Diep.io

Diep.io
Mobile icon
Publisher(s)	Miniclip (2016–2021; mobile) Addicting Games (2021–2024) VexxusArts (2024–present)
Designer(s)	Matheus Valadares
Platform(s)	Browser iOS Android
Release	Browser 16 April 2016 iOS 8 July 2016 Android 7 July 2016
Genre(s)	Shooter game
Mode(s)	Multi-player

Diep.io (stylized as diep.io) is a multiplayer browser game created by Brazilian developer Matheus Valadares in 2016. Miniclip first published the mobile version. In Diep.io, players control tanks in a two-dimensional arena. They earn experience points and upgrades by destroying shapes and other tanks.

Valadares created the similar Agar.io in 2015. Its viral popularity inspired a genre of similar browser games with simple gameplay and graphics called ".io games", which includes Diep.io. Diep.io was praised for its upgrade system, which gave it more depth and replay value than other ".io games". In 2021, it was acquired by Addicting Games. In 2024, it was acquired by 3AM Experiences who then contracted out VexxusArts to update and maintain the game. Google Play reports over 10 million mobile downloads as of 2023.^[1]

Brazilian developer Matheus Valadares created Agar.io in April 2015. It is a simple browser game where cells attempt to grow larger by eating agar and other cells. Agar.io's unexpected viral success, supported by its popularity on platforms such as YouTube, led to millions of daily players and it becoming the most popular video game of 2015. A mobile port was released by Swiss publisher Miniclip.^[2][3][4]

Agar.io's rapid rise inspired the similar, snake-themed Slither.io and later an entire genre of simple multiplayer browser games called ".io games", many of which were shooters.^[2] Valadares released a shooter ".io game" called Diep.io in mid-2016,^[5] and Miniclip soon released a mobile version for iOS and Android.^[6]

In 2021, Addicting Games—then owned by Enthusiast Gaming—acquired Diep.io for an undisclosed amount. They previously acquired two other ".io games", Starve.io and Mope.io, and Valadares' Bubble Tanks. CEO Bill Karamousiz said they planned to rebuild the mobile app and add new game modes, achievements and cosmetics, among other improvements.^[7]

In 2024, Youtuber Mistik purchased the game from Addicting Games, created 3AM Experiences, and then contracted VexxusArts to develop the game. On September 8th, Mistik uploaded a video called "I bought Diep.io" where he describes his plans for the game. ^{[citation needed]}

The objective of Diep.io is to kill other tanks with bullets that can vary in size, weight, and other factors, or by ramming into other tanks with your own body, which can also be upgraded. While upgrades can significantly improve a tank's standing against other tanks, smaller tanks can still outmaneuver you as a higher level tank, often in the form of buying bullet upgrades that can be shot towards you at high speeds or frequency. The browser version currently has 9 gamemodes-- FFA (Free-For-All), 2 Teams, 4 Teams, Maze, Sandbox, Domination, Tag, Mothership, and Breakout. The goal of the game is to get on the top rank of the leaderboard and remain there for as long as possible. When a player dies, they'll recover some experience so they don't have to start from scratch. As a player levels up, their health gets a little larger, they get slower, and their body gets larger.

Tank classes are variations of the basic tank which allow different strategies to be used against other players. The Destroyer branch is a branch of tank classes that fire slower, but highly damaging bullets that can often instantly kill another player. Due to their slow reload, they can easily be killed by rapid fire classes. The Drone-controller branch has tank classes that can direct drones with their mouse cursor, ramming them against other players. Due to the high health and damage of the drones, it isn't an effective strategy to "brute force" a fight against a drone-controller class. Tank classes can be changed at level 15, 30, and 45.

The scoreboard is a display at the top left which indicates the players with the most experience. Experience is gained by destroying shapes or other players. Upgrades are a way of increasing health, damage, speed, and other attributes and are used in conjunction with various tank classes. Powerful combinations include the Tri-angle and movement speed, since the tank has two flank barrels which increase speed due to recoil.

Bases are safe zones for teams. Gamemodes 2 Teams, 4 Teams, and Domination have bases, with 2 teams having long bases that stretch the height of the map on either side, while 4 Teams and Domination have square bases at random corners of the map. Base drones are server-controlled drones which defend the team from spawn killing, although opponent bullets already get destroyed on contact with the edge of the base, which is a semi-opaque colored zone the same color of the team.

Bosses are server-controlled tanks with large health pools, damage, and often powerful barrels, that as of 2025, can now be player-controlled by pressing the same key used to take control of Dominators and Motherships in their respective gamemodes. Bosses print a death message to the entire server ("Boss was killed by <player>"). Bosses chase the nearest player by default and will follow a player into a team base. The base drones will attack bosses, and if a base drone kills a boss, the death message will say that the boss was killed by an unnamed tank, which is the default name for unnamed tanks. Arena Closers are server-controlled tanks that spawn only before a server is going to restart or a match ends, marked by the message "Arena closed: No players can join." Arena Closers, similarly to bosses, will follow their target, except Arena Closers do not lose visibility of targets like bosses do. Arena Closers also do not collide with other Arena Closers or maze walls.

