This guide will assume that you're using mouse control with standard key setup, unless otherwise specified.

I will be refering to actors quite a lot. Actors in cortex command is the name of controllable units.

The basics of CC actor movement are pretty simple.
A and D to walk sideways
W to jetpack
S to crouch
Q and E to cycle actors, or hold for mouse selection of actor, release Q or E when you've highlighted the actor you'd like to control. Alternatively hold BOTH Q and E to toggle this on, instead of hold. You then have to press Q or E to select your intended unit.
RMB hold is for the pie menu, from which you'll access the buy menu, pick up weapon/drop weapon/reload and change weapons, as well as any eventual pie menu icons added by a gun or actor.
LMB fires your gun. Pew. Simple as that.

The jetpack is one of your most important tools in Cortex Command. It runs on recharging fuel and will charge as long as you aren't actively using it.

You should be wary of overloading your soldiers with guns however, seeing as they can't carry too much equipment and still be able to fly or even jump short distances.
If you do find yourself in the situation that you're carrying too many guns, try to use the jetpack only for gliding and order a dropship if you need it moved long distances.

One thing you might notice after playing a bit, is that the jetpack is vectored towards where you're aiming, so you'll want to aim straight up if you want to fly straight up.

With a gamepad the left stick controls jetpack behavor, so you just point it in the direction you want your unit to go in.

You can perform a jetpack dash by tapping crouch and forwards, then pressing and holding the jetpack key. This will require some training for the timing, but it's an unreliable, hillarious if pulled off correctly move for when you say, don't have any guns and want to ram an enemy soldier in his face.

It can also be used for simply moving faster, for less hillarious and more useful results.

When not flying upright, your unit might start tilting forwards or backwards, which will eventually lead to you losing control over the jetpack. You'd want to shut down the jetpack in this situation, and pray to the great FSM that your unit will point the right way upwards again.
This can also be exploited for using your units as ballistic missiles, if you're out of other options.
It's hard to aim, and might require doing a jetpack dash in midair, but it's immensely satisfying when you pull it off properly and take someone's head off with pure kinetic force.


You'll want to jetpack a lot, seeing as walking can be a bit slow at times.

When you're pressing the crouch button and no directional imput, you'll simply crouch on the spot.
If you press any directional imput along with the crouch button, you'll toss yourself down on the ground making yourself as small a target as possible.

This can be used together with jetpacking as stated previously, and can be used for dodging missiles and other explosives to great effect.

When you're imputting directional movement but your unit is stuck against a wall, it will try to climb up. On a flat wall this will be highly inneffective, but on ledges and wall crates this can be quite useful. You can latch yourself into a wall if it's got a fair amount of bullet holes, and then let your jetpack recharge for the next jump.

Unarmed combat in Cortex Command consists of ramming yourself into the enemy hopefully inflicting more damage to your enemy than to yourself.

Jetpack dashing is very helpful in this regard, so is tossing yourself at the enemy in midair (jetpack then L/R+crouch). The heavier your unit is, the better is this strategy. You can easily kill someone by dropping ontop of them with a dreadnought, but it's a bit trickier with a dummy.

By aiming a jetpack dash at the enemy weapon, you can disarm your opponent and try to steal the gun, giving you the advantage in the fight and making your nearly useless unit less useless.

It's also an idea to give each unit a grenade, in case they get into situations like this.

A simple well placed impulse grenade can send the enemy's gun flying, leaving you to pick them up.


A light digger is also not a bad choice if you've got the gold to spare, seeing as it is quite the potent melee weapon once you get close enough.


Against enemies with guns: stay moving! Make sure you're not just moving towards them but also moving your axis from them, so they'll have to keep adjusting their aim.


If you can find cover, use it.

Unarmed combat isn't the easiest thing to do in CC, but there's nothing quite like executing a brain with it's own gun.

Grappling guns and jetpacks are quite a fun combination!

you can also try tossing grenades further with a little jetpack boost right before tossing, seeing as your projectiles inherit the velocity of your unit.

Hope this guide will be useful for some. :)

Have fun!