How to Play Veil Run: Roles, Terminals and Decoy

What is Veil Run?

Veil Run is a free 60-second online stealth race for 1v1 and 2v2. Each side must activate three terminals in order and then reach the exit. One sweeping server-controlled searchlight emits two mirrored cones across the arena, while Runner and Hacker roles rotate every 10 seconds so each side receives equal time with the faster movement and support tools. An escape cannot resolve before the first rotation.

The first side to complete a valid escape wins. If nobody escapes before the horn, ordered terminal progress and server score decide the result. An exact tie is recorded as a draw.

This guide explains the route, role rotations, Interact, Decoy and both matchmaking choices. You can open Veil Run when the release is active.

Terminals must be activated in order

The three terminals are numbered. Reaching terminal three before terminal two does not skip the route or create hidden credit. Move toward the next required terminal, wait for a usable searchlight gap and complete the Interact action before leaving.

Interact while you are inside the terminal’s range, then watch for server confirmation before changing objectives. Pressing from outside that range is rejected and can force a return through the same dangerous lane.

After all three terminals are active, the exit becomes the only objective that can finish the race. Do not continue hiding around a completed terminal while the other side advances.

Read the searchlight as two moving gates

The searchlight is a predictable moving hazard, not an invisible random detection roll. Its single central fixture emits two mirrored cones. Watch their sweep direction and identify where a cone will be after you cross, not only where it is now.

The safest crossing begins shortly after a cone passes your lane. Entering just before it arrives gives you the least time to clear. Read both cones from the same fixture and wait for the larger shared gap instead of stepping forward and backward at an edge; indecision can create more exposure than one patient pause.

Route planning matters because terminals are ordered. A side path is useful only if it still leads toward the next objective. Hiding in a distant corner may avoid exposure but surrender the 60-second race.

Runner and Hacker rotate every 10 seconds

Runner moves fastest and is the role that can use Interact at the active terminal and exit. Hacker supports the route with Decoy, which redirects the light instead of granting immunity. The role changes on the shared 10-second schedule, so plan where you want to be when the next rotation occurs.

In 1v1, a player alternates between both roles but remains able to make progress. Use Runner time for longer crossings and important interactions. Use Hacker time to protect the next lane and position for the upcoming swap rather than treating those seconds as a pause.

In 2v2, one teammate can advance while the other supports. When roles rotate, continue the same plan instead of both players turning around. The former Hacker may already be closer to the next terminal and should become the active Runner.

How to use Interact

Press Space on keyboard or the Interact button on touch while in range of the required objective. The activation is immediate once the server accepts a valid Runner interaction, so use the searchlight gap to reach the terminal rather than trying to interact from its edge.

The terminal activation is worth 250 score, while a valid escape is worth 1,000 and ends the match immediately. That makes ordered progress important even when an escape is unlikely: a completed terminal can decide the horn result.

At the exit, verify that all three terminal indicators are live. The exit cannot repair a missing step in the route.

What Decoy does

Hacker uses E or the dedicated Decoy button to place a false signal inside the arena. For four seconds, the single fixture aims its two mirrored cones through that target. Decoy creates a geometric opening elsewhere; anyone who remains inside either redirected cone can still be detected.

Place it where the team can convert the changed beam angle into distance or interaction progress. A Decoy that leaves the Runner's route inside one of the mirrored cones has little value. Aim away from the planned crossing so the Runner can use the most important opening of that 10-second role window.

Do not wait for perfect danger if the cooldown would remain unused for the whole match. The right question is whether the Decoy enables real forward progress before the next role rotation.

Desktop and mobile controls

Move with WASD or the arrow keys. Use Space to Interact and E for Decoy when the Hacker role allows it. Continue holding a movement direction through a role change only if that route still fits the new speed and responsibility.

On mobile, use the movement joystick plus separate Interact and Decoy buttons. Tap the arena to aim a Decoy before using its button. Keep the objective number visible and make short, deliberate direction changes near a searchlight boundary.

Matchmaking and labelled AI

Instant Match prefers people, then may fill open roles with clearly labelled AI. Bots use the same ordered terminals, dual-beam searchlight and 10-second rotation schedule. Matches are unranked.

Human Only never adds AI and waits for all people required by the chosen 1v1 or 2v2 field. Private invitations and parties are not promised in this first release.

A first-match route

Identify terminal one before moving. Watch one full searchlight sweep if the opening is unclear. Use Runner time to cross and finish Interact; use Hacker time to prepare the next lane with Decoy. At every 10-second rotation, ask who is closest to the required terminal and keep the route moving.

The reliable beginner rhythm is watch, cross, interact, rotate. Three ordered terminals create the escape; hiding without progress cannot win the race.