● REC · TAB-01 · ▶ PLAY 18:42
The Game
Gear up at the hub, sail the ferry, land on an island born from a VHS tape, haul the scrap aboard before the tape ends, head home. Then again.
Voyage loop
A voyage in eight beats
- 01
FAX ▸ IN
The fax arrives
The Company's weekly quota crawls out of the fax machine. One sentence, zero manners: “Late delivery accrues interest.”
- 02
HUB ▸ SHOP
Gear up at the hub
The hub is sunny and safe. Order weapons, tools, meds and gear from Scrap Master's workbench — it's delivered to his table. Pick your cosmetics, strap on your backpack.
- 03
▶ SAIL
Set sail on the ferry
Take the wheelhouse of the scrap ferry: throttle forward, spin in place with the thrusters, raise the bow ramp. The truck rides on deck, the crew hangs on the balcony, fish leap onto the deck.
- 04
▶ PLAY 18:42
The tape plays, an island rises
A silhouette breaks the horizon. The island isn't real — it's a cursed place recorded on VHS in 1987, projected onto the sea. The tape starts rolling the moment it's sighted; every player sees the same clock.
- 05
REC ● CELLAR
Shore, surface, cellar
Hit the shore, climb, dig through scrap piles. The real loot is below: cellars down through the hatch. The deeper you go, the more corrupted the recording — richer scrap, nastier things.
- 06
■ STOP 00:42
Back aboard before the tape ends
Haul the scrap into the hold. In the final minute a red “TAPE ENDING” flashes in the corner. When it hits zero the screen cuts to static and the island goes poof — everyone on it wakes up in the sea, and whoever was in the cellar… stays on the tape.
- 07
≈ VORTEX
Ride the vortex home
Press RETURN TO HUB twice in the TAB terminal's BOT tab; a huge vortex opens ahead of the ship and spins the ferry back to the hub. Anyone left in the sea or on an island is pulled onto the deck.
- 08
$ PAYOUT
Weigh, sell, level up
Scrap gets weighed and credited. Every successful voyage raises the crew level by +1: richer islands, tougher enemies next time. Missed the quota? To the arena.
Tape rules
If you can get it out, it's yours
The islands aren't real — they're real while the tape rolls. Know the rules and you survive; don't, and you stay in the cellar.
Tape length = island lifetime
The server keeps time, everyone shares the clock. Corner OSD: ▶ PLAY 18:42.
Scrap is real — while the tape rolls
Anything carried aboard before the tape ends stays in the real world.
The poof
Screen cuts out, static, the island vanishes, everyone on it drops into the sea. The ship is not part of the tape.
Cellar = the tape's lower layer
The deeper, the more corrupted: more valuable scrap, more dangerous things.
THE CORNER VIDEO OSD WHILE NEAR AN ISLAND
ARENA · HEX
If you miss the quota
Scrap Master's arena
Miss the quota and you wake up in the hexagon arena. The fight lasts until the timer ends or everyone drops; the last one standing earns his respect.
Attacks
Fireball · hurricane kick · pontera
Arena
Hexagon platform
Co-op
You can't do it alone
Two-hand carry
Heavy scrap won't lift one-handed. Physics grab means you carry it together — and drop it together.
Downed, revived
Hit zero and you're downed first; the second time you die. A rescue effigy brings a fallen friend back at 30% health.
Proximity voice
From whisper to scream, fading with distance. A hand mic and megaphone carry your voice; a radio pair opens up the range.
Launch, chain, fly
Ride the crew cannon, chain two objects together, float anything with the balloon gun.
Crew level
Level belongs to the save slot, not a person. Every successful voyage is +1; islands and enemies grow with your crew, no cap.
Cross-platform
Host or join a lobby. PC, Mac and mobile on the same sea; touch controls built in for mobile.
Design pillars
Why HURDA-G
Extraction tension
If you can get it out, it's yours. One more crate, or run?
Player-made comedy
Ragdoll physics, proximity voice, foul-mouthed robots, friends falling off cliffs.
Together or not at all
Two-hand carry, cut the rope, revive a friend, get chained together.
Every voyage is different
Seed-generated islands, 30 weather states, a rising voyage level.