Gaming

A Bizarre Run: Completing a Stage

Register, ride Stage 1, restock on the train, and survive the Stage 2 bounties, fog, and elimination zone to finish.

Register, ride Stage 1, restock on the train, and survive the Stage 2 bounties, fog, and elimination zone to finish.

Image: A Bizarre Run By Current.

A Bizarre Run turns the Steel Ball Run into a Roblox race that you finish in pieces. You register in a western lobby town, ride Stage 1 across canyons and a collapsing bridge, regroup on a passenger train, and then fight through Stage 2’s bounties and elimination checkpoint before you reach the finish. The riding is easy to learn. Most failed runs come from missing the registration timer, running out of stamina, or falling behind the pack in Stage 2.

Quick answer: Register at the Ticket Booth before the timer expires, mount a horse with N, cross the Stage 1 GOAL arch, restock in the train’s Run Shop, then reach every Stage 2 checkpoint before the fog closes in.


What a full A Bizarre Run race looks like

Each run is one race split into two playable stages with a break in between. The intro cutscene shows a route map that runs from San Diego to a goal at Trinity Church in New York, but only two stages are part of the race right now. Each one is a different kind of challenge.

PhaseWhat you doCombat
LobbyRegister, pick a photo pose, mount upNone
Stage 1Race canyons, a bridge, desert, and meadowsNo shooting riders directly
Train intermissionCheck results, shop, re-equipNone
Stage 2Bounties, checkpoints, elimination zoneFull PvP

If this is your first time in the game, you go through a tutorial before any of this. It hands you a random Stand from a card draw and walks you through a practice race and a short combat lesson with a tutorial boss. Finish it, because the blocking and ability drills matter once Stage 2 opens up player fights.


Register for the race before the lobby timer runs out

The lobby runs on a countdown, and you have to register before it hits zero. Late players hold up the start for a short while, but you should not rely on that.

Watch for the “Match Starts In” banner when you spawn in the lobby town. It also tells you to go to the Ticket Booth. Follow the dotted yellow guide line on the ground. It leads straight to the wooden booth counters.
Lobby banner reading Match Starts in 48 Seconds with a prompt to register at the Ticket Booth
The lobby countdown, with the prompt to register at the Ticket Booth.
Interact with the clerk at the counter. You receive your certificate and saddlecloth. The clerk also warns you that you cannot swap the jockey or the horse later, so the setup you register with is the setup you ride for the whole run.
Choose a pose when the game says “Press an emote for your photo.” Pick any option from the emote wheel. The pose only affects your official race photo, so do not spend countdown time deciding.
Run across the field to the line of numbered horses at the starting grid. The Race Notice board sits near this area. Players gather here while the timer keeps running.
Players waiting beside the Race Notice board with Match Starts In 24 Seconds on screen
Players waiting at the Race Notice board as the countdown drops to 24 seconds.
Find an unoccupied horse with a number tag. Press N when the “horse hop on” prompt appears to mount it. Its number becomes your rider number, which the race commentary uses to announce your position.
Horse hop on prompt at the starting grid asking the player to press N to mount
The “horse hop on” prompt at the starting grid.

Once you are mounted, the screen switches to “Waiting For Players To Finish Registering.” A final ten-second timer follows. You know registration worked when you are sitting on a horse at the grid and the riding controls appear on the right side of the HUD.

Some Stands, such as Sandman and The Sun, run the race on foot instead of on horseback. If everyone else mounts up and you don’t, your game has not glitched. Your Stand sets how you move. Sandman can make large jumps but takes time to build speed, so its acceleration and stamina need more attention than a horse’s.


A Bizarre Run controls for racing and fighting (PC)

The HUD switches control sets depending on whether you are mounted. These are the keys the game shows on screen during a run.

ActionOn horsebackOn foot
SprintL. Shift—
BoostZ—
Get off / mountNN (at a horse)
HangQ—
Dash—Q
Summon StandBB
SidearmHold CHold C
RevolverR—
Attack—Left Click
Block—F
Call Horse—T
EmoteXX
Shift Lock—L. Ctrl

Mounted riders also get a Time Skip ability on C. Space jumps. If you get knocked off mid-race, press T right away to call your horse back. Every second you spend on foot is a place lost. On mobile and controller, follow the prompts the tutorial shows you.


