How to play
Out of Focus is a Vampire Survivors–style arena with one twist:
leaving the tab is a required tactic — and a gamble.
Survive the arena
Move with WASD. Your weapon fires automatically at the nearest enemy.
Collect teal XP gems and pick upgrades when you level up.
Ctrl+Tab to forage
Press Ctrl+Tab or click another tab. Combat pauses. While you’re gone you gain
HP regen and Focus Shards — resources you cannot get while looking.
(Alt+Tab switches apps — use Ctrl+Tab for browser tabs.)
Watch the Dread bar
A Dread meter fills while unfocused. The favicon becomes an eye; the tab title whispers.
The teal zone on the dread bar is your Perfect Return window.
Cash in — or get punished
Return early = safe forage. Return in the teal window = Perfect Return shockwave.
Stay too long = Overstay: heavy damage plus a Tab Stalker on top of you.
Look away from Medusa
When the screen screams LOOK AWAY, leave the tab before the timer hits zero.
If you’re still looking when the gaze resolves, you take massive damage.
Core mechanics
Everything else exists to make the tab choice matter.
- Shadow Foraging
- HP and Focus Shards only accrue while the tab is hidden. Late power spikes need shards from the dark.
- Perfect Return
- Re-enter during the teal dread window to dump built-up dread as a screen-clearing shockwave. Synergy upgrades enlarge it.
- Focus Debt
- Stay focused too long without foraging and you slow down, then bleed HP. The arena is unwinnable if you never look away.
- True safe-zone tips
- While hidden, the title may flash safe zone: … ✓. Those with a checkmark are real — after returning, sprint to that corner to clear enemies there. Tips with ? are lies.
- Boss-lite
- About every two minutes a boss event hits: elite pressure, swarm, stalker, and a forced Medusa windup.
Know your threats
Some enemies only make sense if you use the tab.
Chaser / Zigzag / Brute
Standard swarm. Density and HP climb until pure combat isn’t enough.
Siren
Immune while you’re watching. Leave the tab ~1s to shatter them.
Mirror
After you return, gains an echo shield lasting as long as your last hide.
Tab Stalker
Spawned on overstay. Overstay twice in one run and it evolves — faster, meaner, angrier titles.
Boss
Periodic elite that arrives with adds and Medusa pressure.
Controls
Keyboard first. The mouse is optional.
| W A S D / arrows | Move |
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| Auto | Weapons fire at the nearest enemy |
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| Ctrl+Tab / click another tab | Unfocus — forage, dodge Medusa, charge Siren breaks |
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| Click back | Cash in dread (safe / perfect / overstay) |
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| M | Mute / unmute |
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| H / Esc | Controls & credits overlay |
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| R | Restart after death |
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| Esc | Exit to menu (on game over) |
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Tips
- Film the tab bar (favicon + title) if you record a demo — that’s the unique hook.
- First run teaches forage → Medusa → Perfect Return. Later runs skip the forced intro.
- Watch the bottom dread bar if you miss the favicon’s teal ring.
- Short hides farm shards safely; long hides risk stalkers but pay more.
- Sirens with a “LOOK AWAY” label are telling you the truth.