Lobby and match settings
The lobby brings the squad together before the match: up to 4 players, a host who sets up the match, and everyone picking their loadout and character. Play, in the main menu, takes you straight there. The lobby stays open while you browse the menus (Armory, challenges, loadouts…), and you come back to it after every match.
The screen reads in three columns: on the left the squad (one row per player) and the chat, in the middle your loadout and your gumballs, on the right the map, the difficulty, the other settings and the start button. At the top: the lobby code, the invites and Join a match.
Creating or joining a lobby
| How | Where | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Your private lobby | Play (main menu) | Created for you if you are not in any lobby; otherwise, Play takes you back to yours. Invite only: code, Discord invite or friend invite. |
| Public lobby | More options › Visibility › Public | Your lobby shows up in the Public lobbies list. |
| Join by code | Lobby › Join a match › Join by code | 6-character code, works for private and public lobbies alike. |
| Join a public lobby | Lobby › Join a match › Public lobbies | Player count and status of each lobby. Match in progress: you spectate until the next round. |
| Join by link | Invite link from a friend | Opens the ANKOU website, which shows the lobby code: launch ANKOU in your Discord voice channel, then enter that code under Join a match. |
| Join a friend | Friends panel (F) › Join | Works even for a private lobby, if there is room left. See Friends and invites. |
| Online quick match | Lobby › Join a match | Reinforcement in a public match in progress, otherwise a new public lobby started right away. |
| Discord Activity | Voice channel | Voice channel members end up in the same lobby. See Playing in Discord. |
The lobby you join may turn you away: lobby full (“This lobby is full (4/4).”), unknown code, lobby gone, or a recent kick by the host. If other players are with you, joining another match takes you out of your squad: the game asks you first (“Leave your lobby?”).
The host
Whoever creates the lobby is its host (“Lobby host” on their card). Only the host can:
- change the match settings (others see them read-only, “Set by the host”);
- start the match;
- kick a player: the kicked player cannot come back to this lobby for 10 minutes (and leaves the match if they were playing);
- end the match for everyone from the pause menu.
If the host leaves the lobby, another player becomes host automatically (“X is now the lobby host.”).
Match settings
Settings can be changed while the lobby is waiting, and again after a match when you are back in the lobby. They are locked during launch and during the match. Any change cancels a running countdown.
| Setting | Options | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Map | Ker-Ys, Nec Mergitur | The map played. See Ker-Ys and Nec Mergitur. |
| Difficulty | Easy, Normal, Realistic | See difficulty, below. Easy is unranked; Realistic unlocks at round 10. |
| Starting round | 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 | Start further in right away. Past round 1, the match is unranked. Unlocks at round 10, like Realistic. |
| Korrigan’s Gumballs | On / off | Allows Korrigan’s Gumballs during the match or not. See Korrigan’s Gumballs. |
| Join in progress | On / off | Lets new players join a match that has already started. See below. |
| Visibility | Private, Public | Public: the lobby shows up in the public lobby list. |
The map (one thumbnail per map) and the difficulty are always visible; the other four settings are folded under More options, which shows their summary (visibility, starting round, “No gumballs”).
A new lobby takes the map and difficulty of your last lobby (Ker-Ys and Normal the first time), round 1, gumballs and join in progress on.
For a host who is just starting out (see Levels, ranks and prestige), Nec Mergitur stays greyed out until level 7, and the difficulty stays on Normal until level 10 (Easy and Realistic greyed out). The game also enforces this when a new host takes over the lobby and when the match starts. Once you reach the level, choosing it in the lobby unlocks it (the padlock drops away), then a short tour introduces it; the ? button replays the tour.
Leaderboards only count ranked matches: starting round 1. A match started at round 5 or later does not go on the leaderboards.
Difficulty
| Normal | Realistic | Easy (unranked) | Discovery (guided match, newcomers) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie health | ×0.9 | ×1.25 | ×0.6 | ×0.6 |
| Zombie damage | ×0.85 | ×1.5 | ×0.5 | ×0.5 |
| Zombies running and sprinting | normal | 2 rounds earlier | 2 rounds later | 2 rounds later |
| Delay before your health regenerates | ×1 | ×1.4 (longer) | ×0.75 (shorter) | ×0.75 (shorter) |
| Power-up frequency | ×1 | ×0.75 | ×0.5 | ×1.5 |
| Zombies per round | ×1 | ×1 | ×1 | ×0.7 |
| Zombies during the extraction assault and Easter egg steps | ×1 | ×1 | ×0.5 | ×0.7 (extraction only) |
| Player maximum health | ×1 | ×1 | ×1.5 | ×1 |
| Hideout loot (materials) | ×1 | ×1 | ×0.5 | ×1 |
| Rare and ultra-rare components | ×1 | ×1 | ×0.8 | ×1 |
| First hound pack | 8 per player | 8 per player | 8 per player | 3 per player, even slower (5 m/s instead of 5.9) |
| XP earned | ×1 | ×1.25 | ×1 | ×1 |
| HUD | full | minimal (no crosshair) | full | full |
Easy difficulty unlocks at level 10 with the difficulty choice; the lobby then recommends it until the host has reached round 10. It is unranked: its matches count for neither the leaderboards nor round progress (so it doesn’t unlock Realistic). Rounds are as crowded as on Normal; it is the extraction assault and the Easter egg steps that have half as many enemies. Extraction and the Easter egg work as usual. The final bosses (Dahut, Vouivre) have 40% less health there. Round achievements and the round challenge have an “(Easy)” version with their own rewards (see Achievements); an Easy match also confirms a referral recruit. Until you have reached round 10, the Training panel guides you there (marker to the power, then to your first perk, then to the call point when the extraction window opens). Doors cost the same as on Normal.
