Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom APK (DLC Unlocked)

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom lets you play its first three levels free before one purchase opens the full retro FPS campaign. New players who plan to test before they pay will know which edition to buy and which habits to drop. Treat those free levels as a controls test on your own phone, because that feel decides the purchase.

How to Play Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom on Your Phone

To play Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom, install it from the App Store or Google Play and start the first of three free levels. You move Malum Caedo with one thumb, aim with the other, and blast Chaos enemies until a one-time purchase unlocks the rest.

Nitro Games Oyj built this version under licence from Games Workshop. It adapts the 2023 boomer shooter by Auroch Digital, and the studio also handled the Warframe mobile port. So the first thing to know is simple: this is a PC-grade shooter, not a lite spin-off.

The pitch stays clean, with no ads and no energy timers between runs. Instead, the Imperium’s grim war plays out in one long single-player campaign that you clear level by level.

How the Boltgun Run-and-Gun Loop Works

The core loop is fast and simple. You sprint through a level, gun down everything that moves, and grab ammo, health, and armour on the way. The boltgun sits at the centre of it all, firing heavy explosive rounds that throw cultists across the room.

Speed is your real defence. Many enemy shots travel slowly, so a Space Marine in motion dodges most of them without trying. A still one, by contrast, soaks every hit. In my runs, the rooms that went wrong were always the ones where I stopped to aim with care.

Malum Caedo’s Mission on Forge World Graia

You play Malum Caedo, a Sternguard Veteran of the Ultramarines, sent by the Inquisition to Forge World Graia. His drop pod crashes on the way down, and he walks away as the only survivor. Inquisitor Seibel gives the orders, while Drogan’s old Servo Skull floats along as his companion.

The target is a power source that rogue Techpriests used to tear open a warp rift. Tumulus Samael, a Chaos Sorcerer of the Black Legion, wants it too, which turns the mission into a race. The tone is pure grimdark, with sludgy guitars, monastic chants, and pixel gore in every corridor.

Boltgun Boom Compared With DOOM and Call of Duty: Mobile

Most big shooters on phones chase online matches. Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile push ranked play, loadout grinds, and battle passes. Boltgun Boom sits far from that approach, with no online matches and one purchase for the base campaign.

The closer match is DOOM, the classic shooter that Bethesda brought to Android and iOS. Both reward circle-strafing and quick weapon swaps, but Boltgun Boom leans much harder on its setting. Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus shares the same universe, although it is a turn-based squad game rather than a shooter.

Boltgun Boom on Mobile vs the PC and Console Boltgun

The original Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun launched in May 2023 on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. Boltgun Boom is not a straight copy, though. Nitro Games reworked some controls and gameplay systems for touch input while keeping the pace and the look.

Price and access are the other big gaps. The phone version opens with a free slice, so you can judge the feel before paying anything. It also lives in your pocket, which suits a game built on short, violent levels far better than you might expect.

Touch Controls and Combat Flow in Boltgun Boom

Boltgun Boom splits the phone screen into two jobs, with movement under the left thumb and aiming under the right. Nitro Games tuned this layout for touch input rather than copying PC keys. The focus stayed on response speed and clean aim.

The controls carry the whole retro FPS feel, so give them a few minutes in the settings before your first real fight. Look speed matters most. A slow turn gets you flanked in wide rooms, while a very fast one makes fine aim shaky.

Melee and ranged attacks share the same screen, and quick swaps soon become second nature. Heavy power armour never slows Malum down either, which keeps every fight brutal and fast.

Aiming the Boltgun With Touch Controls

Aim with short, small drags rather than long swipes. The boltgun hits hard enough that a rough body shot still drops most cultists in a few rounds. Save careful aim for bigger targets, where each missed shell costs time.

Screen size changes the feel more than you expect. On a small phone, lower the look speed so a short drag does not spin Malum past the target. On a big phone or tablet, raise it slightly, since your thumb travels farther for the same turn.

