How to play › ADVENTURE
CONTRACT ZERO
You do not carry a gun. You carry a uniform, a vial, a few coins and patience. Contract Zero is a social stealth game in four contracts: a masquerade, a clinic, an opera house and a night train, each with a handful of quiet methods and one nobody lists.
PLAY NOW ▶The goal
Close the file on each contract's target and walk out without being caught. The quieter and cleaner you do it, the better your rank.
How a contract plays
Plan your way in, choose what to carry, then move through a crowded floor. Guests gossip about what they see, and a whisper reaches a guard faster than you can walk. Guards get suspicious, then certain, and if you are caught the contract is COMPROMISED; you can retry straight away or go back to planning.
Throw coins to turn heads, pick locks, use a sleep vial, take and use objects, stage an accident or hide what you leave behind. A body found the wrong way brings the whole house down; an accident brings nothing but a shrug. Space opens your intel and pauses the floor, so you can study it before acting.
Every method you close a file with goes into your dossier. Each file has three challenges (OWN CLOTHES, UNDER PAR and NEVER SUSPECTED), and your finish is ranked from MESSY and PROFESSIONAL up to CLEAN HANDS. New tools join your loadout as you close more files.
Controls
| Keyboard | Pad | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Arrows | Stick / d-pad | Move |
| Z | A | Take, use, drag a body, pick a lock |
| X | B | Act on the target (away from the target: use the tool) |
| C | C | Use the tool: throw a coin, sleep vial, lockpick |
| Q / E | L / R | Cycle tools and menu choices |
| Space | START | Intel (pauses the floor) |
On a phone or tablet, a see-through joystick and A, B, C, L, R and SPACE buttons appear over the game and do the same as the keys above.
Gamepad: the stick or d-pad moves and the buttons follow the Pad column (Start is START). Esc, P or Back pauses, and the HOW TO PLAY button over the game shows the basics any time.
Modes
- The four contracts: THE VERRANO MASQUERADE, THE HOLLIS CLINIC, THE CALLOWAY OPERA and THE MERIDIAN SLEEPER. Each file opens when you close the one before it.
- FREELANCE BOARD: once all four files are closed, old files come back with house rules, and a streak that ends when you are caught.
- DAILY CONTRACT: see below.
Close all four and there is a fifth file nobody meant to open.
Mastery stars
Each star pays tickets the first time you earn it.
- Bronze: File Closed: close any contract and walk out.
- Silver: The Last File: close all four contracts.
- Gold: Every Way There Is: master all four files.
Daily challenge
Yes. The DAILY CONTRACT opens once you have closed any file. It adds house rules and a client method that pays double, and nothing you do there goes into your dossier.
Beginner tips
- Open the intel with Space before you move. It pauses the floor, so you can learn the routine for free.
- Stay out of sight of guests as well as guards. Gossip travels, and a whisper can raise a guard's suspicion before you see it happen.
- A thrown coin pulls attention where it lands. Use it to clear a path or draw a guard away from a door.
- Prefer accidents. A staged accident brings a shrug, while a body found the wrong way brings the whole house down.
- Retry freely. Being caught only sends you back to the start of the contract, and each attempt teaches you more of the floor.