Knife.io
By Metajoy
Knife.io puts you in charge of a glowing orb that gathers knives until they spin around it like a shield. Scoop up loose blades scattered across a dark hexagon arena, grow your ring, and use it to take out rival orbs while climbing the on-screen score list. It runs free in your browser on desktop, no download needed.
Game info
- Developer
- Metajoy
- Rating
- Not yet rated
- Release date
- Sep 9, 2019
- Last updated
- Sep 28, 2026
- Technology
- HTML5
- Platforms
- Web Browser (Desktop)
Controls
- Move the mouse — steer your orb around the arena
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How to Play Knife.io
Your orb sits at the centre of the screen and follows your mouse around the arena. Knives lie loose on the hex-tiled floor — some plain steel, some glowing red — and each one you touch joins the ring that orbits your core. Your score, shown in brackets next to your name, rises with every blade collected, so an orb with 19 knives has a small tight circle while one at 83 spins a huge, blurred hoop of steel.
Other players are on the same map, drawn as coloured orbs with their own blade counts and country flags at the screen edges. Contact between your spinning ring and a rival's core is how kills happen, and the game calls out streaks on screen — "Double Kill!" flashes over the arena when you get two in quick succession. A leaderboard in the top-left lists player names and scores, so you can see exactly how far behind the leader you are and whether the orb drifting into view outguns you.
Tips
- Start by hoovering up the loose knives in empty stretches of the map — a bigger blade count means a wider spinning ring before you pick any fights.
- Watch the numbers and flags at the screen edges. They tell you a nearby player's score, so you know when to close in and when to swing away.
- Approach rivals from an angle that puts your knives, not your core, in front. Your orb's centre is the vulnerable part.
- Check the leaderboard between fights to see whether the gap to first place is a couple of kills or a long grind of collecting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Knife.io free to play?
Yes, Knife.io is completely free and runs in your web browser with no download or install.
Can I play Knife.io on my phone?
No — Knife.io is listed for desktop only. You need a computer with a mouse, since steering the orb is done entirely with mouse movement.
Who made Knife.io?
Knife.io was developed by Metajoy and released in 2019 as an HTML5 game.
Is Knife.io multiplayer?
Yes, it is a multiplayer .io game. Other players appear as rival orbs in the same arena, and their names and scores show on the leaderboard in the corner.
How do I score points in Knife.io?
Collect knives from the arena floor to raise the number next to your name and widen the ring spinning around your orb. Taking out rival players is tracked too, with on-screen callouts for kill streaks.