” they mean the red one, and they probably mean gold, not the brown pebble you just yoinked off the grass.

Do the tutorial, then open settings

The tutorial is short and it pays experience. Demo patch notes added that XP reward on purpose: the ranked level gate used to sit at 25 and was dropped to 5 so people could queue, but you still want the free levels. Complete it once on a new account even if you watched a video. Grab, throw, flutter, and the gold rule all click faster when the game is pausing to name them.

Then open Settings before your first real match.

1. Find always-sprint under accessibility. Turn it on if it is not already on. Shift then becomes walk, which you only want for tiny positioning or a tech that asks you to creep. Default sprint is the correct life.
2. Glance at colourblind mode, team outlines, and distance blur while you are there. Details live on Controls.
3. Mouse look is your aim. Headbutts and throws follow the camera, not a hidden reticle in the sky.

If you skip this block, you will walk in a lobby full of people who never let go of sprint, and you will swear the game is faster for them.

Ultimate Beetleball Playtest Guide for Beginners

Blue versus red, and do not shoot the goalie first

Every mode — unranked, 3v3 ranked, custom 6v6 — keeps you on blue shooting red. Hats, skins, and wing trails do not change sides. That consistency is why colourblind mode and outline toggles matter more than a new palette: the net colour is the identity of the play.

Your first gold will feel like a miracle. The instinct is to yeet it at the red mouth the instant it shines. Do not. A planted Goliath, or any defender who still has a headbutt, will punch that ball back into your face or into a merge you did not want. The first-hour rule is: beat the goalie, then shoot. Force a jump, a shield, a missed headbutt, or a teammate crash, then throw. How to Score is the full merge and rabbit lecture; here you only need the patience rule.

If the gold is still on your side of the pitch, merging and carrying is more valuable than a hopeful lob. If the gold is in their box with a defender squared up, pass, headbutt the keeper off the line, or wait one second. Waiting is a mechanic.

Four beetles that teach the game

Class select now tags difficulty and marks beginner-friendly beetles with a green star. You can main whoever you like — there are 14+ classes — but your first hour should not be a Tiger teleport thesis. Use one of these four until grabbing is boring.

Ladybug is a tiny attacker. Off-ball Q spends a meter to fly the way you look. On-ball Q spends a meter to fly up with the ball. You are easy to knock, so do not stand still in a Goliath headbutt. Steal, leave the ground, and stop treating the pitch like a floor.

Click is the other gentle attacker. Both abilities pop a shockwave that launches Click up and shoves nearby beetles and balls. Off-ball next to a ball is the start of a launch; on-ball is a reset-and-catapult. Click is predictable if you only jump straight up, but it is honest, vertical, and good at “get this gold off the grass.”

Firefly teaches disruption. Off-ball Q turns you into a short guided burst that explodes (retap Q or wait) and stuns, forcing drops. On-ball Q marks the held dung to explode later, which is a thrown stun if you use a small ball. Cooldowns are long. Your job is not to score every fight; it is to make the enemy drop the gold your Ladybug is already chasing.

Goliath is the goalie. Off-ball raises a camera-aimed shield that reflects what hits it. On-ball vaults the ball forward and hops you into a follow-up. Goliath does not glide; tap-space in the air is a ground pound that stuns on landing. You are huge, slow, and the reason “don’t shoot immediately” exists. Stay near the blue net until you understand dolphin dive later.

Full kits and roles sit on the Players Hub. The Tier List Hub can wait until you can grab on purpose.

Custom lobby before ranked

Ranked 3v3 is the competitive playlist. It is a terrible first classroom. Open a custom lobby, invite a friend (or sit in a public custom if the browser shows one), and play Picnic until you can:

• Grab on left click without panic-clicking six times.
• Throw where the camera looks, not “generally forward.”
• Headbutt a ball that is coming at your net.
• Leave a gold alone for one extra second when a keeper is set.

Custom lobbies show average player level in the browser, have proximity voice, and let you pick maps. Unranked matchmaking is the middle step if you want random teammates without a hidden MMR spike. Ranked’s old level 25 gate is gone from the demo era (it dropped to 5); still, a level 5 beetle who cannot glide is not “ready,” they are just allowed. Ranked Matchmaking explains 3v3 jobs. Competitive Maps explains why Picnic’s cake is not Egypt’s pyramid.

Spend beetle bucks on eggs if you want hats. Hats do not make gold. Movement does. After two custom games, go to Movement Tech and learn a headbutt grab: left click, then right click through the ball, inside the one-second grab window. That single string is the difference between “I touched dung” and “I am the dung.”

When you finally queue, remember the first-hour contract: sprint on, blue shoots red, gold only, beat the keeper, and pick a beetle you can still play when you are losing 0–2. The rest of this Guides Hub is there when that contract starts to feel small.