FragPunk preview: it’s Uno meets Counter-Strike

5v5 hero shooter is like playing with cheat codes.

FragPunk / Microsoft

Cards change the rules of combat in FragPunk. Before each round of this 5v5 hero shooter, three are randomly distributed to each team. The ‘big head mode’ one proved the most popular during my demo. 

With this card active, opponents’ heads swell up in size, so they’re easier to hit. Seeing an entire team cavorting around with swollen craniums takes you back to the glory days of GoldenEye 007’s DK Mode, only here it’s not a cheat – it’s just the way the cards are dealt. 

You can see which cards are dropping as the round timer counts down, and even slap a little sticker on it to show your love. All five stickers immediately cover the big head card with a satisfying thump.

FragPunk / Microsoft

A 73-strong card library provides a diverse mix of parameters. There are cards that amplify jump height, set your bullets on fire, reverse the roles of attackers and defenders, and resurrect teams wholesale. 

One card, Death’s Embrace, even spawns a literal grim reaper behind enemies if they’re on half health, who swings his scythe to instantly kill any foe caught in its radius. With a seemingly unending amount of possible combinations, every round of FragPunk feels different. 

Given the anarchic aesthetic, you’d assume it’s a frivolous shooter, but underneath lies a fairly basic ‘bomb plant/disarm’ template. Like in Counter-Strike, one team must plant a bomb in one of three zones, and the other must prevent it. 

This punishingly exacting framework means when cards come into play, you know exactly what they’re doing – like using a rainbow highlighter on a tax return. It wouldn’t work if the rules were as zany as the cards. The latter provides the spice in the mix.

FragPunk / Microsoft

In addition, each player gets one life, and the time-to-kill is short, so the right application of cards makes all the difference. During one round, my team pulls both the big head card and headshot master card, which increases the damage of headshots by 25%. As you can imagine, it’s carnage. 

In another round, we get a card that reduces the round time by 30 seconds, piling on the pressure as we race more aggressively toward the objective. If you were to get the very same card on defense, however, the time decrease is much more useful. 

Where cards level the playing field through the element of chance, character abilities are where skills come in. Each of the ten heroes has three abilities to utilize. Gadget wizkid Nitro comes with a remote-control combat drone called Chug Chug, an automatic sentry turret called Mr. PewPew, and three pieces of shield cover to erect (unnamed).

Flame-haired shirtless warrior Corona, meanwhile, has a short-distance dash, a throwable dealing fire damage over time, and a move called hothead that blinds anyone looking directly at him. 

Characters synergize in different ways. Masked maniac Axon, for instance, can completely negate Corona’s hothead ability with super freak, which renders him immune to visual disturbances.

FragPunk / Microsoft

Disease queen Pathojen has a shroom wall, which is a barrier made from fungus, but no-nonsense special forces operative Hollowpoint can use her trap to suck out enemies from cover and expose them for shooting.

To make sure these interplays happen, developer Bad Guitar Studio smartly limits who you can pick at the character select stage. If someone’s already chosen your character, you have to choose a different one. 

Randomized cards combine with set characters to form a balanced mix of luck and skill. If you’re struggling against superior opposition, fates might bestow a card that gives all your bullets chain lightning. 

On the other hand, you can’t get too comfortable even if you’re winning. The other team might get a card that takes away your victory. 

FragPunk releases 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X|S.