Establishing link · Karachi
From the lanes of Gali Number Nau to the marble courtyards of Qila Noor Bagh and the painted buses of the Depot. Two sides, one city, no second chances.
Every round is five against five. One side carries the bomb in, the other holds the line. Learn both, and prove it from either end.
Kite-runners, tailors, boxers and big talkers, plus the rich kids who fund them. They know every rooftop, every shortcut and every shutter that doesn’t lock.
Callsigns only. From a Defence-born officer who chose the hard road to an old inspector back for one last job, sent in to hold the sites and take the lanes back.
Lower class, new money and old money on both sides of the line. Tap a card to see the full portrait.
Tight lanes, tangled wires and rooftops you can run. Shutters slam, kites fly and every corner is a coin toss.
The Mahal. Marble courtyards, garden walls and lit balconies where the city’s richest pull the strings.
Painted buses, warehouses and long sightlines across the yard. Hold the ammo store or lose the round.
Round-based bomb defusal, five a side. One life per round, no respawns. Buy smart, play the sound, and close it out before the fuse runs down.
Spend your money on guns, armour and grenades before the gates open.
Azaad Forces push a site. Special Forces hold, rotate and trade.
Get the bomb down on site A or B and the round flips.
Forty seconds on the clock. Every step on a tin roof gives you away.
Ten seconds to cut it, or five with a defuse kit. Nobody likes a half-cut wire.
Pace sits between the classic tactical shooters and today’s faster games, with all the precision of the first. Stop clean, shoot straight, and know that every step makes a sound.
Tap the opposite key to stop dead and take a perfectly accurate first shot.
Hold walk to move at half speed with no footsteps. Sneak a site, or get caught trying.
Strafe in the air to carry speed through a jump. Crouch-jump onto ledges a plain jump can’t reach.
Asphalt, concrete, dirt, gravel, tile, wood, tin roofs and puddles each sound different, so you can hear who’s coming and from where.
Lower the gun and run. Loud, fast, and no shooting until you’re set.
Climb walls, hop low cover and take the ladders to the rooftops.
Every gun has its own recoil pattern to learn, its own price and its own place in the economy. Six are live in the beta, with more on the way.
More guns are in development, among them a drum-fed LMG, a bolt-action .303 and more pistols. Stats are from the current beta build and may change.
Rounds go through what they should. Wood and tin give way and brick holds better, while a rooftop water tank is a gamble. Heavy rifles punch through more, and each wall takes its share of the damage.
The core game comes first. Once it’s out, these systems follow, and every item in them can be earned by playing. No loot boxes.
Weapon and character skins to make your loadout your own.
Pick one per match: Fast Healer, Fast Runner, Extra Armour, Fast Reload or Extended Mag.
Scopes, grips, muzzles and stocks, each a trade-off between recoil, range and handling.
Competitive play with ranks to climb, for crews who take it seriously.
PC and Mac. Testers play free and shape the game before launch.
The Steam page goes live. Wishlist to get the launch alert.
Full release on Steam. Beta progress and feedback carry the game there.
Drop your email for your free beta invite and launch news. Free beta now, paid at launch. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
A 5v5 tactical bomb-defusal shooter set in Karachi in 1998. Azaad Forces attack and plant; Special Forces defend and defuse, across hand-built maps from street lanes to a palace estate and a transport depot.
Windows PC and Mac. The full game launches on Steam; the free beta runs on both platforms.
The beta is free. The full game launches on 1 January 2027 at $4.99 USD (local pricing may vary on Steam).
Enlist with your email above. Invites go out in waves; we’ll email you when your slot opens.
Yes, after launch: weapon and character skins, with attachments, perks and ranked play to follow. Everything can be earned by playing, and there are no loot boxes.
No. LYARI ’98 is a work of fiction. Its characters, groups and events are made up, and it is not based on or meant to depict any real person, organisation or event.
The game contains realistic weapons and combat and is intended for mature players. Official age ratings will be listed on the Steam page.
Characters speak Urdu and the menus are in English. More languages are planned.
No. The current trailer and artwork are cinematic concepts. A gameplay trailer from the game itself is coming.
Email [email protected] or message @playlyari on Instagram or Facebook. Press, see the press kit.