Guide
PokéSurvivor PC Controls and Move Switching
Movement, attack selection and level-up selection use different controls. Start by clicking inside the game, then use the table for the screen you are on. Attacks are automatic; changing the active slot changes which attack the game uses.
PC controls at a glance
| When | Control | Result |
|---|---|---|
| During a run | W / A / S / D or arrow keys | Move your partner. |
| During a run | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | Select the corresponding occupied attack slot. |
| During a run | Q / E | Select the previous / next available attack slot. |
| During a run | Click an attack icon | Select that slot without a keyboard shortcut. |
| During a solo run | Esc or the pause button | Open the in-game pause screen. |
| On a level-up choice | 1 / 2 / 3 or click a card | Choose a card, rather than an attack slot. |
| On a level-up choice | R, when a reroll is available | Reroll the offered cards; this consumes an available use. |
The official guide documents the movement keys, slot shortcuts, Q/E, icon clicks and Esc. The checked keyboard handler also supports P for pause and Tab for cycling. Prefer Q/E for routine cycling in an embedded player: Tab also has a browser focus-navigation role, especially when the game has not received focus.
First give the embedded game keyboard focus
Our player contains a separate website. Clicking the outer toolbar's Fullscreen or Reload control is different from clicking inside the game. If you have just used a toolbar button, a navigation link or the browser address bar, your next keypress may still belong to that interface.
- Wait until the game has visibly reached its menu or run. An outer loading message disappearing does not establish that an internal run has started.
- Click in the game area. Start or resume the run using the game's controls if needed.
- Try a short movement with WASD, then check the arrow keys if needed. Test movement before diagnosing attack switching.
- If the embedded view still fails, open Original site from the toolbar and test the same action there. Keep an unsaved session open until you understand what you would lose by leaving it.
If arrow keys scroll the surrounding page, focus is a useful first suspect. If the entire game remains on a pause or upgrade screen, resolve that screen first. Neither symptom calls for clearing browser data.
Switch the active attack, rather than trying to fire all slots
Normal play uses the selected attack slot. An occupied slot is something you can switch to; an empty number does not create an attack. If you only have your starter's attack, cycling may have no visible effect because there is nowhere else to go.
Once you learn a second attack, compare two ways of selecting it: click its icon, then return to the first occupied slot with its number key. You can use Q/E to cycle instead of remembering a slot number. Check the selection highlight after each change so you know what the automatic attack system is currently using.
Learning a new attack normally makes it active. Check that selection after a level-up rather than assuming your old move is still running. There are exceptions: an already active linked group keeps its selection, and Choice Band can prevent a change. Linked or fused slots can contain more than one move, so four slots is a more accurate description than an absolute four-move limit.
Some attacks require a target in range. A buff such as Swords Dance does not deal direct damage at all. A quiet attack animation does not by itself prove that switching failed: compare the selected icon, the move description and nearby targets.
When a move will not switch, check these in order
| What you see | Check first |
|---|---|
| No movement and no switching | Click inside the game and check for a menu, pause screen or card selection. |
| Movement works, but a number does nothing | Confirm that the corresponding attack slot is occupied. |
| Q/E appears to do nothing | Check whether you actually have more than one selectable slot. |
| A different move became active after leveling | A newly learned move normally becomes active automatically. |
| Multiple slots exist but selection is locked | Read your held item: Choice Band prevents switching. |
| The selected icon changes but no projectile appears | Check target/range requirements and whether the move is a non-damaging buff. |
Choice Band's switching lock is an item rule, not a missing key binding. The current player implementation refuses attack selection while the item is active. There is no keyboard shortcut that should be described as bypassing that rule.
Compare the embedded game with the original site only after the simpler checks. Avoid reloading as the first experiment during a useful run: the outer reload replaces the game page and can lose the live attempt. A Guest session has no persistent saved progression in the checked version.
Pause, fullscreen and reload do different jobs
Use the game's Esc shortcut or pause control for a solo break. The outer Fullscreen button changes the viewing area; it is not a pause command. The outer Reload button loads a replacement game frame; it is not a save command or an in-game restart option.
Fullscreen can change how Esc is handled by the browser. If Esc first exits fullscreen, check whether the game is still running, then use the visible pause control inside it. After returning from a toolbar action, click back inside the game before relying on the keyboard.
These pause instructions concern solo play. They should not be taken as a guarantee that a co-op session pauses for every player when one participant opens a menu.
A short controls practice loop
- Begin a practice run, click inside it, and move with one set of movement keys.
- Pause using the game control, confirm that the pause screen appeared, then resume.
- Read the next level-up cards and choose one deliberately. If you take a new attack, check which icon is active afterward.
- With two occupied slots, test an icon click, a number key and Q/E. Do not use a level-up screen for this test.
- If a shortcut fails, use the symptom table above before refreshing or changing browser settings.
How we checked this guide
Checked on 17 October 2026 against the official guide and current game code, with a fresh Squirtle Guest session for the browser check. Esc opened the solo pause screen, Continue resumed, and key 1 selected the displayed Bubble reward at level 2. The result listed Water Gun and Bubble. Movement keys and attack-selection rules were checked in the source; this session did not establish a complete visual test of every direction, Q/E, all occupied-slot keys or icon switching. Choice Band, linked slots, mobile input and co-op behavior were not tested in play.
Sources and checks
Sources checked on .