Different game modes can be selected in the Main Menu for joining public matches or creating private matches. There are currently four game modes: Free For All (FFA), Teams, Captula the Spatula (CTS), and King of the Coop (KOTC). Each of the modes all have very unique features and common goals for each player. There is no way to win Free for All, Teams, and Captula the Spatula; King of The Coop is the only gamemode where you and your teammates can win, and is also the only "number of rounds" based gamemode in Shell Shockers. Every player or team's goal is to get the highest score for their team or themselves. In these game modes, one works to try and get more eggs. Some of the layouts in the game modes got updated in Version 0.48.0. In the following update, a chat command got added for Teams, CTS, and KOTC. Before sending their message, players can type "/t" and their message will only be sent/seen by their fellow teammates.

Captula the Spatula

Captula the Spatula is based on the game "Capture The Flag". It is a team-based mode and was added in update 0.18.1. In this mode, the objective is to earn the most points by eliminating opponents. In the game mode, a golden spatula is present. It attaches to any player that runs over/into it. If the player carrying the golden spatula is killed or despawned, the spatula is dropped and free to pick up by the next person who has contact with it. (Doesn't have to be on the other team) A disadvantage of holding the golden spatula is that the location of the spatula holder is revealed to all players (through the walls too). Teammates must work together to keep the spatula in their possession. There is a counter at the top of the screen showing the number of kills that a team has reached when the team was carrying the spatula. The counter also highlights the team that is in possession of the spatula. After each single kill, the total points at the top of the screen adds up. If you drop the spatula and pick it back up the score remains the same, and you can keep going higher, but if you drop the spatula and the other team picks it up the score will reset at the top of the screen the next time you or any member of your team picks it up. The goal of this game mode is to get the highest score possible. Currently the world record in this mode is 1527 points. This record was obtained by the red team on the Mud Gulch map on a public server by Sharkbucks and other random teammates; check the video out, here NOTE: Private lobby spatula streaks are not applicable..

Teams

Teams is a mode where players are divided into one of two teams, red or blue. Each player's objective is to kill players on the other team, working together with their teammates. Red teams have red-colored tags, their section of the leaderboard is also red, while blue teams have blue-colored tags, the blue section of the leaderboard is also blue. Teammates will have a shadow around their egg that will be radiating either red or blue, corresponding to the team you're in. Opponents will have no ring around their eggs. Their names will also be the opposite color to your team color. By this way, players can understand whom they have to kill and who their allies are. In the main menu, players have the option to switch teams as they wish, at the expense of their streak, however, players may only switch teams when the team in desire has fewer game members than the player's current team, to give each team a fair advantage. In this game mode, teamwork is key as each team member has the responsibility of killing opposing team members, while also protecting their teammates in the process.

Note that if you try to switch teams in Teams, King of the Coop or Captula the Spatula, and the other team has enough players, a message will show up, saying "Let's keep it fair! The other team has enough players already. Try again later!". This can only occur in public lobbies; in private lobbies, there is no maximum/minimum amount of teammates required on each team. For example, 17 people could be on red team while one person could be on blue. This is useful for hosting events such as Hide and Seek, etc.

Generally, this game mode seems to be easier as players have teammates that can assist them and not everyone in the game is an opponent.

Free For All

Free For All is characterized by everyone battling one another, with no team support. All the name tags and leaderboards are gray. This game mode brings about a lot of competition; thus the maps are often large ones. Occasionally, people attempt to “team” to gain advantage over everyone else. It is an unfair tactic, and is, therefore, usually frowned upon. No further rules apply, and it is the most basic of all the game modes. This game mode is good for players who need experience: moving erratically, aiming quickly, understanding which zones are the best for the respective weapons. In Free For All, chaotic and messy situations are the norms!. The most skilled players get the highest streaks. Reminder: No one is on your team! Every egg is out for themselves!

