How to Play SARABO

The arena lies. The tether tells the truth.

Survive 50 waves, defeat a boss every five waves, and confront the Mirage Queen. Cut real enemies, expose illusions, collect power-ups, and follow the color sequence for the highest score.

Controls

Move

Left Stick

Left movement pad

Tighten

Truth Pulse

Echo

Automatic

Pause

Start

Pause button

Co-op Revive

Not available

Follow the Color Sequence

The required order is always:

CYAN → PINK → GOLD → repeat

The bottom-left SEQUENCE panel shows the color you must cut next.

• Your normal blade automatically changes to the required color.
• A normal blade cuts only the correct color.
• Touching the wrong color normally deflects it instead of destroying it.
• Completing Cyan, Pink, and Gold awards a sequence bonus.
• Correct consecutive cuts increase your combo and score.

Tighten: Cut Every Color

When you are surrounded, hold Space to Tighten.

While Tightened:

• The blade turns white.
• It spins faster and moves closer to your character.
• It can cut every real color, regardless of the current sequence.
• It helps you survive when waiting for the correct color is too dangerous.
• Your movement becomes slower, and the tether gently pulls you toward the blade.

There is a trade-off: cutting the wrong sequence color while Tightened resets your combo and returns the sequence to Cyan.

Best strategy: follow the color sequence normally, hold Space when overwhelmed, then release it and rebuild your sequence.

Tighten does not make you invincible. Continue dodging enemy bodies, boss projectiles, and real hazards.

Truth Pulse

Use Shift, RB/A, or the PULSE button when you cannot identify what is real.

Truth Pulse:

• Destroys nearby purple mirage enemies.
• Locks real targets with a clean truth ring.
• Clears nearby fake floor hazards.
• Exposes false pickups and hidden boss mechanics.
• Counters the Wave 10 clone puzzle.
• Awards a CALLED IT ×2 bonus when you quickly cut a revealed real target.

Pulse has a short cooldown, so use it when several suspicious objects are nearby.

Real Versus Fake

• Real enemies can damage you and produce a clean hum and shimmer.
• Mirages carry violet static, haze, or unstable movement.
• Fake enemies, fake projectiles, fake pickups, and fake pools never remove HP.
• Lies can waste your time or position, but they cannot kill you.
• Sound provides an advantage, but every lie can also be identified visually or with Pulse.

Hallucination Meter

The Hallucination meter rises during the run. Higher Hallucination creates more fake enemies, harmless pools, screen distortion, and controller rumble.

Collect the special pill pickup to reduce Hallucination. Pills are separate from normal power-ups and should be collected before the meter becomes dangerously distracting.

Power-Ups

When two power-ups appear, collecting one removes the other. Upgrades remain active throughout the run.

• Heart: restores HP.
• Long Blade: increases tether reach.
• Fast Spin: increases blade speed.
• Wide Pulse: increases Pulse range.
• Echo Back: restores your second chance.
• Shield: blocks incoming damage.
• Time Dilation: temporarily slows threats.
• Heat Surge: increases the score multiplier.
• Speed Boost: increases movement speed.

In co-op, either player can collect the reward and its effect applies to both players.

Bosses and Checkpoints

A boss appears every five waves, with a unique mechanic.

At Wave 10, the boss splits at half HP into three identical moving copies. Two are fake and one is real. Use Pulse on the copies to expose the truth and force them to merge before continuing the fight.

Easy and Medium create checkpoints after every ten-wave boss. Wave 20 includes a cinematic transition, and Wave 50 ends with the Mirage Queen encounter and ending sequence.

Co-op

Windows co-op uses:

• Player 1: keyboard and mouse.
• Player 2: first connected controller.

Both players have separate HP. If one player falls, the other can continue fighting. Stand close to the downed player and hold R or controller B for three seconds to revive them. Reaching a checkpoint also revives a fallen teammate. The run ends only when both players are down.

Best Beginner Strategy

1. Watch the bottom-left sequence panel.
2. Cut Cyan, Pink, Gold in order.
3. Use Pulse whenever enemies look identical.
4. Hold Tighten only when surrounded or escaping danger.
5. Collect pills before Hallucination becomes overwhelming.
6. Prioritize Heart, Shield, Speed, and Wide Pulse while learning.
7. Remember: a lie never damages you, so do not panic when purple illusions appear.