Guide · Rules

How to play Gate Heist

Everything you need to win your first rooms: how a turn works, why the order of the gates matters and when to use your hack.

The goal

You are blue. Your army and the red rival army advance side by side, each in its own lane, through five rows of number gates. At the end both armies reach the ring and fuse into a giant robot. Whoever brings more robots wins, and the difference survives.

How a turn works

1. Choose. In the lit row you get one action: move a gate, use your hack if you have a charge, or pass.
2. Rival responds. The rival gets the same single action in that row.
3. Cross. Each army crosses only the gate in its own lane. An empty slot changes nothing.

Rows are crossed from bottom to top, one after another. Depending on the room, you or the rival act first, and that order stays the same for every row (and when you retry). In boss rooms the boss announces its move before you act.

Moving, stealing and anchoring gates

• You can take a free gate from either lane of the lit row and drop it in your lane, in the rival's lane or in a later row. Valid destinations light up in green.
• Stealing means moving a gate from the rival's lane to yours. It isn't copied: if you steal a +8, you gain 8 robots when you cross it and the rival doesn't.
• You can also send a bad gate to the rival: move a −6 to the red lane and they lose 6 robots instead of you.
• Moving only shows a preview. Cancel returns the gate and doesn't spend your action.
• Confirm spends your action and anchors the gate until the room ends: nobody can move it again. It still applies when crossed.
• Selecting a gate doesn't reserve it. Whoever confirms first anchors it.

The gates and why order matters

Gates add (+), subtract (−), multiply (×) or divide (÷). Division rounds down: there are never half robots. Order changes everything:

• 12 → +8 → ×2 = 40, but 12 → ×2 → +8 = 32.
• 15 → ÷2 → +8 = 15, but 15 → +8 → ÷2 = 11.

Rule of thumb: add before you multiply, and divide before you grow. If you reach 0 robots, a later addition can still bring you back.

The hack

You start every game without a charge. Grow without losses in two consecutive crossings and you earn one hack charge. An empty row, a loss or a division breaks the streak. On your turn, the hack steals up to 3 robots from the rival instead of moving a gate. Your own gate still applies. You get one charge per game and keep it between rooms, and the rival can earn and use one under the same rules.

Timers and difficulty

The campaign has three clocks: no timer, 10 seconds and 6 seconds per turn. Each clock has its own 100 levels, so there are 300 different boards. If the time runs out, you pass. Faster clocks bring more demanding rivals.

8 tips to win more rooms

1. Before confirming, read the preview: it shows the next crossing including the rival's response.
2. Count where the multiplier is. A ×2 is worth more after the additions than before them.
3. If the rival has a ×2 or ×3 waiting, steal it or anchor it somewhere it can't help them.
4. Send penalties (−, ÷) to the red lane in rows the rival can't fix anymore.
5. Sometimes the best move is to protect a gate: anchor your ×2 so it can't be stolen.
6. Look at who acts first. If the rival goes first, plan around the gate they'll anchor.
7. Don't spend your hack on the first chance. Saving it for the last rows often decides the duel.
8. Stuck? A free hint highlights the key gate without playing for you.

Updated: October 13, 2026 · By Cristian Lázaro Peris, the game's developer

Play it free

Gate Heist is free on Google Play. No account needed.