How to Play Totally Accurate Battlegrounds: A Beginner’s Strategy Guide

You had to know this was coming: the official Battle Royale parody is finally here! Totally Accurate Battlegrounds plays something akin to a (slightly) less ridiculous Octodad… but in a huge deathmatch setting.

The game is currently free for 100 hours after launch, at which point it will retail for $4.99 — so now is the time to download it if you don’t want to pay for it. 

Unfortunately, all those people taking advantage of the free pricing are overloading the servers, making it difficult to even start a match right now. However, if you do get in, you might want to know how to actually play the game, since it is a tad different than other Battle Royales currently on the market.

Don’t worry: we’ve got you covered with a guide and some strategies for staying alive!

 Flying car? Don’t question anything in
Totally Accurate Battlegrounds. Just get in.

Solo Matchmaking

The most common issue you are going to run into is the “Totally Accurate Battlegrounds wrong version” error message. Currently, it’s plaguing everyone.

Thankfully the fix is already here, but it won’t update immediately while the app is open.

First, fully close the game and wait for Steam to download the update (if it doesn’t start, click the “0 of 1 items” link at the bottom of Steam and then click the arrow icon on the right side to manually begin the download).

Restart Totally Accurate Battlegrounds and click “Ready” to wait for an available match. If one doesn’t show up in a few seconds, switch to the alternate US2 or US3 servers using the button in the top left corner (I’m having the most luck getting into games straight away on US3 at the moment.).

if you want to play Totally Accurate Battlegrounds in duos or squads with friends, choose “Invite” instead of “Ready”, although at this point, it might be better to just wait as the servers are taking a pounding and it’s hard enough just to get into a solo match.

Totally Accurate Battlegrounds Is Mostly Familiar

As a battle royale clone, TAB plays remarkably like PUBG or Fortnite: you’ll pick the right landing spot, listen for enemy footsteps and gunshots, and search houses for equipment.

However, buildings tend to be sparser than other battle royales, so expect to search more before finding a decent weapon — and be prepared to use different weapon types, as you will likely find yourself with a grenade or a battle ax instead of a rifle.

 That grenade sure looks concerned about what I’m going to do with him…

Best Landing Spots (Currently)

First and foremost, do not land in the water, as it turns your screen blue and then stays that way for the duration of the match. It’s unknown if this is a bug or one of those obnoxious glitches set in place on purpose.

The creatively named Military Place — found on the island at the southwest corner of the map — is hands-down the best landing spot at the moment. There’s guaranteed to be a vehicle found on one of the roads at the outskirts, along with lots of buildings to search for weapons and armor. Whether you like close quarters confrontations or sniping, there’s terrain here to fit your playstyle.

Military Place also features plenty of hiding spots and elevated buildings to snipe opponents who break from cover, and with all the tunnels and corridors you can effectively hide and take out enemies with melee weapons if you haven’t found a gun yet.

 Totally Accurate Battlegrounds Landing Map

Using Items and Weapons in Totally Accurate Battlegrounds

The F key is used for interacting with the environment and picking up items, but the layout is different than many battle royale games you may be used to playing.

Hit the Tab key to access your inventory and then right-click to use items like bandages and healing kits. Don’t move while using them though, as the timer seems to stop if you go backward or forward.

Critically, guns don’t come pre-loaded, so you have to hit R to reload a weapon as soon as its picked up or you’ll just get a click, click, click when you need to fire.

 Accessing the Totally Accurate Battlegrounds inventory

The scroll wheel also doesn’t change your equipped weapons, so you have to manually press 1, 2, 3, or 4 to select your next gun, and even to switch to a grenade (which is the 4 slot). Pressing nearly anything — like M for the map or F12 for a screenshot — will unequip your weapon, so be ready to tap the number keys again.

When you do finally find a weapon, be sure to use the absurd physics to your advantage. For instance, you can equip a gun with a high recoil like a shotgun, then aim at an angle into the ground or a wall and jump while firing to fling yourself up to flank enemies.

 Have fun avoiding explosive death in Totally Accurate Battlegrounds!

Have any other Totally Accurate Battlegrounds tips and tricks we should try out to hit the #1 position? Let us know your Battle Royale strategy in the comments below!