Rust is an online multiplayer first-person shooter. The object of the game is to survive in a world full of harsh environments and zombies. Players can survive by building their own shelters, as well as craft their own equipment, including weapons and other items. The goal of the game is for players to make their own story and do what they want, surviving against the game itself and other players.
Interaction
The player traverses the environment in first-person, and may hold one weapon or item in their hands, such as a torch or flare. They also have an inventory which holds any food, weapons, ammo or supplies they may have found. There are four outfit slots as well, which allow the player to wear hats, shirts, pants and shoes which will all have special effects on their stats.
Six weapons or items can be placed into a quick-use inventory at the bottom of the screen. This allows the player to switch to a new weapon or health quickly and with ease. In their inventory, the player can combine certain items, with an example being ingredients to make a health pack. Blueprints can be found for weapons, which allows the player to combine found parts into new weapons.
The game encourages players to build their own shelters. Building materials such as wooden walls, doorways and ceilings are scattered similarly to other supplies. The player must collect these in order to create a house which will help to protect them from radiation and attacking zombies, as well as keeping their supplies safe.
Survival
The game features three counters in the lower-right hand screen. These represent Health, Food, and Rads. In order to survive, the player needs to maintain their health bar, which depletes when they are starving, over-radiated or injured by a zombie/another player. The health bar can be replenished by finding or creating health packs.
The food bar depletes over time, and must be replenished regularly by eating. Food can be found scattered throughout the world, such as water bottles, tuna cans, granola bars and chicken breasts. Food can also be hunted. Rads are radiation in the environment, similar to the radiation of the Fallout series. As the player explores, they will visit locations that may have varying levels of radiation, signified by a ticking noise in the background. Radiation must be maintained by finding and taking anti-radiation pills.
Supplies can sparingly be found in crates. Green crates typically have weapons and ammo in them, whereas advanced green crates, marked by a yellow trim, have more advanced combat tools. Red crates have health items, such as health kits and bandages. Small, wooden boxes have items that are spawned entirely randomly. Crates will be respawned after a certain amount of time.
Combat
The game uses typical first-person shooter combat. When a weapon is equipped, the player may fire from their hip or aim through the weapon's iron sights in order to increase their accuracy. The majority of weapons are guns, though some melee weapons and bows and arrows can be found throughout the world. All guns use ammo, which will be depleted upon use.
The player may encounter other players, animals or zombies. Other players are harmless as long as PvP is disabled. Animals such as deer are also mostly harmless as long as the player doesn't attack them first. However, when the player is running low on food, they will need to hunt the animals in order to acquire meat from them. Zombies are the most dangerous creature in the world, and will attack the player whenever they are in sight.
