A squad of three soldiers approaches a glowing HEX cube at an extraction point on a neon island — the extraction moment where Off The Grid’s optional blockchain layer begins.

How to Start Playing Off The Grid

ByNFT Video Games Editorial Team

Off The Grid is one of the most-streamed “NFT games” — and also one of the most misunderstood. Gunzilla Games’ own FAQ states it directly: it is a battle royale with an optional NFT element, playable entirely without touching crypto. This guide covers the actual beginner path — where to get it, what an account needs, and when (if ever) the blockchain layer becomes relevant. Verified against Gunzilla’s official sources on 18 September 2026.

What is Off The Grid?#

A free-to-play, third-person cyberpunk battle royale from Gunzilla Games, set on a contested island called Teardrop. The current mode is Extraction Royale — a hybrid of battle royale and extraction shooter where squads of three fight while optional objectives let you recover items worth keeping. It blends standard last-squad-standing pressure with the extraction-shooter question: fight, or grab the loot and get out?

Is Off The Grid free to play?#

Yes — free to download and free to play in Early Access, on every supported platform. No purchase, subscription, NFT or wallet is needed to start. A paid OTG subscription exists for perks, but it is optional. The blockchain layer is also optional: Gunzilla’s FAQ states the game is playable “without dipping into NFTs”, which makes OTG a clear example of the free-to-play, ownership-optional model.

What platforms can you play on?#

  • PC — Steam and Epic Games Store
  • PlayStation 5
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Mac
  • GeForce NOW — cloud streaming, no install

One asymmetry worth knowing: the blockchain ownership features (trading extracted items as NFTs) are primarily surfaced on PC — OpenSea lists OTG mainnet items as PC-only. Console players get the same core game; the optional trading layer may be more limited depending on platform. Nothing about gameplay requires it.

How to start playing Off The Grid#

  1. Download from your platform’s official store — Steam, Epic, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or GeForce NOW. Search “Off The Grid”; the publisher is Gunzilla Games.
  2. Sign in with your platform account — Epic/Steam/PSN/Xbox credentials are all you need. No separate crypto account, no wallet creation, no blockchain step.
  3. Play. The tutorial and early matches teach the loop as you go.

What is the basic gameplay loop?#

Squads of three drop onto Teardrop Island — up to 60 players (20 squads) per match in the current Extraction Royale format. You loot weapons, armor and Rips (the in-match currency), complete “Teardrop Op” objectives, and fight or avoid other squads as the playable area tightens. Cyberlimbs give characters abilities, and loadouts/progression carry between matches. You can play the whole thing as a straight battle royale and never engage the deeper systems.

What are HEX items and extraction?#

Scattered around matches are Hexes — cubes containing gear. To keep one, you carry it to a Hextractor station mid-match and defend it while it processes; successfully extracted Hexes land in your permanent inventory after the match, win or lose. This is the bridge between “playing the game” and “owning items”: extracted items are yours on your account — and that account sits on Gunzilla’s GUNZ infrastructure, which is where the optional blockchain layer begins.

Do you need a crypto wallet?#

No — not to play, and not to own extracted items. OTG runs on GUNZ, Gunzilla’s own Avalanche-based blockchain, but the wallet is embedded into the game account — you never install MetaMask, buy crypto, or manage keys to play. Our wallet explainer covers this “embedded wallet” model: a wallet can exist under your account without you ever seeing crypto-wallet software. You only encounter conventional wallet steps if you later choose to trade items externally.

How the GUNZ/NFT layer works#

If you do want to trade what you extracted:

  • GUNZ is the L1 blockchain (built on Avalanche technology) that records item ownership — inside your account, invisibly.
  • GUN is the token used to price trades on the GUNZ Marketplace.
  • The GUNZ Marketplace and OpenSea are where owned items can be listed and sold to other players.
  • External wallets only matter if you withdraw items out of the game ecosystem entirely.

None of this is required to play, to win, or to keep your extracted gear. Think of it as an opt-in economy attached to the game — the game itself is complete without it. If you’re new to what “owning” a game asset means in practice, what game NFTs actually do covers the basics.

What you can ignore as a new player#

  • The marketplace — extracted items sit in your inventory whether or not you ever trade them.
  • GUN token mechanics — only relevant if you trade.
  • Ranked play — competitive modes have been part of the early-access cycle and are on the 2026 roadmap; learn Extraction Royale first.
  • Cyberlimb optimisation — abilities matter, but defaults are fine while learning the map.

Current status and the 1.0 release#

OTG has been fully playable in Early Access since October 2024. Gunzilla’s official 2026 roadmap lays out five phases — performance, weapons, marketplace, anti-cheat and mainnet migration — leading to a planned full 1.0 release in October 2026, the game’s second anniversary. Treat that as a target, not a guarantee: roadmaps move, and the September phase (GUNZ mainnet migration) is still in progress at the time of writing. Our registry profile tracks the verified status.

Staying safe#

  • Download only from official platform stores — Steam, Epic, PS Store, Xbox, GeForce NOW.
  • Trade only through the official GUNZ Marketplace or the verified OpenSea collection.
  • Ignore “free GUN airdrop” or giveaway DMs — a common phishing hook for popular games.
  • You never need a seed phrase to play. If any site or person asks for one, it’s a scam — that’s covered in the wallet security rules.

Sources#

Verified against primary sources on 2026-09-18. Early-access games change quickly — check the official roadmap for the latest status.

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