Swapping to the Chainsword Mid-Fight

The chainsword is Malum’s melee weapon, and it shines when an enemy gets too close for a clean shot. It costs no ammo, so it also saves shells in cramped corridors.

Swap back to the boltgun as soon as the close threat drops. Melee range puts you inside splash damage and enemy swings, and the heavy hitters punish that fast. The best rhythm I found was one quick cut, then straight back to range. It keeps the pace up without trading armour for kills.

What Clearing a Boltgun Boom Level Gives You

Reaching a level’s exit moves the campaign on to the next map. Any secrets you skipped stay behind, so a clean clear and a full clear are two different goals.

In practice, each level also makes a natural stopping point on a phone. Most feel like a full battle, yet they fit into a commute or a short break. That pacing suits mobile far better than one huge open map would.

How to Unlock the Full Campaign After the Three Free Levels

You unlock the full campaign with a one-time in-app purchase after the three free levels, priced at $9.99 for the Full Game in the US App Store. The $12.99 Crusade Edition adds Chapter 4 – Forges of Corruption, and there are no ads or energy timers either way.

Prices can differ by country, since both stores convert to local currency. Check the store page in your region before you pay.

The unlock is a single purchase, not a subscription. Once you pay, the single-player campaign stays open with no daily limits. Nothing in the shop sells power, either, so a paying player faces the same fights as anyone else. That matters on mobile, where most shooters gate play behind stamina or ads.

What the Three Free Levels Show You

The three free levels open the campaign and show the core loop in full. You get the boltgun, early Chaos troops, and a taste of the level layouts with their side rooms. That is enough to judge how Malum’s power armour and weapons feel on your phone.

Play them twice before you buy. The first run tests the controls and frame rate. The second shows whether hunting for secrets keeps you hooked, and if both runs felt good, the full game is an easy call.

Full Game vs Crusade Edition Pricing

The US App Store lists three purchases: the Full Game at $9.99, the Crusade Edition at $12.99, and Chapter 4 – Forges of Corruption at $4.99. The Full Game opens the base campaign. The $12.99 bundle lines up with the Full Game plus Chapter 4.

Bought separately, those two parts come to $14.98, so the bundle saves about $1.99. That makes it the smart pick if you already know you want every chapter. If you are unsure, start with the Full Game and accept that adding Chapter 4 later costs roughly $1.99 more.

Where Chapter 4 – Forges of Corruption Fits

The name tells you where it sits. Chapter 4 points to three earlier chapters in the base campaign, and Forges of Corruption carries the fight on after them.

Save it for after the main ending. It assumes you already know the arsenal and the enemy mix. Played that way, it works as a victory lap through more of the same brutal loop.

How to Get Every Weapon in the Boltgun Boom Arsenal

Every weapon in Boltgun Boom is a pickup placed inside a level, so you get new guns simply by pushing forward and checking side rooms. Malum starts with the boltgun and chainsword, and heavier, iconic Warhammer 40,000 weapons appear as later chapters grow tougher.

Most weapon pickups sit on the main path, but some extras hide off to the side. Ammo matters just as much as the guns themselves. Each heavy weapon drains its own supply fast, and in my runs, checking corners for shells saved more fights than any single new gun.

Retro FPS fans will know the rhythm at once: find a gun, then find the fight it was built for. Warhammer 40,000 fans will know the guns themselves, which makes each new pickup a small event.

Why the Boltgun Stays Your Main Weapon

The boltgun never stops being useful. It fires fast, hits hard, and uses the most common ammo in each level. Reviewers of the original even called it a signature weapon so good it nearly breaks the game.

Use it as your default and treat the heavy guns as tools for specific problems. When a room holds only light troops, the boltgun handles it alone. That keeps your heavy ammo ready for the fights that truly need it.

Heavy Bolter, Plasma Gun, and Melta Gun Pickups

The heavier guns arrive later and change how you handle big rooms. The heavy bolter trades speed for a wall of fire. Meanwhile, the plasma gun and melta gun deal huge damage to armoured targets, and each one eats ammo quickly.

