How Neon Syndicate works

Game manual · Updated 22 October 2026

What is Neon Syndicate?

Neon Syndicate is a first-person shooter in a city that never sleeps. Between neon signs for ramen, karaoke and hotels, you work through the syndicate's contracts for one night. Each contract takes you to a different part of the city, each one pays, and with every contract more guards are waiting. The night ends when you fall – then what counts is how much you earned.

The city is open: you can run, jump, take cover, hijack cars and drive them through the streets. Draw too much attention and you'll soon have police drones on your tail. Neon Syndicate runs in your browser, with no sign-up and no download.

Neon Syndicate: view from behind a hijacked car driving down a rainy street lined with neon street lamps — Press E next to a car to get in; at the wheel, Space is the handbrake and V switches between this camera behind the car and the hood camera.

Controls

WASD – move; in a car, throttle, steering and brakes
Mouse – look around, left click – shoot, right click – the Lynx's scope
Space – jump (onto crates too); in a car, handbrake
C or Shift – crouch and sneak
E – hijack a car or get out; hold to hack or plant a bomb
R – reload, G – throw a grenade
1, 2, Q or mouse wheel – switch weapon
V – switch camera in a car
B – buy, Esc – pause with mouse sensitivity

On phones and tablets you move with the left half of the screen, look around with the right half and have a fire button.

The four contract types

Every contract has a time limit of three and a half minutes. The first night always starts with a data heist; after that the contracts come in random order.

Data heist: hack a guarded terminal by holding E. Then you have to bring the data to a pickup point – with the drones on your heels.
Demolition: plant a bomb at A or B. Then you have to defend it for 35 seconds, because the guards try to defuse it. When it starts beeping, keep your distance.
Bounty: take out a specific syndicate boss – names like Viktor Chrome or Mara Volt – who waits for you with an assault rifle and bodyguards.
Courier run: steal the marked car and bring it to the garage. The car can take a beating, but if it's destroyed the contract is lost. You have to arrive at the garage slowly.

Hacking the terminal in Neon Syndicate: the progress bar reads Hacking 41%, the glowing terminal stands on a plaza between neon-lit tower blocks — Data heist: stand at the terminal and hold E – the bar fills in about six seconds and slowly drains again if you let go, so deal with the guards first.

Rewards and stars

A contract pays more the further you are into the night. On top of that there are up to three stars: one for finishing, one if you were fast, and one if no civilians were harmed. Each extra star pays a bonus.

Weapons and gear

Every contract begins with 15 seconds of buy time, during which you can shop anywhere. After that, only at a kiosk. You always carry the P-9 pistol and one primary weapon.

P-9 pistol: always with you, twelve rounds, accurate but semi-automatic only.
Vektor SMG: fast with little recoil, ideal at medium range.
Breaker: a shotgun with nine pellets per shot, lethal up close.
AK-77: long-range and precise, as long as you fire in short bursts.
Lynx: a sniper rifle. One shot, one hit, right click zooms. Without the scope it spreads a lot.
Kevlar: armour that halves every hit until it's used up.
Medkit: +50 health. Grenades: up to three at a time. Ammo: refills all reserves.

Headshots do much more damage than body hits.

The Equipment menu in Neon Syndicate with four weapons (Vektor SMG, Breaker, AK-77, Lynx) and four gear items, credits $800 — Your first night starts with $800 – enough for Kevlar or a grenade, but not yet for a weapon; greyed-out tiles are too expensive or not needed right now (full health, full ammo).

Wanted level

Up to five stars at the top right show how hard the police are after you. You get wanted stars for dead civilians (who also cost you 300 dollars), drones you shoot down and cars you set on fire; some contracts trigger a manhunt by themselves, for example once you have the data or the courier car. The higher the level, the harder the police drones hit. Lie low for a while and the police lose your trail.

A police drone with a spotlight hovers over a neon-lit street in Neon Syndicate, two of five wanted stars are lit at the top right — Once you have the data, the wanted level jumps to two stars and police drones sweep the streets with their spotlights – the stars at the top right blink while a drone can see you.

Strategy and tips

Kevlar first. It halves every hit. Buy it early, before you invest in expensive weapons.
Crouch to aim. Crouching steadies your hand, and behind cover you are harder to hit.
Go for the head. Aiming pays off more than spraying.
Cars as an escape. A hijacked car is the fastest way out of a firefight or to deliver the data.
Spare the civilians. Otherwise it costs money and a star in the rating, and brings the police down on you.
Grenades for groups. A grenade clears a guarded square faster than the pistol.

Common beginner mistakes

Buying the Lynx straight away and then missing at close range without the scope.
Racing across sidewalks and suddenly having several wanted stars.
Wandering too far from the bomb – the guards defuse it in a few seconds.
Trying to finish the courier run by flooring it into the garage. Brake first.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a multiplayer mode?

No, you play Neon Syndicate alone. After every night you see your haul and can share the result; “New night” starts over.

What is saved?

Your high score, the number of nights played, music and sound settings and the sensitivity, in your browser's local storage.

Behind the scenes

The city is built anew on every start: a grid of blocks with roads, sidewalks, alleys and plazas. The neon signs on the facades show words like RAMEN, ARCADE or KARAOKE and are drawn in the browser. The music is generated live too – a synthesizer at 104 beats per minute that gets louder and denser as soon as nearby enemies raise the alarm or the police are looking for you. Enemies find their way through the city using a path map the game computes outward from the player. That way guards come around corners instead of running into walls.

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