Survive the Elevator Guide: How a run works
About
OverviewSurvive the Elevator drops you into Nowhere Tower, an endless structure where the only way out is down. You ride an ancient elevator floor by floor, dealing with enemies, traps, and strange rooms while collecting items and upgrading your gear. This guide covers how to make progress, manage your inventory, and tackle the game's toughest challenges.
What is on this page
Contents
How a run works
Step
The elevator is your only way to move between floors. Each floor presents a new environment, and the difficulty shifts as you go deeper. Floor 100 is the main finish line, and the game tracks your progress in ten-floor chunks along the way.
- Board the elevator ride it down to the next floor and step out when the doors open.
- Explore the floor search the room for items, enemies, and anything useful before moving on.
- Handle enemies fight or avoid the creatures on each floor depending on what you have.
- Grab items pick up Eyeballs, Toadstools, weapons, and anything else you find.
- Find the shop floor when you hit one, spend something; your first purchase unlocks a reward.
- Repeat until floor 100 that is the run's big goal.
MetaNew Player Survey
The next survey is being prepared.
Ten-floor milestones worth knowing
Check
Badges are awarded at floors 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100, giving you a clear sense of how far you have come.
- Floors 10 through 90 each carry their own badge use them as checkpoints.
- Floor 100 is the main finish line for a standard run.
- Reaching floor 100 without dying once is a separate, harder challenge.
- Getting all four squad members to floor 100 together is the co-op version of that challenge.
- Finishing a full run without killing a single enemy is another optional goal.
Enemies and floor hazards
Tips
Killing 20 enemies across a run is an early milestone, and 300 is the long-term one. Bear Traps and Mines are scattered on floors — stepping on ten of either counts toward its own badge.
- Watch the ground as you move — Bear Traps and Mines are hazards on the floor.
- The Giants Room is a specific floor with its own distinct encounter — be ready for something different when you hit it.
- The Backrooms Level 94 is another special floor; reaching it earns its own badge.
Item storage and the extraction feature
TableUpdate 7 added a full set of storage tools: the extraction feature, the lobby safe, and elevator storage.
| Extraction feature | call this any time during a run to return items to the lobby immediately. |
| Lobby safe | stores items between runs so nothing is gone when you log back in. |
| Elevator storage | lets you reorganize your carried items while still inside the tower. |
| Imbue system | upgrades a weapon's performance. |
Upgrading the elevator
Step
Elevator upgrades are separate from your character's progress. Pushing the elevator to its maximum level earns the Gear Head badge. There is also a quick challenge tied to how you ride — descending ten floors in a row without stopping earns a badge of its own.
- Aim for max elevator level that is the condition for the Gear Head badge.
- Try a ten-floor non-stop descent ride down ten floors without stepping off to earn the Too Much Gas badge.
Collectibles worth tracking
Tips
Eyeballs and Toadstools appear on floors and both count toward badges.
- Pick up every Eyeball you see; reaching 100 in a single run earns the Eyeball Hoarder badge.
- Toadstools can be consumed, and hitting 30 consumed in a run earns a badge.
- Shop floors are worth stopping at; your very first purchase earns the Shopping Spree badge.
Solo and squad play
SummaryYou can complete every floor and chase every badge by yourself at your own pace. The Squad Up badge requires all four team members to reach floor 100 together, which makes coordination the extra layer of difficulty in co-op.
- Solo play full badge access, self-paced, no coordination needed.
- Co-op play Squad Up badge requires all four players to hit floor 100 in the same run.
- Weekly updates new rooms and features are added regularly.
Glossary
Glossary- Nowhere Tower
- The setting of the game — an endless tower in a starless sky that exists between worlds.
- Extraction
- A feature added in Update 7 that lets you send items back to the lobby at any point during a run.
- Imbue
- The weapon upgrade system that boosts a weapon's performance.
- Lobby safe
- A storage chest in the lobby where you can keep items safely between runs.
- Elevator storage
- An in-run storage system inside the elevator that lets you organize your carried items mid-descent.
- Toadstool
- A consumable item found on floors; eating 30 of them in a run counts toward a badge.
- Eyeball
- A collectible item found on floors; gathering 100 in a run earns the Eyeball Hoarder badge.
- Backrooms Level 94
- A special area that can appear during a run; reaching it earns its own badge.
Common questions
FAQDo I have to pay anything to reach floor 100?
No. Every floor, badge, and challenge in the game is open to free players.
What is the safest way to protect items I find?
Use the extraction feature to send items to the lobby at any time during a run.
How often does the game get new content?
The developers update the game weekly. New rooms, features, and balance changes are added on a regular basis.
What happens if I step on a Bear Trap or Mine?
Stepping on ten Bear Traps counts toward the Get Clamped badge, and ten Mines toward Mine Sweeper.
Game updates can change what is on this page. If you spot something, get in touch and let us know.