Riding Stage 1 to the GOAL arch

Before the gun goes off, an announcer introduces “the first ever Bizarre Run race” over a map of North America. The cutscene has 17 parts. A Skip button in the corner cycles through them, and you can tap it until you are back on the grid. Skipping does not cost you your starting position.

Race intro cutscene of the desert trek with a Skip button in the corner showing scene progress out of 17
The race intro cutscene, with the Skip button counting through its 17 scenes.

The race starts when the “RACE!” banner fills the screen. Look at the bottom of the HUD at that moment. Your stamina sits at 100 percent and the prompt reads “Boost Ready (Z).” Those two readouts decide the rest of the stage.

RACE banner at the start of Stage 1 with full stamina and Boost Ready on Z shown on the HUD
The race start, with stamina at 100 percent and the boost ready on Z.

Holding L. Shift to sprint drains stamina. If the meter hits 0 percent, your horse becomes exhausted and slows down. A short slowdown in the pack is enough to drop several places. Sprint in bursts on clear ground and ease off before the meter empties. Riding directly behind another rider puts you in their slipstream, which gives you extra speed without spending stamina. It is the safest way to make up ground.

Canyon entrance and rocky corridors

The opening stretch runs across open plains and funnels everyone into a canyon. The whole field arrives at once, so expect to be in the low 20s here even on a clean start. Don’t waste your boost trying to escape the crowd. One mistimed burst into a tight turn sends you into a rock wall, and the crash costs more than the boost gained.

Rider galloping into the canyon in 23rd place with the Sprint L. Shift control on screen
Entering the canyon in 23rd place, which is normal while the pack is bunched up.

The announcer cautions you to “avoid obstacles, and possibly explosions.” During Stage 1, you cannot shoot the other riders themselves. You can fire at TNT on the map to destroy obstacles or seal off a route. Keep track of the road and the rider ahead, since TNT set by someone else may send you along a different path than planned.

Mounted rider sprinting through a narrow canyon path with Sprint on Left Shift listed on the right
Sprinting through the canyon corridor on Left Shift.

Stay on the flat dirt path. Grass and tree clusters slow you down, and clipping a tree trunk stops your horse completely. If you do get stuck against a wall, the Get Off (N) prompt stays on the HUD. Use it only to recover, then remount right away.

Rider on horseback in a desert canyon with the Get Off N prompt on the riding HUD
The riding HUD in the canyon, with Get Off mapped to N.

The collapsing wooden bridge

Past the canyon, the route crosses a raised wooden bridge. Partway across, the announcer shouts “The bridge’s planks are giving way!” and the floor drops riders onto the sandbanks below. You can’t avoid the fall reliably in a crowd, so don’t panic when it happens. Keep holding forward, climb out from under the wreckage, and rejoin the course through the desert rocks. Commit to the far gate as soon as you land.

Rider heading toward a gate in 17th place with a distance readout of 12M on screen
Riding toward the bridge gate in 17th place, with the distance readout at 12 meters.

The desert sprint after the bridge is the first real stretch of open ground. Your stamina has had time to refill, so use short sprints here to pass riders who are still recovering from the fall.

The downhill meadow and final stretch

Around the midpoint, the announcer reminds everyone there are only four miles left in the stage. The track then opens into green meadows on a downhill slope, which the game calls “the treacherous downhill.” Speed picks up on its own, so hold back on sprint and steer around the trees. Losing your footing here costs more than a slow line does.

Rider galloping down the meadow course in 22nd place with the Sprint L. Shift control on screen
Starting the downhill meadow section in 22nd place.

The downhill is also the best place to slipstream. Riders spread into single file on the trail, so you can line up behind one, draft, and pull out to pass with stamina still in the tank.

Rider following another horse along a meadow trail in 20th place with Sprint and Boost controls shown
Drafting behind another rider on the meadow trail to climb to 20th.

The final approach is lined with bleachers and balloons and ends at a “GOAL” archway. This is where you spend everything. Sprint the rest of your stamina and fire the boost on Z once the path ahead is straight and clear. Places change quickly in this stretch.

Player riding the final stretch in 12th place with the Sprint L. Shift control listed on the right
The final stretch toward the GOAL arch, up to 12th place.

You have cleared Stage 1 when a “STAGE COMPLETED” banner appears after you pass under the arch, followed by a short victory cinematic.


Stage 1 results screen and rewards

After the cinematic, a “GREAT RACE! STAGE 1” screen shows your placement, a Race Ledger with your stats, and what you earned. You get paid even without a podium finish. A 12th-place run with no kills still earned cash and a spin ticket.

