What If Disasters How to Play: From Lobby to Survival Results

Quick answer

Wait in the lobby until the NEXT DISASTER countdown reaches zero, gather with everyone during the short ENTERING SIMULATION transition, and the whole lobby is teleported to the round map together. Survive the disaster that follows and the results banner back in the lobby shows how you did.

• Lobby: the NEXT DISASTER countdown shows when the next round starts; SHOP, MISSIONS and INDEX sit on the side buttons next to an AFK toggle.
• ENTERING SIMULATION: roughly 13 seconds while players gather on the central carpet.
• Round map: you spawn with 100/100 health and a DISASTER IN 00:30 countdown to get into position.
• Disaster: a 'What if...' announcement reveals the threat and on-screen prompts tell you what to do.
• Results: a banner such as 'EARTH ENTERS A MEGA STORM / 4 OF 12 SURVIVED' lists the survivors, then the next countdown begins.

The round loop at a glance

1. 01

   Wait in the lobby

   A NEXT DISASTER countdown ticks toward the next round.

   Browse SHOP, MISSIONS and INDEX from the side buttons, flip the AFK toggle, or open SETTINGS.

2. 02

   ENTERING SIMULATION

   The screen shows this message for roughly 13 seconds.

   Players gather on the central carpet, then the whole lobby is teleported to the round map together.

3. 03

   Preparation countdown

   A DISASTER IN 00:30 timer runs before the catastrophe starts.

   You arrive with 100/100 health and use the window to reposition: run to houses, reach cars or climb to high points.

4. 04

   The disaster

   A 'What if...' announcement reveals what the map is about to face.

   Follow the on-screen survival prompts; your health bar at the top of the screen ticks down with every hit.

5. 05

   Results in the lobby

   A settlement banner shows who made it.

   For example 'EARTH ENTERS A MEGA STORM / 4 OF 12 SURVIVED', with the survivor names listed underneath.

Every round ends back in the lobby, where the NEXT DISASTER countdown ticks toward the following round and the loop begins again.

Step 1: Wait out the lobby countdown

Rounds run on the lobby's clock: a NEXT DISASTER countdown shows how long is left until the next round begins, and when it reaches zero, the lobby moves into the round. While you wait, the side buttons open the SHOP, MISSIONS and INDEX panels, and an AFK toggle sits alongside them.

Joining mid-round works too. Late arrivals and eliminated players both end up in spectator mode, where the HUD shows SPECTATING followed by another player's name, and you watch that player's view until the round finishes and the next countdown begins.

Step 2: Ride the ENTERING SIMULATION transition

When the countdown ends, the screen switches to ENTERING SIMULATION for roughly 13 seconds while players gather on the central carpet. The whole lobby is then teleported to the round map at once, where you spawn with a full 100/100 health bar at the top of the screen and a DISASTER IN 00:30 countdown overhead. Exact timer lengths can vary between rounds and updates, but the sequence repeats every round.

Step 3: Spend the preparation window well

The half-minute before the catastrophe (about 20–30 seconds, though exact timers vary) is your window to get into position before the disaster starts. Players spend it running to houses, reaching cars and climbing to high points. Some maps add drivable cars, and a few even leave time to ride a pony or play a quick game of soccer before things get serious.

Step 4: Follow the prompts and guard your health bar

The disaster itself is announced with a 'What if...' message — 'What if every volcano erupted at once?', 'What if an F5 tornado hit our street?', 'What if the floor became lava', 'What if Earth tilted 90°?'. The game's own intro advertises 25 disasters across nine maps.

During the disaster, explicit survival prompts tell you what to do, and they change with the threat: 'Stay high up', 'Get onto a car, a bench, anything', 'Keep a roof above your head', 'Being under a roof keeps you safe', 'Stay off low ground', 'Find high ground fast', 'Do not go outside', 'Stay away from them' when two tornadoes cross the city, 'Don't stand below them' while loose objects slide downhill. Treat the active prompt as the round's objective — it is the line between surviving and bleeding health.

Every hit ticks your health bar down from 100/100 — mid-disaster you can be sitting at 94, then 82 — and heavy damage is survivable: one tornado survivor finished on six out of 100 HP. Hit zero and you are out: the HUD switches to SPECTATING, and you watch another player's view until the round ends.

Step 5: Read the results banner

Survive to the end and everyone returns to the lobby, where a settlement banner announces the outcome — for example 'EARTH ENTERS A MEGA STORM / 4 OF 12 SURVIVED', with the survivor names listed underneath. Results swing hard between rounds: survivor counts like 'Only three out of the 10 people survived', 'four out of the 13' and '7 of 14' all show up as round results. The lobby also keeps a 'Best streak today' counter — a 76-win streak has shown up on it — and then the NEXT DISASTER countdown starts the loop again.

Set yourself up in SETTINGS

Before a long session, it is worth opening the lobby SETTINGS window, titled 'Saved with your progress'. Five toggles live there:

• Reduced camera effects — removes flashes, colour pulses, glitches and warping.
• Weather particles — rain, snow and ash; turning them off helps slow devices.
• Performance mode — fewer particles and less flying wreckage for a smoother game, and it switches itself on if your device struggles.
• Mute other boomboxes — silences other players' songs while yours keeps playing.
• Notifications — pop-ups for achievements, missions and purchases.

After your first round

That is the whole loop: lobby, ENTERING SIMULATION, preparation, disaster, results, and back to the next countdown. When you want to go deeper, the full disasters list explains what each announcement can pick for your next round.