Playable Project

Relay Zero

An abandoned colony. An ion cutter. A familiar urge to check every doorway.

By Eric Rhea Browser action adventure
Play Relay Zero How to play
An explorer faces robot patrols among the blue metal walls of Relay Zero's colony.
The colony has passages to explore and patrols to read before you move.
Adventure
Room by room
Players
Single player
Saved progress
Three browser slots

Check the next doorway

Relay Zero is a sci-fi take on the original NES The Legend of Zelda. You explore one room at a time, find equipment, and work out what each new tool can do. The setting moves to an abandoned colony, with metal passages, service terminals, and machines that would rather you left.

Your first job is to find an ion cutter. Face a patrol before you swing. Each strike briefly holds you in place, so closing the distance takes a little nerve and a little timing. Release the button before striking again.

The familiar adventure has new clothes and a few different sounds. Robot patrols roam the rooms. Excavators emerge from the ground. Water sentries watch the edges. Defeated machines may leave credit chips or medical cells, and recovered equipment gives you more to try at the next obstacle.

Start a save, then start exploring

The title screen says PUSH START BUTTON. On a keyboard, that means Enter. Menu choices use Shift to select and Enter to confirm.

  1. Press Enter at the title. On your first visit, REGISTER YOUR NAME is selected. Press Enter again.
  2. Use the arrow keys to choose letters. Press Z to enter each letter in your name.
  3. Press Shift until END is selected, then Enter to finish registration.
  4. Select your named slot with Shift, then press Enter to enter the colony.
ControlAction
Arrows / WASDMove and face a direction.
Z / JUse the ion cutter once you have found it.
X / KUse the tool equipped in the B slot.
EnterOpen or close inventory. Start and confirm in menus.
ShiftPause during play. Cycle choices in menus.
P in inventoryOpen the Continue / Save / Retry menu.

Touch: use the on-screen direction pad, A for the cutter, and B for your tool. START and SELECT take the place of Enter and Shift. Open inventory to reveal RUN MENU.

Gamepad: use the direction pad or left stick to move, A for the cutter, B for your tool, Start for inventory, and Select for menu choices. Button labels may differ by controller.

Save before leaving: open inventory, press P (or tap RUN MENU), select SAVE with Shift or SELECT, and confirm with Enter or START. Your three save slots live in this browser on this device.

A name on the register. Tools to find.

Relay Zero's save selection screen with an EXPLORER profile and three save slots.
Register a name, choose a slot, and head into the colony.
The starting inventory with an empty tool selection area and relay core slots above the suit display.
You begin with an empty inventory. The colony holds the equipment.

Pixel art, running in your browser

Read the original Relay Zero article, published October 9, 2026.

The explorer, machines, and terrain are drawn with pixel art. Three.js draws the game through WebGL, while JavaScript handles movement, combat, rooms, and saves.

Open Settings to switch sound effects, colony atmosphere, or reduced effects on and off. Help brings up the field guide and a quick reference to supplies. The game is an evolving project.