Results fieldExample (12th place)
Time02:38
Top speed171 MPH
Kills0
Sabotages0
Cash+$288
Spin Ticketx1
GradeF
Great Race Stage 1 results showing 12th place, a 02:38 time, and 171 MPH top speed in the Race Ledger
The Stage 1 results screen, with the Race Ledger and rewards.

Kills and sabotages are tracked even in Stage 1, which explains the low grade on a quiet run. Spin Tickets go toward the Spin Wheel. Its rewards are random and can include cash, Rokakaka Fruit, Stand Arrow Fragments, or a Shiny Stand Arrow.


Train intermission: Run Shop and leaderboard

Between stages, you spawn in a passenger train with the other racers. You can’t skip this part, and it is the only time you can rearm before Stage 2. If you finish early, a Spectate button at the bottom center lets you watch other players while you wait.

Train lobby with the Spectate button at the bottom center while other avatars stand nearby
The train lobby between stages, with the Spectate button at the bottom center.

The leaderboard boards on the train list the fastest Stage 1 times and the points they earned. The top ten split ran from 80 points for 1m 51s down to 27 points for 2m 37s. That gives you a rough target: finish under two minutes to fight for the top spot.

PointsStage 1 time
801m 51s
702m 2s
602m 8s
552m 10s
502m 15s
452m 16s
402m 26s
352m 27s
302m 27s
272m 37s

To shop, walk up to the shop counter and press E when the Interact prompt appears. The Run Shop menu opens with your current cash shown at the top.

Shop counter on the train with the E Interact prompt beside it
The train’s shop counter, opened with the E Interact prompt.
Run Shop itemPriceWhat it does
Shotgun Ammo x6$20Shells for the shotgun
Shotgun$500Knocks riders off in one shot, short range
Lasso$75Ties up enemies and drags them
Ammo$12Revolver rounds
RevolverEquippedFills the first weapon slot
Dynamite x3EquippedLarge explosion radius

You can carry only one firearm at a time, so pick either the shotgun or the revolver and buy ammo for that gun alone. The revolver comes equipped and its ammo is cheap, which makes it the sensible default for a first run. The shotgun is a $500 investment that only pays off if you plan to get up close. Dynamite is best thrown into a bunched-up group of riders.

Use the time left on the train to check your on-foot controls. In Stage 2 you can be knocked off your horse, and when that happens you are fighting with Left Click, F to block, Q to dash, and B for your Stand.

Close-up of a player on the train with on-foot combat controls listed on the right and Spectate at the bottom
On-foot combat controls shown on the train before Stage 2.

Stage 2: bounties, checkpoints, and the elimination zone

Stage 2 is where the race becomes a survival match. Player-versus-player combat is fully on, a fog timer counts down, and the route is gated by checkpoints with time limits. Before you enter, you pick one of three bounty targets.

BountyCashPoints
EasyAbout $175+25
MediumAbout $350+50
HardUp to $600+80

If your goal is to finish the run, take the easy bounty. Hard targets tend to be players who already block and counter well, and losing a fight in the open desert can leave you with nothing from the stage.

Ride for the first checkpoint before you go after your bounty. Each checkpoint has a time limit, and the “Fog Arrives in” timer keeps counting down while you ride. Stay mounted so you keep your speed.
Keep pace with the group once the Boom Boom Brothers event starts; it singles out riders bringing up the rear, so lagging behind puts you at risk. Use the rock formations to block pursuers’ view, then hold C to shoot your sidearm at anyone following you.
If you get knocked off, summon your Stand with B and play defensively. Block with F until you have room, then press T to call your horse back and keep moving.
Check the Deaths Needed counter at the later barrier. Players must be eliminated until the displayed requirement is met before the route opens. A brief countdown follows, then the race starts again.
Leave the elimination zone as soon as the route opens. Fog closes in on anyone who stays behind and deals damage. Ride straight for the finish line.

Waiting around at the elimination barrier is how a lot of runs end. The fog does damage on its own, so a player who survives every fight can still be eliminated by sitting still.

You finish the run by crossing the Stage 2 finish line; the results screen then displays your cash, points, and other rewards before you return to the lobby. The quest board lists objectives to pursue next time, including placing in a race, eliminating players, and locating a Corpse Part. Finishing well outside first place still earns cash and spin tickets to put toward your next Stand.