How to play Trauma Lab: press Play on the homepage and the game loads in your browser — the same build that runs on the official page, with nothing to install. This guide covers the full controls, the five tool tabs, what the X-ray and vitals monitor show you, and the settings that matter on phones and slower PCs.
Playing online and fullscreen
The browser version is the complete public game. For the best view use the Fullscreen button under the game stage (or F11 on PC). On iPhone, where web pages cannot use true fullscreen, the site falls back to a full-screen view with its own exit button. On a phone the game switches by itself to a dedicated mobile layout: bigger vitals on the monitor and pinch-to-zoom for close work.
Full PC controls
These are the default keys; every one of them can be rebound in the Options menu.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 | Hand tools · Weapons · Props · Medicine · Powers |
| Q / E | Previous / next tool in the tab |
| F | Switch tool mode (slash/stab, semi/auto…) |
| Tab | Open the tool menu |
| G | Melee strength |
| X | X-ray |
| Z | Examine (with X-ray) |
| T | Bullet paths |
| C | Organ chart |
| M | Heart monitor size |
| V | Next view (side → front → back) |
| Space | Pause / play |
| ← / → | Slower / faster |
| = / − / 0 | Zoom in / zoom out / fit to screen |
| H | Challenge: Keep Him Alive |
| B | Wear menu |
| O | Options |
The five tool tabs
- Hand tools — the first tab (key 1).
- Weapons — pistol, revolver, SMG, rifle, assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, crossbow, knife, machete, axe, baseball bat, grenade and C4, with several ammo types (FMJ, hollow point, AP, fragmenting). Arrows slice through tissue and often pass straight through. Press F to switch a weapon's mode — slash or stab, semi or auto — and G to set melee strength.
- Props — the third tab (key 3).
- Medicine — bandages, tourniquets, drugs and chemistry, plus Simple or Complex surgery with stitches, bone plates, suction and blood top-ups. This is the only tab allowed in the Keep Him Alive challenge.
- Powers — lightning, fireball, freeze, acid, a black hole and more.
Reading the patient
The monitor at the top shows live vitals — heart rate, blood pressure, SpO₂ and blood loss — and they update in real time. Shock, cardiac arrest and bleed-out all play out on screen, so the monitor is not decoration: in Keep Him Alive it tells you whether you are winning. Press M to change the monitor size and C for the organ chart.
X-ray and examination
Press X for the X-ray view, which peels the body into layers — skin, muscle, organs, arteries and veins, bones and nerves — and dims the room so organs and bullet paths stand out. With X-ray on, Z examines what you are looking at and T shows bullet paths. Every shot is traced through what it hits, from a fractured rib to a perforated lung to a severed aorta, and these views are how you see that work.
Game modes
- Sandbox — free play with every weapon, tool, chemical and power. Experiment, inspect wounds with X-ray and watch the vitals react.
- Keep Him Alive — 10 real emergencies treated with the Medicine tab only; press H. See the full walkthrough.
- Story mode — in development; the free build shows a teaser of the three-room prototype.
Scenes
Beyond the default test chamber there is a trauma bay, a field hospital, a castle and a battlefield, each with its own lighting. Scenes change the mood, not the mechanics — the simulation behaves the same everywhere.
Performance and language
If the game lags, lower the gore level in Options — the developer's own advice; if you want it bloodier, the developer recommends the extreme gore setting instead. More fixes are on the not loading and lag page. The game also has a built-in Russian language option that switches on automatically when your browser is set to Russian, and this fan page has a Russian version.
Content warning: Trauma Lab contains graphic injury, blood and medical detail and is intended for players 18+.
▶ Play now — free in your browser