Grain rot controls
Keyboard and mouse
GRAIN ROT uses a first-person control scheme on PC, with the keyboard handling movement, tool selection, and communication while the mouse covers aiming and the primary interaction. These are the defaults you get on a fresh install on a Windows 10 64-bit system with a standard mouse and keyboard.
Movement
- W, A, S, D
- Move
- Mouse
- Look around
- Left Shift
- Sprint
- Space
- Jump
- C
- Crouch, useful for staying quiet near the Corrupted
Interaction and tools
- E
- Interact, pick up loot, open doors
- F
- Rip / tear action, used to pull furniture and salvage out of the ruins
- Mouse 1 (Left Click)
- Use equipped tool
- Mouse 2 (Right Click)
- Alternate tool action
- Q
- Quick swap between the last two tools
- G
- Drop the held item
Inventory and map
- Tab
- Open inventory / loadout
- 1 through 4
- Select hotbar slots
- Mouse Wheel
- Cycle hotbar slots
- M
- Toggle the map of the shifting ruins
Communication and menu
- V
- Push to talk for voice chat
- Middle Mouse
- Ping / callout for your team
- Esc
- Open pause and options menu
In co-op runs, the ping action is one of the most important bindings, since it lets teammates mark loot, danger, and exit paths without typing mid-run. Make sure you know your ping key before you descend, because a quiet callout is often the difference between a clean extraction and a messy one.
Before your first descent, press Tab and M at the Outpost to confirm your inventory and map bindings. Accidentally pressing G during a frantic salvage sprint can drop a valuable piece of furniture, so build the habit of keeping your fingers off the drop key until you are ready to swap items.
Gamepad
GRAIN ROT has full controller support on Steam, so a pad can handle the entire extraction loop, including online co-op sessions. The default gamepad layout mirrors the keyboard actions and keeps frequent inputs on the face buttons and triggers.
- Left Stick
- Move
- Right Stick
- Look
- A
- Interact / pick up
- B
- Crouch
- X
- Rip / tear action
- Y
- Toggle light
- LT
- Sprint
- RT
- Use equipped tool
- LB
- Ping / callout
- RB
- Quick swap tool
- View / Back
- Open inventory
- Menu / Start
- Pause / options
- D-Pad
- Cycle hotbar slots
The game is listed as playable at your own pace and playable without timed input, which makes the controller layout comfortable even during tense extraction moments. Since nothing is forcing you to hit quick-time prompts, you can take your time aiming the rip action and scanning rooms before committing to a grab.
If you are playing with a mixed group, keep the LB ping as your default callout button. Reliable pinging matters more than any other pad binding, because it works regardless of which teammate is using voice chat.
Tips and rebinding
No default layout fits everyone, especially in a co-op extraction game where a single key press can ruin a run. These tips focus on adjusting your bindings before you rebuild the Outpost and head back into the scorched wasteland.
- Rebind drop (G) to a hard-to-press key. Dropping valuables is too easy on default G when you are frantically swapping salvage mid-run.
- Keep ping on a thumb-reachable key. Middle mouse or a side mouse button works well, and it should never compete with your movement keys.
- Decide sprint behavior early. If holding Left Shift strains your hand over a long run, switch sprint to toggle in the options menu.
- Set voice chat to push to talk for random groups. The default V keeps open mics from flooding the channel during tense moments around the Corrupted.
- Use the Custom Volume Controls. Separate game audio from voice audio so teammate callouts stay clear while the wasteland ambience stays loud enough to hear danger.
- Test every rebind at the Outpost first. The Outpost is a safe area, so use it to mash buttons and confirm your layout before you descend.
Take a few minutes in the options menu on your first launch to review which actions can be rebound. A layout that feels natural during a calm loot run will hold up much better when the Corrupted start closing in and you need to rip out one last piece of furniture before extraction.
