PAPERHEAD beginner guide: what to know before your first run

What is PAPERHEAD?

PAPERHEAD is a fast-paced movement boomer shooter mixed with adventure horror, set in a cute cardboard world that goes wrong. On Steam, the pitch is brutal, swift combat—kick barrels, stomp heads, shotgun enemies—and a pencil that lets you draw bombs, doors, and graffiti on walls while you explore an abandoned research facility. The store tagline asks why cardboard would bleed. That is the official framing; this fan guide only adds what we can prove on video or on store pages as of 2026-10-10.

For launch price, platforms, and demo history, see our release date and price guide and platform availability page.

Source: official Steam store screenshot.

Which controls are verified in full-game footage?

These prompts appear in verified full-game recordings (not EP.0 guides):

Q and R prompts are from a RUSH PLAY boss compilation (qaYUo8TSwt4@00:05), not a full playthrough.

According to DEVLOG 1 (published 2025-05-22, pre-release; the final build may differ), the team planned a minimap marking doors, switches, notes, and secrets. Full-game footage already shows a PRESS [TAB] TO OPEN THE MAP prompt, which matches that direction.

Frame from a full-game playthrough recording.

If you are checking whether your PC or Deck can run the game, use our PAPERHEAD system requirements page— it sticks to Steam and Microsoft Store tables, not guesswork about frame rates.

What happens when you clear a level?

Verified footage shows a LEVEL CLEARED! screen with five fields:

• TIME (examples: 07:30 or 11:47 on Chapter 1)
• SCORE (examples: 20000 or 12638)
• SECRETS (Chapter 1 example: 0 / 2)
• LORE (Chapter 1 example: 0 / 10)
• DIFFICULTY (example: NORMAL)

Evidence: LQBReOWnHWM@07:30. Chapter 1’s on-screen title uses stylized spelling CHAPTER 1: “TH3 D3SC3NT” on the same clear screen.

Frame from a full-game playthrough recording.

Steam achievements confirm there are PERFECT ranks and scores (for example, “Get your first PERFECT rank on any level”), but we have not verified the exact on-screen PERFECT trigger in footage yet— do not chase a perfect run from guesswork.

How does kick combat scoring work?

Early Chapter 1 combat in verified footage shows a DRAFT-style meter plus callouts such as FRESHNESS ×1.0, KICK, and WALL KICK KILL (LQBReOWnHWM@06:00). The Steam page also sells kicking barrels and boot strength as core fantasy; treat kicks as a primary tool, not a novelty button.

Frame from a full-game playthrough recording.

Weapons beyond kicks appear in footage— for example, a double-barrel shotgun and a green multi-barrel gun with ammo readouts— but we do not have a verified full roster or pickup order. Our weapons and kicks guide will expand only when each entry is tied to proof.

What should you know about the pencil?

The Steam description is explicit: the pencil is both a weapon and a world tool—draw a bomb and kick it, draw a door and kick it open, write on walls without needing a reason.

According to DEVLOG 3 (published 2025-07-31, pre-release; the final build may differ), the team reworked pacing so corpses drop ammo and erasing corpses with the pencil would be the main healing method, removing ordinary heal pickups. We have not verified corpse erasure healing in full-game video yet, so play the release build as-is and report what you see.

Drawing doors and bombs on the store page is official marketing; treat in-level pencil tricks as discoverable mechanics, not tutorial spoilers.

What we have not verified yet

Honest gaps after two days on the market:

• Full weapon list, shop UI, and Golden upgrade tree screens
• PERFECT rank rules on the clear screen (achievement text only so far)
• HARDCORE mode rules beyond a Hardcore-labelled full-game upload
• Character unlock requirements (Steam lists five unlockable characters but not how)
• Whether every DEVLOG 3 weakness rule (kick-only enemies, etc.) shipped unchanged

When we confirm any of the above in post-launch footage, we will update this guide’s lastModified date.

Where should you go next?

• Chapter list — 18 chapters + Interlude + Ending from verified chapter markers
• EP.0 vs full game — if you played the free prologue or old demos
• How long to beat PAPERHEAD — runtime data from full-game uploads (not 100% completion promises)