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Paperhead Controls Weapons and Movement Guide

Published · Current patch · Last checked 2026-10-11

Stylized first-person shooter scene with a giant cartoon foot weapon, explosions, enemies, and gunfire in a dark industrial environment.
Official artwork for Paperhead.

Ready-Made Pack: Controls, Weapons, Interactables and Movement

Goal

Use the game’s controls, weapons, environmental objects, and movement techniques for combat, exploration, and level traversal.

Prerequisites

  • Controls can be changed at any point if the default buttons are inconvenient.
  • The Pencil (8O8) melee control becomes available after it is unlocked at a certain level.
  • Carrying movable objects requires the relevant upgrade.

Steps

Move across the ground with the following input:

W, A, S, or D

Look around with:

Mouse

Jump, then press the same key again while airborne to double jump:

SpaceBar

Crouch with Ctrl. Press it while moving to slide:

Ctrl

Kick in the direction being faced, launching forward and dealing melee damage:

L-Shift

Fire the selected weapon with:

LMB

Use alternate fire with:

RMB

Alternate fire can be ignored during the first few levels if desired.

Open weapon selection while slowing time with:

Q

Change to the next or previous weapon with the mouse wheel, or use these bracket keys:

Mouse Scroll Up/Down
[ / ]

Select weapons directly with:

1-7

Use the Pencil (8O8) melee attack after its level unlock:

C

Use bombs with:

X
Weapon Use and dependencies
Pistol Reliable for stragglers and bomb dogs. Its alternate fire tracks ranged units slightly.
Shotgun The main general-purpose weapon for most of the game, with reliable close-to-mid-range damage and lots of ammunition. Alternate fire launches two shells with increased spread and is useful against larger enemies. Despite the game presenting alternate fire as the dedicated crowd-control option, primary fire is better for crowd control.
Machine Gun A crowd-control weapon with solid damage and semi-plentiful ammunition.
Railgun The dedicated sniper weapon. It destroys elites and is also a crowd-control option that is better than the rocket launcher for that role.
Rocket Launcher Marketed as a crowd-control weapon, but useful as an armor stripper when combined with 8O8 bombs.
Lighter (BFG) The room-nuke weapon. Strip armor from elites before using it.
Pencil (8O8) Acts like a grenade launcher and is the only true melee weapon. Its ammunition can otherwise be obtained only from the shop or a barrel upgrade.

Use movable environmental objects when the situation calls for them. Chairs, boxes, fridges, and similar items can provide cover for hiding or help reach secrets. After taking the relevant upgrade, they can also be carried. Kicking them into enemies uses them as improvised weapons and contributes to the score meter.

Use barrels for early crowd control until the Pencil or its upgrades can be used effectively. Barrels can also clear roadblocks, reveal secrets, and provide additional utility.

Explosive panels serve a similar purpose to barrels but are worse than barrels in every way.

Draw on a white box with the Pencil to receive either a healing item or paperclips:

Draw with the Pencil on a white box

Erase a white box when needed:

Erase the white box

A white box can be erased up to three times before it breaks and gives nothing.

  • Health Drops (+) exist as healing-related interactables.
  • Bandages heal a certain amount of health.
  • Armor grants 25 armor points and reduces burning damage.
  • ??? can produce paperclips based on chance: 1–8 normal paperclips, or, at a very rare chance, 1–3 golden paper clips.

Build movement chains from jumps and kicks:

Double jump, then kick

Kicking after a double jump functions as a third jump.

Slide toward an upward incline

The incline launches the player straight upward and provides the extra height that a normal triple jump would provide.

Time kicks while bunny hopping

Well-timed kicks preserve momentum without touching the ground.

Kick a wall while jumping

The kick bounces the player away from the wall.

Use any source of explosive force

The resulting rocket jump launches the player at speed and can help scale walls.

Expected Result

The controls support ground movement, looking, jumping, double jumping, crouching, sliding, kicking, shooting, alternate fire, weapon selection, Pencil attacks, and bomb use. Weapons cover general attacks, crowd control, sniping, armor stripping, room-clearing attacks, grenade-launcher use, and melee combat. Objects and pickups provide cover, access to secrets, healing, armor, ammunition-related resources, and environmental utility.

Limits

  • The second jump requires the player to be airborne.
  • The Pencil melee attack is unavailable until its certain-level unlock.
  • Carrying chairs, boxes, fridges, and similar objects requires the relevant upgrade.
  • White boxes break after up to three erasures and then provide nothing.
  • Paperclip results from ??? depend on chance, with golden paper clips being very rare.
  • Elite armor should be stripped before using the Lighter (BFG) against them.