Ruiner is a cyberpunk twin-stick shooter video game developed by Reikon Games and published by Devolver Digital. It was released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 26, 2017, and for Nintendo Switch on June 18, 2020. The game arrived at generally favorable reviews and currently sits between 71 and 82 on Metacritic across all its platforms. Surprisingly, the game did much better on the Nintendo Switch, maybe because the gameplay just fits that on-the-go nature of the portable console.

Premise Of Ruiner
Ruiner is an isometric shoot ’em up that takes place in a cyberpunk city known as Rengkok. The player controls a silent protagonist on a mission to rescue their kidnapped brother from a failing conglomerate called Heaven. The game takes place in 2091 and explores Rengkok and its neighboring facilities. Shoot ’em ups are a subgenre of action games that can be traced back as early as 1962. There is no consensus as to what makes something a shoot ’em up however, most agree it depends on character movement.

Main Characters Of Ruiner
- The Protagonist – The game’s player character. A hard-wired, short-tempered, masked sociopath whose talking skills are inversely proportional to his skills in transforming his enemies into a red, bloody paste. He never speaks a single word.
- Her – The mysterious woman that rescued you from Wizard, claiming to be the best hacker in the world. She acts as a guide of sorts to the protagonist, monitoring and helping him in his quest to save his little brother. Snippy, tech-savvy, and ruthless, she is much, much more than what she lets others know.
- Chief Watayama – Chief of security in Heaven, the first bounty you collect. A former Yakuza who went corporate after finding they’d lost their way.
- Nerve – The leader of the Creeps, despite what that entails he’s not all that bad and is actually quite honorable.
- TrafficKing – The head of Hanza.
- Sick Sisters – The secret core of MOTHER and the directors of the entire Virtuality system.

Other Titles In The Series
Ruiner is the only game of its series but here are some other games similar to Ruiner.
- Ghost Runner II – a hardcore FPP slasher set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future.
- Synthetik 2 – a single-player bird’s eye view shooter game in the Synthetik series.
- Neon Chrome – a cyberpunk-themed twin-stick shooter video game played from a top-down perspective

