Just Read the Instructions

A corrupted artificial intelligence turns a simulated reality into a hostile proving ground, and survival depends on following orders that grow stranger by the minute. Just Read the Instructions is an indie first-person shooter built around overwhelming enemy swarms, oversized firepower, and a deliberately off-kilter sci-fi atmosphere. You play as a participant inside the AI’s collapsing system, while scientists outside the simulation attempt to understand its logic and direct your resistance. The tone lands somewhere between a frantic arena shooter and a surreal technological nightmare, with the absurdity of the mission briefings adding a welcome edge to the chaos.

The central loop is direct: enter bizarre virtual spaces, listen to the scientists’ instructions, complete their assigned tasks, and stay alive while huge numbers of enemies close in. Combat favors immediate, uncomplicated shooting over methodical tactical play, giving you powerful weapons designed to cut through crowds rather than conserve ammunition for a cautious approach. Objectives become increasingly unusual as the researchers try to exploit flaws in the hostile AI’s programming, so action is not purely about clearing every room. Solo play lets you face the pressure alone, while online co-op supports up to four players, making it easier to divide attention between objectives and the constant flood of threats.

What distinguishes it from a standard wave shooter is its emphasis on instruction-following as both a narrative device and a source of unpredictable objectives. Rather than presenting a polished military battlefield, it uses strange simulation environments and an escalating sense that the rules themselves are being manipulated by a malfunctioning intelligence. The high enemy counts make positioning, target priority, and cooperative covering fire more important than pinpoint realism, even if the controls remain accessible. Fans of Serious Sam-style hordes, arcade FPS pacing, and co-op games that embrace weird premises should find plenty to like, especially if they want a short-form shooter built around loud weapons and escalating disorder.