Discovery difficulty is never offered in the lobby. It kicks in on its own for the guided match (started alone, from round 1; a friend can join it in progress) and for the newcomer boost: a Normal match from round 1 where no player has reached round 10 yet is played on Discovery (see Rounds and difficulty). The lobby stays set to Normal. On Discovery, Menhir is given to everyone as soon as the power is on. After the boost, these matches are played on Easy as long as the host has never picked a difficulty; after that, the newcomer step-up keeps Normal halfway to Discovery (fewer and weaker Drowned, later sprinters, softened hound packs), until a player reaches round 10 on Normal.
Realistic difficulty unlocks once the host has reached round 10 in a ranked match. Until then, the option is grayed out and the lobby shows “Reach round 10 to unlock Realistic”.
Loadout and character
Under “Your loadout”, the starting weapon is shown large, with its camo:
- its class (SMG, Shotgun…) and its role in a few words (“Fast and nimble: deadly up close.”);
- four gauges out of 5: Damage, Fire rate, Range and Handling (aiming and movement speed);
- your lethal and your tactical, with their effect.
Below, your loadouts as thumbnails (weapon, class, equipment): click one to bring it, and it is marked “Equipped”. Edit loadouts › opens the Loadouts screen. Before level 5, only the loadout in use is shown (“Loadouts at level 5”). Everyone starts the match with their loadout weapon (the M1911 by default).
The Korrigan’s Gumballs row shows the 5 gumballs in your pack, shared by all loadouts: hover over one (or select it with the keyboard, or tap it) to see its rarity, its type (automatic, activated…), its stock for a Mega, and its effect. Edit gumball pack › opens the Loadouts screen. If the host has turned gumballs off, the row is greyed out (“Turned off in this lobby”). See Korrigan’s Gumballs.
The character is picked by clicking your portrait in the squad (small pencil): the “Choose your survivor” window introduces each one. A survivor can only be played by one player in the lobby (“Picked by …”). The character only changes the look and the voice. You can no longer change character during the match. The last one you picked is offered first in your next lobby. See Characters.
Ready and launch
- Each player (except the host) clicks Ready (“✓ Ready” once confirmed). The status line shows “Waiting for N players”, then “The whole squad is ready”.
- The host clicks Start match: a 5-second countdown appears in the chat.
- During the countdown, a player can still click Cancel (not ready); the host can cancel it by clicking again.
The launch is canceled if a player is no longer ready, disconnects, joins or leaves, or if a setting changes. It is refused if a player is not ready, if a player is disconnected (“wait for them or kick them”), or if the server already has too many matches running (“try again in a few minutes”).
Alone in the lobby, the host starts right away (“Ready to go solo”). As long as you have not finished the guided match (and have played fewer than 5 matches), Guided match also shows under Start match.
After a match, the Play again button on the end screen takes you back to the lobby already ready; the host’s relaunches the match as soon as every other player is ready. Solo in Discovery, as long as the Guided match is not completed, Play again restarts the Guided match.
Squad bonus
Playing with your ANKOU friends pays more: each friend in the lobby gives +5% XP and Moon Nectar, up to +15% (three friends). The “Squad +X%” tag shows next to the Squad heading. Only players you have added as friends in ANKOU count (see Friends and invites).
Chat
The lobby Chat lets you write to the whole squad (200 characters per message). It also announces arrivals and departures, host changes and the countdown. The same chat carries on in the match (T or Enter). Sending too many messages too fast or repeating the same message is refused.
Joining a match in progress
If join in progress is on and there is a seat left, a player who joins the lobby during a match arrives as reinforcement: they watch their teammates as a spectator and enter play at the start of the next round, with the starting kit (loadout weapon, grenades) and at least 1,500 points. If the option is off, they wait in the lobby and will play the next match (“A match is in progress: you’ll play the next one.”).
Disconnects and interrupted matches
- A disconnected player keeps their seat for 90 seconds (“Reconnecting…” on their card). If they come back in time, they pick the match up where they left off. After that, they leave the match (“X was disconnected for too long”).
- If your game hits an error while you still have your seat, the lobby shows “Your match goes on without you” with Rejoin match or Abandon (progress saved). The main menu also shows “Match interrupted · Your spot is saved · Rejoin ›”.
- If the game tells you so (“The graphics card was reset”) and does not recover on its own, click Reload: your seat is kept for the time shown.
Leaving the lobby
Leave lobby (under the start button) takes you out of the lobby and your squad. During a match, leaving the lobby means leaving the match for good: your results, XP and challenges are saved, but you cannot go back in. If you were the host, another player takes over.
Checked against the game on November 10, 2026