How to run, jump, dive, and shove your way to victory in Fall Guys

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is a bit like game shows Takeshi's Castle and Wipeout—only everyone is running, jumping, diving, and shoving their way through the obstacle course at the same time. 60 players compete in an elimination match that spans five randomly chosen levels, with about half of the players being eliminated in each level. In the final level, only one Fall Guy can win, battle royale style.

How can you unleash your true potential as an adorable little Fall Guy? There are straightforward events like footraces, team games where you have to gather eggs or score goals, and oddball levels that involve memory games, disappearing floor tiles, or grabbing a wearable tail off another player and sticking it on your own butt. Fall Guys is fun and cute, and not especially complicated, but here are a few tips to help you stay ahead of the pack.

Don't always try to stay ahead of the pack

It feels great to be way out in front of all the other bumbling, shoving little Fall Guys. But it's not always the best idea, and on some levels it makes more sense to hang out behind the leaders, especially early on when you can qualify for the next level even if you're in the middle of the pack.

In a level like Door Dash, only some of the doors are breakable, so you don't want to be the first one slamming into a wall instead of a breakable door. Follow the leaders and let them take chances. You don't need to finish first on any level except the final one.

Go around that one fan on The Whirlygig

You know the one I mean. The last one one with the conveyor belt leading up to it. The one spinning really fast. Yes, it seems slower to go left or right to avoid that fan, but you should still go left or right to avoid that fan. 

Just look at all the players in the gif above who thought they could beat that fan. Look at them! They're all winding up exactly where I am, picked up and dumped there with no dignity by the All Powerful Fan. Just go around. You're not going to make it through. Just go around.

You're still going to try to go through that fan, aren't you? Sigh. Well, I tried.

Don't forget to dive

There's lots of running, jumping, and grabbing, but don't neglect the dive button. It gives you a boost across big gaps, almost like a double-jump, and lets you headbutt balls on team sport levels. If you're on the verge of being knocked off a platform by a moving wall, a well-timed dive can save your bacon. 

Also, why not dive across the finish line during a race? Even if you've got time to spare, you can't beat a dive for dramatic effect.

A lot comes down to luck

There's tons of randomness in Fall Guys, and that can occasionally feel a little frustrating. Sometimes you'll start off in the back of the crowd in a footrace, putting you at an immediate disadvantage. Sometimes another player will rebound off an obstacle and bang into you, knocking you off course (or off the map entirely). And sometimes you'll wind up on a bad team and see your great performance was all for naught. 

A little bad luck can end a promising run early, but it'll even out over time. You might just wind up winning the next round after some good luck. Randomness is all part of the charm of Fall Guys. If it was entirely down to skill, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Sabotage helps teams, but not if everyone does it

In team games, you usually have a chance to sabotage the other teams. Steal their eggs, block their balls, and so on. These tactics can be extremely effective, but not if your entire team devotes themselves to sabotage. In Rock N Roll, where teams push a huge ball down a course to the finish line, one team member can run ahead to block another team's ball, and it's effective strategy. Less effective is if several team members all do it together, leaving hardly anyone to push your own team's ball. 

You can't communicate with your team, so you just have to try making yourself as useful as possible. If you see one or two players already sabotaging, let them handle it. If no one on your team is sabotaging, peel off from your team and do it yourself. 

In team games, target the last place team

In games like Rock N Roll and Egg Scramble, there are three teams competing, but only the team in last place will be eliminated. Whether you're in first or second, focus your efforts on the last place team and make sure they stay in last, rather than trying to overtake the first place team or (if you're in first) keeping the second place team off your tail. Target the losing team exclusively to make sure they definitely lose. You don't need to finish in first place to qualify for the next round.

Watch for hidden gaps

It's not always evident when there are gaps in some of the levels. If you're following a crowd through Dizzying Heights or Fruit Chute, for example, keep an eye on the players ahead of you to see if they're jumping or diving—both of those levels have gaps between obstacles that are hard to see. As you play you'll encounter the same levels repeatedly on different runs, so you'll eventually learn where all the hidden or hard to see gaps are. Until then take your cues from other players.

Sometimes, falling into a hazard can help

In The Whirlygig, a course filled with fan blades, I fell into a spinning bar, which wound up propelling me through the entire series of obstacles and launching me far ahead of the pack. In tail grab games, if you've got a tail and everyone is chasing you, deliberately getting hit by a spinning hammer may knock you out of reach. 

Obstacles are usually to be avoided, but sometimes they can bonk you to victory. It's not easy to plan for getting successfully knocked around by an obstacle, but as a last ditch move it's not a bad idea.

Sign my petition to remove See Saw from the map rotation

Just kidding! But seriously, this level is hell and I hate it. The strategy will become obvious quickly: try to stay in the middle of the see saws. But you'll find that impossible once the teeter totters start leaning so steeply you can't even stay on them at all. 

Seriously, this map sucks, except for the time I finished third and could stand around at the finish line celebrating and shoving people like a jerk. The best tip is to ignore my first tip and be the first one over the see saws before they have the chance to start leaning.