King of the Coop

King of the Coop is the most recent game mode added to Shell Shockers, in Version 0.42.0. This gamemode involves a space in the game's map acting as "the coop." The coop is basically a capture point. Players on the two separate teams (blue and red) have to capture the coop. The coop can be located by a black perimeter with a crown hovering above it and a number that tells the player the distance from the capturing point. A display is also available at the top of the screen. This display shows the capturing teams' current progress of capturing the coop, a bar showing the status of the coop, whether it is in the enemy's control or in your team's possession (can be seen based on the Red or Blue colors of the progress bar). This bar also shows how many people are assisting in the takeover of the coop. The more people that are on the coop, the faster the progress bar moves! If an opposing team has cleared out the defenders from the coop and moved in, a takeover status will appear on the bar. Takeovers cannot be sped up, regardless of the number of allies on coop. If the coop is stolen, the opposing players have to defend the coop until the bar fills up, indicating a takeover is complete. Once the bar is filled, the coop belongs to the other team. If no one is at the coop and it is under takeover status, the bar would revert to the team who currently controls it and show the takeover progress until that time, until a team member returns to continue the process or an opposing team comes in and takes control of the coop. If an opposing team member approaches a coop in possession and battles a defender, the bar would show that the space is being contested. Once a takeover is complete or the bar is filled, the coop would move to a random place on the map, and whichever team got the coop gets 1 point. The round ends when a team reaches five captures; the team that gets five wins will be the winner! The bar goes up slightly faster for each additional player in the coop, but stops going faster after 5 players are on the coop. As a bonus for the winning team, every member receives 250 Golden Eggs if they stay on the same team throughout the entire round. This prevents players from switching to the winning team at the last moment to gain eggs. If you were to leave the lobby and then rejoin on the opposing team to your previous visit, you will still gain eggs if your team wins. Players who just joined the lobby and have no kills will get no eggs. However, if they get at least 1 kill and contribute to their team and the team wins 5 points, they get the 250 Golden Eggs. This also applied if a player joins the other team. If they join the other team and get at least 1 kill, and if their team wins, they get 250 Golden Eggs. Many people use this game mode to grind eggs for new updates or skins they want to buy. (Minimum amount of players needed: 2)

1. The defenders are very vulnerable to grenades as just one good throw forces you to leave the coop, take damage (which makes it easier for the enemy to kill you), or die in the process. The same goes for RPEGG. Often, a skilled Whipper or Egg-K47 player can also clear the coop and take it over.
2. It is suggested that a long-range (RPEGG is used, but Free Ranger, Crackshot, and Tri-hard are still adequate.) The player stands at a high spot near or above the coop to snipe invaders.
3. It is also recommended that the close-range players go to the coop while the long-range players cover them from the enemy players.
4. In order to effectively communicate with your team about plans and such, make sure to use the /t command in chat making that message only visible to your team.
5. When low on hp while standing on the coop, and death is unavoidable, make sure to drop as many grenades as you can to kill enemy players and slow their progress.
6. The overall ideal weapon diversity in King of the Coop is Medium-Range Weapons such as the Whipper, Short Range Weapons such as the Scrambler, and Long-Range weapons, such as the RPEGG, Crackshot, and Free Ranger. The Medium-Range and Short-Range players would stay at the coop and battle against attackers, while the Long-range players would be above or someplay where they can shoot and target attackers near the coop, and assist the Players at the coop.
7. When capturing the coop, it's highly recommended to jump and move around randomly. As soon as you hear a grenade being thrown, move away from the coop as most likely it is from the enemy.

Weapon Tactics

If you and your team continuously put pressure on the enemy team, in any team game mode without being killed much, great; you can use any weapon.

If you and your teammates are being constantly killed/are having trouble killing the enemy team, avoid using weapons with low fire rate (Cluck 9mm, RPEGG, Tri-hard and Crackshot) because when you are losing, there is a more likely chance of enemies near your spawn area; and you will likely have a lot of close range combat. This being said, Crackshot is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, so therefore, if you can create distance from the enemy, you can most likely kill them in one shot.

In team game modes, each weapon has its role. Close-range players, with weapons such as the Scrambler or Whipper, are responsible for close-range combat and capturing the coop itself in King of the Coop which means that they need to be as close as possible to kill the enemy. Meanwhile, long-range players with weapons such as the Crackshot, Free Ranger, or RPEGG are responsible for eliminating enemy players from a distance, especially those capturing the coop in King of the Coop. Tip: The RPEGG is a great weapon for King of the Coop due to it's explosivene nature which mentioned above can drive players away and causing them to take damage, as well as have the potential to kill many players at once. It is difficult to deal with a close range player it will be more difficult for you to dodge the bullets. A team possessing players with a variety of weapons is key to success, as lacking either close-range or long-range players is detrimental to strategy and the overall capability of a team.

Updated layouts/icons

Re-colored leaderboard

Re-colored/re-shaped spatula leaderboard

Re-shaped spatula icon

Team grabbing spatula (red)

Team grabbing spatula (blue)

Team dropping spatula

Re-colored KOTC (red)

Re-colored KOTC (blue)