Save these for Chaos Space Marines, big daemons, and war machines. Spending plasma on a single heretic feels great for a second. Then a real threat walks in, and the gun sits empty.

How Campaign Progression and Secrets Work in Boltgun Boom

Campaign progression in Boltgun Boom runs level by level across several chapters, and each level unlocks the next once you reach its exit. Secrets sit off the main path behind hidden paths and odd walls, rewarding players who check every corner with extra supplies.

The campaign spans multiple worlds, and the store calls it massive. The fastest progress comes from patience, because a rushed run skips half the loot.

Nothing levels up in the RPG sense. Your strength comes from the guns you hold and the health you carry. Forge World Graia is where the war begins, while the finale moves into space above the planet.

Chapters, Worlds, and Level Order

The campaign moves in a straight line. You finish one level, the next one opens, and each chapter builds toward a large set-piece fight. The base game holds the first three chapters, with Chapter 4 sold on its own.

Revisiting a cleared level is the easy way to chase anything you missed. On a phone, a cleared map also makes a quick warm-up before you face a harder new one.

Finding Secrets and Hidden Paths

Secrets hide behind walls with a slightly different texture, in dark alcoves, and on ledges you reach with a careful jump. A pickup you can see but cannot reach almost always means a hidden route nearby.

The payoff is real. Extra armour or an early heavy weapon makes the next big room far easier. I found that sweeping each dead end once, right after a fight, cost little time. It also paid back often, especially before the larger battles.

What Finishing the Campaign Leads To

Beating the base campaign ends Malum’s hunt for the power source, but the story does not wrap up neatly. Inquisitor Seibel warns that many Chaos forces still roam the planet, and the Imperium’s hold on Graia stays shaky.

After the credits, the best reason to return is secret hunting. Clearing every hidden room across the campaign gives a replay a clear goal. Forges of Corruption then offers a fresh set of levels if you want more.

What Forces of Chaos Malum Caedo Fights

Malum Caedo fights the forces of Chaos, from human heretics and traitor Space Marines to daemons of the warp and huge war machines. The campaign scales these threats up level by level, and a Black Legion sorcerer named Tumulus Samael leads them all.

The mix changes the right answer in each room. Light troops fall to the boltgun, while tougher foes demand heavy weapons and smart movement. Chaos Space Marines stand out as the real test, because they soak damage and hit back hard.

Every fight also serves the Imperium’s larger war on Graia. As a result, the enemy roster reads like a tour of the setting’s worst horrors.

Cultists and Traitor Marines

Cultists are the fodder of the campaign. They come in crowds, fire weak shots, and fall quickly. A big group can still chip away your armour, however, while you deal with something bigger.

Traitor Space Marines are a different story. They wear the same heavy armour as Malum, so give them your strongest rounds. Keep moving sideways as they fire, and never trade shots with one at close range.

Daemons and Towering War Machines

Daemons pour out of the warp rift, and many close distance fast or attack from range. Plague-touched ones fill the air with slow acid globs, which you can sidestep if you stay in motion.

War machines are the towering set-piece foes. They take a long time to bring down, so fight them from cover. Swap to your heaviest weapon early, since chip damage from the boltgun wastes precious seconds.

Tumulus Samael and the Black Legion

Tumulus Samael is the Chaos Sorcerer behind the invasion. He takes the power source first, then uses it to widen the warp rift and threaten the whole sector.

The final fight with him is long and punishing. Arrive with full armour and stocked heavy ammo. Treat the levels before it as a supply run rather than a race, and grab every pickup you pass.

Common Boltgun Boom Mistakes on a Phone Screen

At 2.6 GB on iPhone, the Boltgun Boom install is large enough that storage trips up players before the first shot. Most other mistakes happen in the shop or in the fight itself.

Buying the wrong edition wastes money. Playing it like a cover shooter on touch controls wastes lives. Neither ruins a run alone, but together they caused most of the early frustration in my own first hours.