Ruiner Cheat Codes
Unlockables
New Game+ – Beating the game once will unlock New Game+, which increases the difficulty and number of enemies, and adds stronger guns.
Unlockable | How to Unlock |
---|---|
Bad Jacket | Beat the speed run in less than 75 minutes. |
Biker Jacket | Beat the speedrun. |
Creep’s Hoodie | Beat the speedrun in less than 90 minutes. |
Kill Boss Outfit | Get 50 Ruiner kills. |
McFly Jacket | Beat the speedrun in less than one hour. |
Monarch Beer | Beat the speed run in less than 90 minutes. |
Cheater Update
The developer of Ruiner updated the game with a cheat menu you can access using the F8 key on PC versions of the game.
- God mode – [1] – become immortal. Not recommended by the Church of Disorder.
- Conserve energy – [2] – stop worrying about the skills’ cost. Instantly renew 100% of energy.
- Add Karma – [3] – Puppy’s unparalleled strength and quick reflexes are now boosted to the max. Gain 25 cores and many points of Karma to instantly unlock all skills.
- Unlock all guns – [4] – enter the carnage festival overpowered, guns blazing.
- Unlock all weapons in the Supply Drop’s radial menu.
- Unlimited ammo – [5] – recycling guns is a hassle. HEAVEN Corp. decided to drop the costly Grinder project and instead put all its resources in UAT (Unlimited Ammo Tech). What a time to be alive!
- Unlimited melee durability – [6] – let’s be honest: recycling melee weapons is a hassle. Now slice your opponents – not a scratch on your shiny sword.
- Explosive melee kills – [7] – Puppy’s a cool guy and he enjoys explosions. A lot. Kill enemies to make them go boom!
- Ghostbreak them all – [8] – you thought three was a crowd? Hack’em all. Make’em all your friends.
- Unlimited Dash – [9] – Dash like crazy ‘cause charges are not used up.
- Spawn a Creep – [Insert] – no need to venture alone. Your little loyal Creep friends are there to serve you.
- Unlock all clothes – [Home] – make a fashion statement. Blend in or stand out.
Achievements (Playstation, PC, and Xbox only)
Achievement | How to Unlock |
---|---|
Don’t even get me started | Finish Prologue |
I’m in charge now | Defeat Nerve |
Who’s the King? | Defeat TrafficKing |
Siblings from hell | Defeat Sisters |
Good dog | Finish Epilogue |
Wanted dead or alive | Collect all bounties |
Take It Easy | Beat the game on Easy Difficulty |
RUINER | Beat the game on Normal Difficulty |
Hacker | Beat the game on Hard Difficulty |
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger | Finish NewGame+ |
Renaissance Man | Acquire all basic abilities |
Fatality | Perform 50 Ruiner kills |
Kill’em ALL | Kill all angels |
Ashes to ashes | Destroy all dead Hosts’ piles |
CATS PERSON | Complete CATS quest |
Fortune seeker | Unlock all iChing fortunes |
GOD MODE: ON | Beat the game without dying |
KILLYOU! KILLYOU! KILLYOU! | Achieve 15 kills combo |
Mickey Mantle | Hit 50 mines with your melee weapon |
It’s Over 9000! | Use dash 9001 times |
On the fly | Destroy Angel core in the air |
Perfect timing | Destroy 3 Angel cores in one go |
Rest in pieces | Kill 3 enemies with a one explosion |
Gotta get pumped! | Do 1003 pushups |
Die hard | Die 666 times |
Blaze it | Kill 3 enemies with one explosion |
Shield wall | Kill 75 enemies with a shield ram |
Magic mirror | Reflect 100 bullets with your shield |
Mind control master | Hack 50 enemies |
Faster than a bullet | Finish Speedrun |
Dressed to kill | Acquire all outfits |
Peace was never an option | Finish Arena:Colosseum |
Seasoned fighter | Score more than 50000 points in Arena:Colosseum |
Trainers
Ruiner has cheats that can be accessed through third-party software called Trainers, however, this software is not supported by the official developers. Use at your own risk.
Wemod
Through Wemod you gain access to 5 cheats.
- Unlimited Health
- Unlimited Ammo
- Unlimited Durability
- Unlimited Energy
- Unlimited Ability Points
MrAntiFun
With MrAntiFun you gain access to 7 cheats.
- Unlimited Health
- Unlimited Ammo
- Unlimited Durability
- Add Karma
- Unlimited Energy
- Unlimited Dash
- Unlimited Skill Points
CheatHappens
Cheat Happens allows the player access to the following cheats.
- Unlimited Health
- Unlimited Energy
- Unlimited Dash
- Unlimited Ammo
- Unlimited Durability
- Add Skill Points
- Add Karma Level
- Add Karma Points
- AI Cannot Attack
- Easy Kills
- Unlimited Mission Timer
How to use Trainers
Most Trainers are activated by pressing F1. There should either be a text indicator or an audio cue that says “Trainer Activated”. Once the trainer is activated press the desired hotkey that corresponds with the desired effect. Hotkeys can be changed on the trainer menu.
Trainer Notes
- Numpad 1: Unlimited Health – toggle on and most things cannot kill you.
- Numpad 2: Unlimited Energy – toggle on and even if your energy bar depletes you can use energy attacks and powers.
- Numpad 3: Unlimited Dash – toggle on and even if your Dash indicator is full, you can use Dash moves.
- Numpad 4: Unlimited Ammo – toggle on and most weapons will have unlimited ammo.
- Numpad 5: Unlimited Durability – toggle on and most melee weapons have unlimited durability.
- Numpad 6: Add Skill Points – you must first enter the Abilities Page (press the Y key). Next, Note your points. LEAVE the Abilities Page by pressing Y again to go back to where you can move your character. Press this key to add more, then press Y to re-enter and note it has changed.
- Numpad 7: Add Karma Level – you must first enter the Summary Page (press the Y key). Next, Note your level. LEAVE the Summary Page by pressing Y again to go back to where you can move your character. Press this key to add more, then press Y to re-enter and note it has changed. You will have to earn normal Karma for the Level to take hold and unlock higher-level skills.
- Numpad 8: Add Karma Points – you must first enter the Summary Page (press the Y key). Next, Note your points. LEAVE the Summary Page by pressing Y again to go back to where you can move your character. Press this key to add more, then press Y to re-enter and note it has changed. You will have to earn normal Karma for the Level to take hold and unlock higher-level skills.
- Numpad 9: AI Cannot Attack – while in combat, toggle this on and the AI will generally not attack you.
- Numpad 0: Easy Kills – while this is on, most enemies will die almost instantly to any attacks.
- Numpad /: Unlimited Mission Timer – some missions have a timer that you must complete something before it runs out. Toggle this on to have plenty of time.