Free For All is a large arena without obstacles or impediments. This game mode is the most "basic" in that it has qualities that are seen across different game modes (Arena size, XP multiplier, starting level, leaderboard), but lacking the core difference that makes other game modes unique (Dominators, maze walls, bases). The aim is just to kill other enemy tanks or bosses when applicable.

In 2 Teams, the goal is to kill other players from the enemy team. Players are split into 2 separate teams. When on a team, a tank cannot kill other tanks on its team, and knockback from lower level tanks isn't applied to higher level tanks. A player may spawn as either a red or blue tank at the far right or far left areas of the map, which span the full vertical height of the map. Drones that are meant to defend the base, "base drones," guard all along the vertical stretch of the areas. Wandering too close to the enemy's spawn area will alert the Base Drones, who will fly towards nearby enemies and ram into them, dealing low damage at a high rate. Any bullets that cross into an enemy base will be destroyed on touch, similarly to the behaviour with the maze walls. These two factors prevent spawn killing, unlike in FFA.

In 4 Teams, the goal of the match is to kill other tanks from the 3 enemy teams. The player's tank will spawn either in the red, blue, purple, or green (formerly brown) team, which are positioned at the four corners of the map. Gameplay is more difficult since there are 2 more teams to deal with for any given team than in 2 Teams. This game mode was split from Team DM on September 18th, 2016.

Maze mode features large walls which spawn randomly inside of the map that make it much harder to navigate from one point to another. The walls, called "Maze walls," bounce tanks off of them and slow down a tank that forces itself against the wall. It is/was possible to wedge between walls, and Arena Closers and "Crashers" (pink drones that ram into tanks when near the center of the map) ignore the walls entirely. Maze is the most popular gamemode for "teaming," which is the act of cooperating with enemy tanks to kill other enemy tanks who often do not have backup or support.

Sandbox is a private arena, unlike all other game modes. Its primarily used for testing, as this mode is the only one that allows cheats, which include god mode, and switching classes at will with the backslash key (\). The arena’s size and the number of shapes it spawns inside dynamically increases to match the amount of players connected to it. Sandbox can also spawn boss tanks on a regular interval like other game modes, and can summon Arena Closers after a certain time. Entering God mode will make the player's tank invulnerable to Arena Closers even if the round ends.

Domination features large, stationary tanks called Dominators, which can fire either traps, rapid-fire bullets, or heavy, slower bullets. The player's goal is to capture the four Dominators. Dominators do not die when killed; instead they join the team of the tank that killed it, regaining their full health. Dominators spawn neutral, which is a yellow color not matching either of the player teams, and can enter Neutral anytime it's killed when on one of the player teams. A message will display "... Dominator is being contested" whenever a Dominator enters the neutral team.

Tag is a game mode where tanks may join one of 4 teams. When a tank dies to an enemy tank, the tank will join the enemy team. When a team has all of the joined players in it (this also counts players who have not respawned but are due to spawn on another team), the round ends.

Mothership's main feature is having two giant tanks called Motherships with barrels all along the body, which fire tiny drones in large amounts, being able to easily kill a player in moments. However, the main drawback to the Motherships is their extremely slow movement speed, as well as their drones' slow speed. Mothership was removed in 2016 but Addicting Games brought back the gamemode in 2021, and 3AM Experiences also includes the game mode in rotation with Tag, Domination, and Breakout.

Breakout, the current newest game mode, based on the 2016 original, features a turf-war style of gameplay where two teams claim territory in the form of interactive tiles. Players start on opposing corners of the map. The objective is similar to that of Domination where one team has to claim all of the tiles from the enemy team. These tiles resemble Bases and will take damage from most forms of ammunition. Unclaimed tiles appear similar to Maze walls. Whether unclaimed or from an opponent, these tiles will block projectiles from outside of their territory (there can still be intruders!). Players are only able to capture new tiles while within their territory.

Reviews praised Diep.io as one of the best .io games alongside Agar.io and Slither.io, noting that the more in-depth tank upgrade system offered more replay value than other games in the genre.^{[8][9][10][11]} Android Authority described it as a spiritual successor of Agar.io.^[6] Conversely, Simon Reed of Gamezebo opined that the early stages of gameplay were slow and the gameplay loop was not compelling enough to keep players after the first several playthroughs, unlike Agar.io and Slither.io, saying that Diep.io is "lacking in a few key departments that just hold it back from greatness." He rated it 3.5/5 stars.^[12] Christian Vas of PCGamesN considered the team-based game modes to be the best.^[9]

• This article incorporates material derived from the "Game Modes" article on the Diep.io wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License (July 16, 2025).

• Official website
• Diep.io on Google Play
• Diep.io on the App Store
• Official wiki