The App Store also lists an 18+ age rating, which fits the heavy gore. That rating matters for families sharing a device or a store account.

Buying Chapter 4 Before the Full Game

Chapter 4 – Forges of Corruption continues the story after the base campaign. That makes it a poor first purchase, since it skips the chapters that set it up.

Decide early whether you want everything. If you do, the Crusade Edition is the cleaner buy. If not, the Full Game alone covers the main story, and the add-on can wait.

Standing Still Against the Forces of Chaos

Many phone players freeze the left thumb while the right thumb aims. The result is a Space Marine standing in the open, and the boltgun loop never rewards that.

Build one habit: keep the movement thumb down through every fight, even while you line up a hard shot. Small circles around the target work well in tight rooms. In bigger ones, strafe along a wall so enemies stay in front of you.

Skipping the Storage and Language Check

Free up more space than the listed size before you install. Large Unreal Engine games often need extra room to unpack, and a nearly full phone can stall that step.

Language is the other surprise. The App Store lists English as the only language. Players who prefer another language should know that before paying for the full game.

Best Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom Tips for Beginners

Constant movement is the single habit that separates a smooth Boltgun Boom run from a frustrating one. Every other skill, from secret hunting to boss fights, builds on it. The boomer shooter formula rewards nerve over caution in almost every room.

Malum is a Sternguard Veteran, and the game wants you to play like one: aggressive, precise, and never idle. His power armour soaks a few hits, but it is not a wall.

These habits matter most in the free levels, where the feel of the controls gets decided. They then carry through the whole single-player campaign.

Keep the Boltgun Firing While You Strafe

Hold fire while you move in a wide arc around the target. The boltgun stays accurate enough on the move that you lose little damage for a big gain in safety.

Reload during short gaps, not mid-fight. When a room goes quiet, top up before you push through the next door. That single pause has saved more of my runs than any clever trick.

Hunt Side Routes Inside the Three Free Levels

The three free levels already hold side routes worth checking. Finding them is also the best test of whether you will enjoy the paid chapters.

Check every odd wall and dead end in those first maps. The hidden paths you spot there train your eye for later, when the rewards grow bigger and the fights get harder.

Survive Chaos Ambushes by Circling Graia’s Arenas

Many big rooms on Graia throw waves of enemies at you once you step inside. The safest plan is to circle the edge of the room, keeping every enemy in front and none behind. Corners are traps, so avoid backing into one.

Pick off the ranged enemies first, then the heavy hitters. A cleared corner of the arena then gives you a safe spot to reload before the next wave arrives.

Frequently Asked Questions About Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom

Is Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom free on Android and iPhone?

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Boom is free to install on Google Play and the App Store, and the first three levels cost nothing to play. It launched on both stores on September 23, 2026. iPhone owners need iOS 16.0 or later, so older iPhones that cannot update will not run it at all.

Is Boltgun Boom hard for beginners?

It is fast but fair for newcomers. Reviewers of the original PC release criticised its simple enemy AI, which means danger comes from numbers and speed rather than clever tactics. Keep moving, pick your heavy ammo carefully, and most new players will clear the early chapters without much trouble at all.

Will Boltgun Boom get more content after launch?

Chapter 4 – Forges of Corruption is already on sale as extra content. Nitro Games has said it looks forward to player feedback after launch, so tuning updates seem likely. Boltgun 2 arrives on October 14, but only on PC and consoles, so it is a separate game rather than a mobile update.

Who Should Buy the Full Boltgun Boom Campaign

Boltgun Boom suits players who want a real single-player shooter on their phone, with no ads, no energy timers, and heavy Warhammer 40,000 flavour. Fans of fast retro shooters should play the three free levels, then buy the Full Game if the controls click. Anyone who already knows they want every chapter should take the $12.99 bundle instead.

After my own time with it, I think this is the most complete premium shooter the Warhammer 40,000 licence has put on phones so far. Players who want online matches or loadout grinds should look elsewhere. For everyone else, the boltgun earns its price.