How the Storm works and how to survive it

Every round lasts exactly 3:00, shown as a countdown at the top of the screen. The round is split into six stages of 30 seconds each. Inside every stage the same pattern repeats:

1. 0–20 seconds: the ring stays still. This is your free time to eat and position.
2. 20 seconds: the next safe zone is revealed as a dashed outline, and the current ring starts pulsing as a warning.
3. 25–30 seconds: the ring closes smoothly towards the dashed outline, moving and shrinking at the same time. When the stage ends, the ring has reached its new size.

So from the moment you see the dashed circle, you have about ten seconds before the ring finishes moving — and the last five of those are the actual closing. The countdown timer helps: whenever it passes a :10 or :40 mark, a new circle is about to appear.

At the start the ring is large enough to cover the whole arena, so the first stage feels like a normal .io game. Each stage then makes it noticeably smaller, and the final circle is tiny — only a little larger than a big orb. The centre of each new circle is chosen with some randomness but always lies inside the previous one, so the safe zone drifts across the map rather than always ending in the middle.

You can see both the current ring and the dashed next circle on the minimap in the bottom corner, together with every orb on the map. The area outside the ring is tinted so you can tell at a glance whether you are safe.

Outside the safe zone you lose mass every second. The drain has a fixed part and a part that grows with your size — about 2 mass per second plus 4% of your current mass per second. That has two important consequences:

• Big orbs suffer most. A 500-mass orb loses over 20 mass per second outside; a 30-mass orb loses only about 3. Being huge does not make you safe from the Storm.
• Small orbs can cross it. A short dash through the Storm is survivable when you are small, which can be a clever escape route.

If your mass drops too low in the Storm, you are eliminated. The death screen then shows the mass you had when you last entered the Storm, so you can see what you lost. Rivals follow exactly the same rules, and they actively steer towards the next safe zone when they get close to the edge.

During the first stage, rivals that get eaten come back. Once the Storm starts closing they do not — every elimination is permanent. The field shrinks along with the ring, which is why the leaderboard empties fast in the final minute. If you are the only orb left after the first stage, the round ends early and you win.

The round finishes when the timer reaches 0:00 or when you are the last orb alive. If you are still alive, your placement is your rank by mass among the survivors; first place earns the Storm Survivor! screen. If you were eliminated earlier, your placement is fixed at the moment you went out. Wins and top-three finishes count towards several free skin unlocks.

• The first ring covers the entire arena, so ignore the Storm for the first 20 seconds and focus on food.
• When the first dashed circle appears, note where it is. If you are already inside, keep eating. If you are outside, travel towards it in a curve that passes through food.
• Avoid hugging the map wall. The safe zone can drift anywhere, and the wall leaves you only one direction to run.

• Aim to be near the centre of the next circle before the ring starts closing. Arriving early lets you pick a spot instead of being shoved into one.
• Rivals rushing in from the Storm are weakened. Wait just inside the ring for a shrinking rival to come to you, then eat it once it is 25% smaller.
• Do not split just before the ring moves. Split pieces are slower to regroup, and a stray half left outside will drain.

• Space becomes the main resource. A big orb cannot dodge in a tiny circle, so if you are large, stay central and let smaller rivals make the mistakes.
• If you are small, the edge of the ring is dangerous but the very centre is worse when a giant sits there. Keep moving along the inside of the ring and grab food that others ignore.
• Count the leaderboard. If you are already first by a clear margin, play completely safe until the timer ends — a win only needs you to be biggest at 0:00.
• If you are second and close, a well-timed split onto the leader's smaller pieces can steal the round, but only when your half beats theirs by 25%.

Six stages, 30 seconds each, a warning at 20 seconds, and five seconds of closing. Watch the timer, read the dashed circle, keep big pieces inside the ring and let the Storm weaken your rivals for you. Combine this with the beginner strategy guide and you will be finishing in the top three far more often.

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