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SYNAPSE
RUN
Commuters and augmented runners share a covered market beneath corporate towers, with an armed checkpoint beyond

MULTIPLAYER CYBERPUNK · TEXT RPG

Synapse Run
A cyberpunk MUD

Explore Meridian, take contracts and develop your character.
Play with others in a city divided by corporate interests and armed conflict.

Play in your browser Getting started
01 / MERIDIAN COMMONSShops, clinics and the Runner’s Board
Free to play · No download required

Read room descriptions and type commands to move, talk and fight.

Learn how to play ↗

ABOUT THE GAME

What you can do

You play a runner who takes paid work around Meridian. The Welcome District teaches the basics. Later contracts take you into the Lower Ward, Vantara’s laboratories and the Spire.

01 / CONTRACTS

Complete jobs and explore

Earn credits and experience by completing contracts, fighting enemies and hacking terminals. Examine your surroundings to find hidden routes, equipment and clues.

02 / PROGRESSION

Train skills and equip gear

Choose Blades, Firearms or Tech, then train support skills such as Hacking, Athletics or Medtech. Spend experience at trainers to improve your skills and raise your level.

03 / OTHER PLAYERS

Run with a group or crew

Group up for fights and shared quest progress. Crews have private chat, shared storage and cooperative vaults. Faction work unlocks perks and equipment.

An awake runner receives MedLink treatment through a neural cable behind her ear while a technician with a prosthetic hand monitors the session

HEALING AND CYBERWARE

MedLink treatment
and chrome

Chrome is the game’s cybernetic equipment. A ripperdoc can install kits that improve aim, armor, health and other abilities. You have limited implant capacity and can fit one implant per body system.

To heal at a MedLink station, buy a session key and type uplink. Your character connects through a neural port and recovers over time. You must stay at the station until treatment finishes. Medtech training also lets you use portable medical kits.

Street-grade chrome is sold at the clinic; military-grade kits drop from tougher enemies. Installation uses experience that you could otherwise spend on skill training.

Read the player guides ↗

AREAS

Explore Meridian

The Commons contains shops, trainers, a clinic and the Runner’s Board. The maintenance passages below it offer early contracts. Beyond the North Gate, enemies become more dangerous and some attack on sight.

Corporate patrols move through the Lower Ward while residents repair shelters beside a warm cargo-bay market

02 / LOWER WARD

The Lower Ward

Strikeworks patrols, scavengers and security drones occupy the Ward’s industrial routes. Visit Riku’s market for supplies, or investigate the reclamation plant and maintenance tunnels.

Empty research chairs and silent white sentries inside Vantara, seen from an improvised refuge

03 / VANTARA

The Vantara complex

Later contracts lead into an abandoned corporate research complex and up the Spire. Expect stronger enemies, locked systems and puzzles that require clues found in the rooms.

Recurring city events

During lockdowns, defeating enemies in the affected area contributes to a shared goal. Blackouts make terminals easier to hack and double their credit payouts. Participants earn rewards.

In game: event

FACTIONS

Work with three factions

CIVIC ORDER

Meridian Civic Authority

The city’s patrol and permit authority. Pays runners for work that supports public order.

LOCAL INDEPENDENCE

The Free Ward

A network of Lower Ward residents opposed to control by the Authority and Strikeworks.

INFORMATION

Lowline

A netrunner collective working against Vantara’s control of the city’s data.

NO MUD EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

How to start

Create an account, open the browser client and follow the welcome screen. You can also connect with a desktop MUD client. The game describes rooms, people and exits in text.

Create an account ↗Log in

For a desktop MUD client: synapserun.net port 4003 using TLS. Synapse Run is in closed beta: you need a beta key to create an account.

  1. 01

    Read the room

    look describes your room and exits. x kiosk examines a nearby object.

  2. 02

    Follow orientation

    Speak to the registration attendant. Follow the orientation to training and outfitting.

  3. 03

    Check your contracts

    guide suggests where to go. quests keeps track of your contracts.

  4. 04

    Buy supplies and assess enemies

    Browse a vendor with list. Assess an enemy with consider. Use help newbie whenever you need it.

PATCH NOTES / 27 OCT 2026

Recent patch: 1.0.1 beta

  • Idle logoff: if you don't type anything for 30 minutes, you're logged off. You're warned 5 minutes, 1 minute and 30 seconds before.
  • Resting while away: your runner now heals while you're logged off, at the same rate as resting in game. Deep Rest and your crash pad still help.
  • The holo-emitter now stands in the Central Plaza. LOOK EMITTER to see the people supporting Synapse Run.
  • Forgot your password? The login page now explains how to have staff reset it.
  • Security improvements.

All patch notes