Controls & the Screen

Nousfarer plays with a keyboard and mouse, or with touch on a phone or tablet. In the game, H (or Help in the menu) shows the same controls.

Keyboard and mouse

Action	Key
Walk	W A S D
Run	hold Shift while walking
Jump	Space
Look around	hold the left mouse button and drag
Use what is in front of you	E, when its gold plaque appears at the bottom of the screen
Menu	Esc
Map	M
Leave a planet (from anywhere on it)	L
Emotes	Q
Help and controls	H
Skip the opening film	hold E

Touch

Action	How
Walk	put your left thumb down anywhere on the left half of the screen and slide it; a gilt ring appears under it. Push to its rim to run
Look around	drag with your right thumb on the right half
Jump	the Jump plaque, bottom right
Use	tap the gold plaque that appears near something you can use
Scroll an article or list	drag it up and down
Astrolabe	tap a galaxy, solar system or planet, or step through them with ‹ and ›; drag to turn the tree
Full screen	Menu → Full screen

What is on the screen

• The menu plaque (☰, top left): the menu, with the map, emotes and help in it.
• The objective (top right): your next step. It shows in full when it changes, then folds into a slim strip; tap the strip to read it again, and tap it in full to open the Copilot.
• The place’s name appears for a few seconds when you enter a room or a district, and a short notice under it tells you what just happened (a piece collected, a storey mastered).
• Gold markers: the place your objective leads to has a gold light over it, and a light trail runs along the floor or the streets when the way is new. When the place is out of view, a gold pin at the screen’s edge points to it with the distance.

• Your own marker: open the map (M) and tap a spot or a tower to place a silver-gold marker of your own. It clears when you get there.

The menu

Esc (or ☰) opens the menu: resume; the map (M), emotes (Q) and help (H), and on a planet Leave planet (L); the Nousdex; credits; privacy settings; full screen (in the browser); sound (music and sounds, each with its own volume); text size; signing in or out; and, in the installed game, quitting.