Full input reference for Denshattack! — every button, stick, and trigger explained. The developers recommend a controller over keyboard and mouse. These inputs apply to Xbox layout; PlayStation equivalent buttons in brackets.
| Input | Xbox / PS5 | Action |
|---|---|---|
| LT | L2 | Drift & Brake Hold to drift around corners. Release timing grants a speed boost — the "ultradrift" technique. Also used as a brake. Mastering drift timing is central to chaining long combos and hitting gold time medals. |
| RT | R2 | Jump Hold longer for greater jump height. Jump height control is critical — some trick sequences and rail transfers require a precisely timed short hop, others need maximum air time for complex tricks. |
| Left Stick | Left Stick | Lane Switching & Movement Switches lanes left and right between rails and paths. Also controls the overall direction of movement. The primary navigation input — used constantly for route choices, obstacle avoidance, and rail transfers. |
| Right Stick | Right Stick | Tricks (Tricktionary) Flick in different directions during a jump to perform tricks. Uses a fighting-game-style input system — similar to Street Fighter motions. Supports 50+ tricks. See the Tricktionary for full input breakdowns. |
| Right Stick ↕ | Right Stick ↕ | Manual (Landing) Tilt the right stick forward or back on landing to enter a Manual instead of resetting your combo. Confirmed directly by the developers: "a manual, not a sentence I thought I was ever going to say." Essential for chaining air tricks across multiple jumps. |
| L / LB | L1 | Honk Your train's horn. Primarily a style and expression button — honk during runs to add personality. May have functional uses in certain Dare objectives or story sequences. |
Every trick, grind, and manual you land contributes to a running combo. Letting your combo drop resets your multiplier. The goal is to chain everything together from start to finish — tricks into grinds into manuals into more tricks without a single break.
Added to the game post-demo based on player feedback. As long as your combo stays alive, Overtime extends your run clock — meaning more time to score. A long Overtime chain is the key to the highest possible scores. Letting the combo drop ends Overtime immediately.
Using diverse tricks is actively rewarded — the scoring system gives a bonus for variety. Conversely, repeating the same trick lowers its score value each time. The Basic Spin is the only trick you can spam before the repeat penalty kicks in. Build a varied toolkit.
While grinding a rail, switch to an adjacent rail without breaking your combo. Mechanically simple but timing it against incoming obstacles is where the game's skill ceiling starts to show. Use it to bridge gaps between trick opportunities.
Releasing the drift trigger (LT/L2) at the right moment coming out of a corner gives a speed boost. Called "ultradrift" by players. Gold time medals essentially require mastering this technique — you can't hit fast times without consistent drift boosts through corners.
Each level has two medal goals: a score medal for hitting a point target, and a time medal for completing the stage quickly. Gold in both requires multiple runs — optimize for one at a time before attempting both.
The free demo on Steam and Nintendo eShop contains the first four campaign levels and a dedicated training grounds area. It's specifically designed to teach the core systems — drift, jump, tricks, manuals. Don't skip it even if you've played similar games.
The developers specifically recommend playing with a controller over keyboard and mouse. The right stick trick system (fighting-game-style motions) is designed for analogue stick input. Xbox layout is the reference control scheme.
Every level has collectibles, score targets, time targets, and Dare objectives. You cannot do everything in one run — it's designed for replayability. First run: learn the layout. Second: go for score. Third: go for time. Dares come when you're comfortable.
The in-game Tricktionary (accessible from the Garage menu between runs) lists every trick with inputs. Our own Tricktionary page covers all confirmed tricks from the demo and developer previews — a good reference to study before you play.
Different trains have different stats — one may charge jumps faster but have shorter manual duration; another scores higher on basic tricks but is harder to drift and grind. Visit the Train Customisation guide for a full breakdown before you commit to a build.