How to play

Dearborn After Hours has two halves: walking around town like a classic RPG, and side-view arcade fights. Here's everything you need for both.

Controls

How fights work

Every boss runs through a set of attacks, and every attack has a tell: a wind-up pose, a flashing warning lane on the floor, a yell, or a sound. Learn the tell and you'll know whether to jump, dash, or just walk away.

• Openings. After big moves, bosses pose, celebrate, run out of gas or check their phones. The word above their head (OPENING!, STALLED!, ON THE PHONE!) means your hits do 1.5x damage.
• Don't just mash. Land too many hits in a row outside an opening and the boss will shove you off and leap away. Hit, back off, wait for the opening.
• Dash is your best friend. It makes you briefly invincible, so you can pass straight through charges and floor attacks.
• The energy burst breaks most thrown objects and hits from range, but it has a cooldown. The final boss can block it with a shield, so save it for when the shield drops.
• Losing costs nothing. Retry instantly, or go back to town. Badges are never taken away.

Getting around town

Talk to everyone. Townsfolk drop hints about the bosses, and some of them hand out side quests. Press Q any time to see the campaign tracker with every boss's difficulty and your progress.

Ford Rd and Warren Ave

Traffic is reckless. Some drivers suddenly floor it, some brake-check and honk, and some change lanes with no blinker. A tire screech always comes right before a driver does something unpredictable. Cross at the crosswalks by Schaefer Rd and wait for a gap. Getting hit knocks you back, stuns you and costs street hearts.

Cherry Hill Rd

Cherry Hill is the most dangerous part of the map. Potholes cover the road: hop over them with Space or walk around them. Fall in and you lose a heart and climb back out where you were. Standing still on the road is a bad idea, because cracks appear under your feet and open into sinkholes. Warning stripes flash across a row of the screen before a stray cartoon pew or a runaway tire comes flying through, so move to a different row.

Street hearts

Your hearts show up in the top right when you're south of Kendal St or hurt. Get away from danger for a few seconds and they come back one at a time. Run out completely and your mom picks you up and drives you home, with commentary.

Side quest: the $0 Tip Delivery

1. Head south toward Ford Rd. Your phone will ding with a delivery request, or ask Dasher Ali outside Good Burger.
2. Accept the order and walk into Good Burger to pick it up. It is not a quick pickup. The rival dashers have been camping that order since 4 PM.
3. Beat the crew. Thin out the backup first, and hit the leader when his phone pings with a new order.
4. Carry the bag across Warren Ave and Cherry Hill to Mahmoud's house on Doxtator St. Hungry people can smell the fries and will chase you to steal some. Jogging outruns them.
5. Deliver it. Enjoy your tip.

Miniboss: the Dearborn Driver

He's waiting in the lot between Ford Rd and Warren Ave. His moves:

• Reckless Charge. Revs, then floors it across the screen. Jump over the car or dash through it. When he slams on the brakes at the wall the car stalls: free damage.
• No Turn Signal. Rolls toward you, screeches, then hops over to your other side and cuts back. The screech is your only warning.
• Pothole Launcher. Turns his back end to you and burns out, spraying chunks of asphalt. Punch or burst them out of the air.
• Road Rage. Three honks that fly at you as solid words, then a faster charge. Afterward he checks his phone, which is your biggest opening.
• Final phase. Under about 40% health he gets faster and chains two charges back to back.

Boss tips

See the characters page for every boss and a short strategy for each.

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