Gang Beasts is one of the lightest and most fun brawling games out there. There are no character tiers or complex combos, most people who play it will never go any deeper with their offense than spamming attacks and occasionally getting some good lifts. What's great about Gang Beasts is that style of playing is loads of fun and gives players a fair chance against each other regardless of how their skills match up.
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For those who wish to dive deeper, Gang Beast's combat offers a lot of complex moves and tricks to give an advantage. Unlike most special moves in fighting games, these started life as mere accidents in development like the consequences of the basic movement controls, but as the game evolved, the developers leaned into them to create some interesting opportunities.
10 Throwing Players
Gang Beasts is far from a traditional fighting game, so throwing players over/off of something is essential to getting a win in stages like Ring or Grind.
To pull this off, the person players wish to throw should be unconscious. This trick can be done on someone while they're awake, but it's more difficult as they can punch back. From there, simply hold both punch buttons to grab them, use the lift/taunt button to lift them then dump them over whatever barrier/ledge as desired. Having some momentum can be helpful when releasing.
9 Dropkick
When going on the offense, it's always good to have a plan. Charing in really to spam punches is all well and good, but there are plenty of offensive maneuvers to be pulled to catch an opponent off guard.
The easiest and most versatile is the dropkick. To do this, players simply have to jump and then kick while in the air and their opponent will get a foot to the face. This move has several variants, as it can be pulled off while running and can be held if players hold down the kick button.
8 Flipkick
This is technically a dropkick variant, but it's cool enough that it can stand alone. To put it simply why dropkick an opponent only once when it can be done several times in a row? This is the problem the Flipkick resolves.
It can be a little unreliable and players need to get the rhythm of their button pressed right, but it's worth it. Hold the kick button while repeatedly jumping and the character should do several backflips, kicking their opponent in the face as they rotate.
7 Powerslide
Sliding is a fun mode of transportation — much more fun than walking. That's why Gang Beasts has not just one, but two different slides. These are most effective on slippery surfaces like the sheets of ice in Buoy, but they can be used elsewhere too.
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To do it, build up some momentum and then hold the kick or headbutt button. Holding kick will make the character slide on their back, holding headbutt will make them slide on their front. While it looks cool is enough, it can also be used offensively as a slide tackle in the right context.
6 Tope Suicida
The community refers to this move as a "Body Slam", but that's not what a real Body Slam. To perform a Tope Suicida players jump onto their opponent from somewhere high. However, making it do damage is a little more complex.
To do some real damage with this dive, players must use the headbutt as they dive. This will cause the player to land on their opponent with an incredible impact, potentially knocking them out straight away. This is a dangerous move though and has the potential to knock out the user, not to mention the risk of missing.
5 Dirt Feeder
The Dirt Feeder isn't exactly the most hard-hitting of moves, but if players want to rub their opponent's face in the dirt, this will do in a pinch.
Pulling this off can be a bit tricky, as players have to grab their opponent by the legs. If their opponent's costume has a tail to grab, this helps. Once grabbed, lift them up so they're hanging upside down and simply let go of the lift button. This will slam their face into the ground and potentially KO them.
4 Climb Leap
This a movement technique that makes what is normally a rather arduous process quite easy. Climbing can be a bit of a bother sometimes. It's certainly possible, but newer players can often have trouble coordinating where they need to lift their limbs and let go of the surface to climb up it.
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The Climb Leap makes this process far easier and infinitely quicker. Grab onto a wall with both hands and repeatedly jump up the wall by double-tapping the jump button. It's a precise trick to pull off, but it could save a life (and it looks rather funny).
3 Flying Headbutt
There are many ways to pull off headbutts in Gang Beasts and many are quite risky. It is by far the game's strongest default attack but does come with the risk of a self-KO if done poorly. The Flying Headbutt is a move that almost guarantees a self-KO, but it's really fun and extremely satisfying to nail.
The way to do it is very simple — run, leap, headbutt. Holding down the headbutt button is usually best as the character will flop forward as they do so. Colliding with basically anything other than the opponent will be sure to cause a self-KO, but it's worth it for the few times it hits.
2 Resting KO
Like a tiger waiting to pounce, the best attacks are the ones the opponent never sees coming. This is a multi-stage attack with an incredible payoff if it works. It can be a little unreliable as it depends on how the character moves, but it's devastating when it works.
First, players must "play dead." This can be done by holding down the duck, kick & jump buttons at once. It will appear as the character is KO'ed, except for some slight twitching and causes the character to coil up like a spring. While holding all three buttons, when someone comes close, punch. The result of this will be anything from an OHKO punch to a glitchy flail that sends both characters flying off of the map. Either way, it's brilliant.
1 OHKO Headbutt
The quickest way to win a fight, but very tricky to pull off as it requires precise grab work. This is the kind of grabbing that will be very difficult to pull off in the heat of battle, but players who focus might be able to unleash this powerful weapon.
To nail this headbutt, players must grab each of their opponent's shoulders. This is far trickier than it sounds as the characters in Gang Beasts have small shoulders and getting the arms into the right place is no easy task. However, once that is done, it's just a matter of a headbutt and down they go. This is a sure-fire way to put down even the most irritating of opponents.