Hazard Levels Beginner Guide: Launch, Price and First Expedition

Platforms, price and the physical edition

Hazard Levels has been in Steam Early Access since April 30, 2026, and today it steps out of it. The 1.0 version launches on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and Wales Interactive says the console launch is fully crossplay compatible, so friends on different platforms can play together. Curveball Games handles the physical edition.

The only price confirmed first hand is the Steam price. Steam lists the game at $9.99, and its Early Access page says the price stays the same after Early Access, so the 1.0 launch does not bring a price rise on PC. The PlayStation and Xbox store pages have not shown a price yet, so check your store before you buy on console. On PC, leave 15 GB of storage free. The physical PlayStation 5 edition arrives on Friday, February 26, 2027, in ESRB and PEGI territories, with all 1.0 content on day one plus the Myths and Legends DLC. No official listing says the game is included in a subscription service, so do not expect Game Pass or PlayStation Plus to cover it.

Try the free demo first

A free demo is live on Steam and PlayStation 5, and a major updated demo is live on Xbox Series X|S. Wales Interactive announced the demos alongside the full launch date, calling them the first chance for new recruits to enter the rifts ahead of the full release. If you have never played a physics co-op horror game, the demo is the best teacher there is, and it costs nothing.

Use the demo to learn the three things that matter most: how the Gravity Gauntlet feels when you grab and throw objects, how much chaos your team makes when a creature shows up, and whether your group talks enough to survive. One honest gap: Wales Interactive has not said whether demo progress carries into the full game, so treat the demo as practice, not as a head start.

How a first expedition works

Every expedition follows the same loop, and the official pages describe each step of it. Hidden deep below the Fox Hole Arms, a research division known only as The Family sends recruits into unstable interdimensional rifts to harvest rare and bizarre ingredients. No two expeditions are the same. Each rift generates new biomes, shifting layouts, randomised hazards, and threats that escalate the deeper you go.

1. Gear up at the Fox Hole Arms. Your home base is a traditional British pub hiding the Family secret research facility. Between expeditions you customise your outfit, mix perk drinks, review mission intel, or drop a coin in the jukebox.
2. Scan for the rift. Use your Rift Scanner to locate dimensional anomalies, then deploy a Rift Stabilising Device to tear open an unstable portal.
3. Step through and look first. The rift on the other side is new every time, so take a few seconds to read the layout before your team spreads out.
4. Grab ingredients with the Gravity Gauntlet. Harvest the strange rift grown ingredients, carry what you can, and sell extras at rift stations while you work.
5. Watch the creatures, and pick your fights. Terrifying creatures lurk in every dimension. Study how they behave, learn what they are weak against, and choose when to fight and when to keep your distance.
6. Get back before last orders. Bring your haul home to the pub, then brew it into perk cocktails at Brewdragon Secret Brewery. That trip home is the whole point of the run.

Your three tools, and what each one does

You do not need a big loadout to start. The game gives you three tools, and each one has one clear job. Learn them in the demo and they will carry your first real expeditions.

The Gravity Gauntlet is your hands in the rift. It grabs, carries, and throws multiple objects at once, so you can haul ingredients without running back and forth for every single item. It is also the tool that makes the physics chaos work: thrown objects fly, bounce, and knock things around, so aim your throws with care when your friends are standing nearby.

The Rift Scanner finds the way in. It locates dimensional anomalies, which is how your team knows where a rift can be opened. Without a scan there is no portal, so scanning is the first job on every expedition, not something to rush past.

The Rift Stabilising Device opens the door. Once the scanner has found an anomaly, the device tears open an unstable portal, and your team steps through into whatever waits on the other side. No official source lists button mappings for these tools, so check the in-game controls screen on your platform before your first expedition.

Brewing perk cocktails back at base

Brewing is the long game, and it is the reason every ingredient matters. After a hard day in the rifts, you bring your otherworldly ingredients back to Brewdragon Secret Brewery and brew them into perk cocktails. Complete orders to develop and level up the potency of your brews. Some grant powerful abilities. Others cause complete chaos. The brewing system is complete in 1.0, with more than 70 cocktails to work through.

Two things we will not do here: list cocktail recipes, or rank the best brews. The official pages name no recipes and no ingredient pairings, so any recipe list would be guesswork. The beginner rule is simple instead. Bring back ingredients every run, even on a run that goes badly, and complete orders before you chase rare hauls. Potency grows through orders, so steady brewing beats one lucky expedition.

Your first expeditions: six tips that hold up

1. Talk the whole time. Proximity voice chat only reaches players near you, so call out what you see, where you are going, and when a creature is close. A quiet team is a team that splits up and gets picked off.
2. Stay close on your first runs. The rift is new every time, and the threats escalate as you go deeper. Learn one rift together before anyone wanders off alone.
3. Grab and go, then grab again. The Gauntlet lets you carry several objects at once, so load up, drop the haul at a rift station, and go back for more instead of making ten small trips.
4. Do not fight everything. The game tells you plainly to choose when to fight and when to keep your distance. A creature you walk past is a creature that cannot end your run.
5. Watch before you act. Creatures have behaviours and weaknesses you can learn. A few seconds of watching tells you more than a blind charge ever will.
6. Leave while you still can. The haul only counts if you make it back to the Fox Hole Arms. A full bag means nothing if your team never gets home.

Solo or with friends: what changes

Hazard Levels plays solo or with up to three friends, and you can switch between first and third person play. That is the whole confirmed picture. No official source describes how the game scales for a solo player, or whether creatures, hazards, or loot change with team size, so we will not claim solo is harder, easier, or the same. The loop does not change either way: one player still scans, opens the portal, grabs ingredients, and brings them home.

For a first session, bring at least one friend if you can. Proximity chat, shared carrying, and a second pair of eyes all help while you are still learning the rifts. If you go solo, keep your first expeditions short, stay near the portal, and treat every run as practice. The 1.0 launch also adds new equipment, new cosmetics, and new missions, plus Challenges with pop culture inspired rewards, so returning Early Access players get fresh material too.

Hazard Levels questions

How much does Hazard Levels cost?

On Steam it costs $9.99, and Steam says the Early Access price stays the same at launch. The PlayStation and Xbox store pages have not shown a price yet, so check your store before you buy.

Is Hazard Levels crossplay?

Yes. Wales Interactive says the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S launch is fully crossplay compatible. That covers the console launch, and the full version launches on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on the same day.

Is there a free demo for Hazard Levels?

Yes. A free demo is live on Steam and PlayStation 5, and a major updated demo is live on Xbox Series X|S. It is the best way to learn the loop before you pay anything.