Every battle in How Many Dudes? is decided before it starts. Once the fight begins, the dudes act on their own, so the quality of a run comes down to the choices you make between rounds. This guide covers those choices. It draws on the store page, the official achievement list and reviews at Life Meets Pixel and Sirus Gaming.
1 Read the flyer before you commit
A run starts with one Regular Dude against ten toddlers. New types are added through flyers, which Life Meets Pixel describes as wanted posters that advertise each dude gimmick before you recruit. Sirus Gaming notes that you keep adding types until your team has five.
2 Bonuses stack by type
Life Meets Pixel points out that family bonuses stack by type rather than by individual, so recruiting a fourth copy of one dude is a different decision from recruiting the first. Items follow the same logic: trinkets attach to a whole type. That makes depth in a type valuable once it is carrying items.
The achievement Single-Minded Dude, for winning with at least 40 of one type on your roster, shows how far this can be taken.
3 Cover the roles
The store says each dude has its place, from dealing damage to tanking it to commanding other dudes, and advises balancing offence and defence. Sirus Gaming describes the specialisations as damage, healing and damage mitigation.
| Role | Why you need it |
|---|---|
| Damage | Waves grow faster than a slow team can clear them |
| Mitigation | Keeps your damage dealers alive long enough to matter |
| Healing | Turns long battles from attrition into control |
| Command | Dudes that direct or move others, such as the lassoing cowboy |
4 Relics change the rules
Relics are the part of the game most likely to turn an ordinary run into a broken one. The store examples include ninja dudes entering stealth when in danger, and Sirus Gaming describes skeleton dudes with a Bean Burrito relic creating resurrection loops. The achievement list shows more rule benders: a Gravestone relic that makes Skeledudes, a Medical License that turns into large healing, and a Coupon relic for buying at a discount.
5 Trinkets belong to a type
Defeating an act boss earns a trinket, and the store explains that each trinket is assigned to a dude type. Achievements name several, including a Taser, a Fedora that can stack, Bad Credit that stores damage and Bottled Lightning. Because the whole type benefits, a trinket is worth most on the type you have the most of.
6 The characters at the Ranch
The achievement list reveals a cast of helper dudes you meet between battles. Each offers a different kind of trade.
Therapy for dudes and Dude Juice also appear in the list. One achievement asks you to beat round 80 without using any Dude Juice, which tells you it is a consumable most runs rely on.
7 Helping from the sidelines
Although battles are automatic, Life Meets Pixel describes sideline abilities such as heals, stuns and damage on a three second cooldown. They will not rescue a badly built team, but they can save a good team from a bad moment, such as a boss focusing down your healer. Consumables work the same way: the Iron Dude achievement asks for a win without using any during boss fights, so using them there is normal.
Read each flyer before adding a type, because a team holds only five and each should add something new. Bonuses and trinkets work by type, so build a core type and aim items at it. Cover damage, mitigation, healing and command. Let a strong relic redirect the run, knowing relics can be swapped later. Use the Merchant, Business, Scavenger, Whisperer and Smuggler dudes for different trades, keep Dude Juice for when you need it, and use sideline abilities to save good teams from bad moments.
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