Hull Rupture

What Is Hull Rupture?

Hull Rupture is a base-management tower-defense roguelite from Konfa Games, published by tinyBuild, and it launched November 4, 2026 on Steam for $9.99 on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The premise doubles as the tutorial: if the ship stops, humanity ends. Earth is gone, your vessel is a living projectile racing toward the alien homeworld under the command of an AI called the Despot, and its engine is fed by resources, materials, and human effort. Humans included, while supplies last.

Gameplay sits at the intersection of FTL's run structure and a factory game's production chains. Aliens tear straight through your hull at predictable spots, you build modules and turrets to turn those breaches into kill zones, and every route choice across the galaxy recalculates your momentum and crew projections. Konfa Games' earlier work had a workplace-safety-is-not-a-priority reputation, and this one leans into it: human loss is explicitly acceptable.

The release build ships with three ships, six modes, four difficulty modifiers, 64 Steam achievements, and a community wiki already documenting build orders. It launched at "very positive" territory on a small sample, which is the right time to learn the systems before patch churn begins.

Hull Rupture Details

How to Play Hull Rupture

Start in Classic Mode and Fix One Constraint at a Time

Classic Mode runs 20 alien waves and is the intended first path. Endless Mode is separate and does not follow automatically after a Classic run. The community wiki's launch-day advice is blunt: begin with the available ship, identify the single most immediate failure point, whether that is resource supply, space for a useful module kit, or aliens reaching the Airlock, and fix that constraint before buying anything unrelated. Every purchase should answer a visible weakness.

The Info Mode panel is your dashboard. Before expanding, read current production, available workers, energy, and fuel. A new module adds weight and demand, and if the ship already struggles to feed its factory, adding downstream capacity just starves it faster. The wiki's rule of thumb holds at launch: production stops before the resource bar tells you it will, because workers are the hidden bottleneck. If the workforce is stretched, staffing is the constraint, not supply.

Hull Construction and Route Planning

You no longer need a Shipyard to expand. Hull Construction can be entered while flying, pausing travel while you reshape the ship. Two systems fight each other here and learning the trade-off is the core skill:

• Defense wants a long route. Aliens breach the outer hull and walk to the Airlock. A longer approach path means more turret coverage time and more kill zone depth.
• Production wants a compact layout. A spread-out factory increases crew travel time, and travel time is worker time. Every extra tile between converter and storage taxes your labor supply.

Keep the Airlock and Engine zones clear when planning shapes, and check the offered hull shape before committing. A good middle path is a long exterior loop on the approach side with the factory clustered tight behind it.

Turrets First, Airlock Units Last

The September rebalance made the priority explicit: turrets are the main plan, Airlock units are the last line. Cover the route before anything else, and match turret range to terrain. Open corners fit long-range guns; enclosed stretches fit short-range ones. If a weak gun is occupying your best position, move it rather than demolish it, but plan for the move since turret relocation is slow and includes downtime.

The pre-wave checklist from the wiki translates directly to launch builds:

Humans Are a Resource

The Despot treats crew as an input. Converters can run on manual refill or Auto, and Auto is fine as long as you keep an eye on the human supply bar. Route events include options that "resolve complications through decisive personnel adjustments," which is the game's way of saying sometimes the correct play is a layoff. Different ship models carry different layouts, systems, and loss thresholds, so a crew-heavy build that wins on one hull bleeds out on another.

Choose Your Routes

Galaxy routes determine encounters, and encounters change resources, momentum, and projected mission time. Safer paths cost profit, profitable paths cost hull and crew. The roguelite layer lives here: a run's success is usually decided by two or three route decisions made before any shooting starts, not by the last wave's turret placement.

Tips

1. Play the tutorial even if you tried the demo. Demo progress carries over, but the launch build changed module slot rules; any empty slot is now usable without a completed neighbor.
2. Buy for the next wave, not the dream build. After each wave, buy the box that answers the weakness you just observed: turret-themed for a leaky approach, module-themed for an economy that lagged.
3. Staffing before expansion. If converters idle, add or reallocate workers before adding modules.
4. Relocate, don't rebuild. Turret moves are slow but preserve the kit you already invested in.
5. Watch the human supply on Auto converters. Auto is convenient exactly until it isn't.
6. Save Classic for learning, Endless for experimenting. Classic's 20 waves teach the pacing curve; Endless is where unusual layouts stop mattering and economy optimization takes over.

Known Issues and Launch State

The November 2 release notes emptied module slot rules and split Classic from Endless cleanly; community wiki guides label older demo-era tips by version, and you should do the same with any guide you read. Balance details from the September demo (v0.10.12's kit randomization and Rat Turret values) do not all carry to launch. Expect Konfa's usual post-launch patch cadence within the first weeks; check the Steam news hub before copying a build order from a guide written before November 4.

FAQ

What is Hull Rupture? A single-player base-management tower-defense roguelite where you keep a spaceship moving, convert resources and crew into propulsion, and defend hull breaches from alien waves.

When did it release and how much does it cost? November 4, 2026, $9.99 on Steam, with Windows, Mac, and Linux support.

Is there a demo? Yes, and demo tutorial completion carries into the full game.

How long is a run? Classic Mode is 20 waves. Endless Mode is a separate mode with no automatic handoff.

How many ships and modes are there? Three ships, six modes, and four difficulty modifiers, mixed for replayability, plus 64 achievements.

Do humans matter as a resource? They are an input. Crew staffing gates production, and the Despot's route choices can spend lives for momentum. Different ships tolerate different loss thresholds.

Who made it? Konfa Games, with tinyBuild publishing. The studio has an existing following from earlier management sims, which is why the community wiki was already populated on launch day.