Core Runners

ActionGoogle Play

5.9~~/10~~

Our score

100K+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-09-21

Screenshots

Hero Shooter — three agents in a sunlit desert town firing at a pink-haired enemy

Plant or Defuse — an overhead map of the town with bomb sites A and B marked

TPP & FPP — a third-person view beside a first-person view down a gold rifle

10-Minute Fast Matches — a firefight by a blue doorway with a defender's shield ability

5v5 Tactical Play — the squad lobby with five heroes lined up before a match

No-Pay-to-Win — a row of gold and black weapon skins on a purple background

About Core Runners

Core Runners is a 5v5 hero shooter for phones from India's Studio ARM — plant-or-defuse rounds, heroes with signature abilities, a switch between third and first person, ten-minute matches and a download under 300 MB. It is a closed beta: Google Play lists it in Early Access with 100,000-plus installs and hidden reviews, and TapTap players rate it 8.1 from 55 ratings. This is a beta score, from the listing, TapTap and gameplay videos; it will be revised at release.

Game information

DeveloperStudio Arm Private Limited

Version1.0.159

Size417 MB

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesYes

Content ratingTeen

Requires (Android)Android 6.0+

Offline modeNo — 5v5 online shooter (closed beta)

Installs100K+

Data checked2026-09-21

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-09-21. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Core Runners Review (Beta): A Valorant-Shaped 5v5 Shooter for Phones

What Studio ARM Has Announced

The Google Play listing is the announcement: a fast-paced 5v5 tactical hero shooter built for mobile, quick 10-minute rounds, a download under 300 MB, attackers planting the bomb and defenders racing to defuse it, heroes with distinct styles and signature abilities, and a free switch between TPP and FPP perspectives. Its screenshots carry the studio's own claims — Hero Shooter, Plant or Defuse, TPP & FPP, 10-Minute Fast Matches, 5v5 Tactical Play, and No-Pay-to-Win, victory is earned, not bought. TapTap's page calls it the first closed beta and invites players to download and join; Play shows the app in its Early Access programme, which hides ratings and reviews and omits version and Android requirements, updated September 4, 2026. Contact addresses are given in English and Indonesian. Studio ARM Private Limited is the developer of record; no launch date, no App Store page and no roadmap beyond the beta have been published.

Heroes, Bombs and a Perspective Switch — and the Comparisons Players Make

The screenshots show the shape of it: a sunlit desert town with two bomb sites marked A and B on an overhead map, a hero roster with a pink-haired agent, an armoured brawler and a hooded sniper, a gold-plated rifle in first person, and a lobby with squad slots. Testers describe it by reference. On TapTap a review from mid-September 2026 says it reminds them of Hyper Front — the mobile Valorant look-alike that Riot had removed — and hopes the developers make it unique; others on the same page argue about SIGMAX, Studio ARM's previous shooter, with a group wanting the original SIGMAX experience back and calling this one inferior. YouTube walkthroughs from the closed beta — Gaming Mobile's 5v5 Shooter Like Valorant, at 20,000 views, Techzamazing's at 9,600 — show 10-minute matches in the TPP-to-FPP switch. What no one has yet is the release build's balance, hero count or map list.

Free, No Ads, Purchases Listed, and Personal Data on the Card

The beta is free with no advertising badge; Google Play lists in-app purchases from $1.49 to $23.99 per item without an in-app purchase badge, which fits a shop that exists in the build but is not yet the business model — the studio's own screenshot promises no pay to win. The data-safety card is fuller than the listing: personal info, app activity and three other data types are collected. TapTap lists Android and iOS, but only the Android beta can be found; there is no App Store page. Because the game is a closed beta, the score below is a beta score — built from the listing, TapTap's 55 ratings and creator videos rather than from store reviews, which Early Access hides — and it will be revised when Studio ARM ships the release version.

Pros

5v5 plant-or-defuse rounds in ten minutes and under 300 MB
Free switch between third-person and first-person views
No ads, and a no-pay-to-win promise in the studio's own screenshots
8.1 from 55 TapTap ratings during the closed beta
Squad lobby for five and Indonesian-language support

Cons

Closed beta: Google Play hides reviews, version and requirements
Compared by testers to Hyper Front, the Valorant clone Riot had removed
Fans of the studio's SIGMAX call it a step down
Personal info and app activity collected; no iOS build yet

Download From Google PlayNot on the App Store

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Verdict

A beta 5.9: a Valorant-shaped 5v5 shooter that fits in 300 MB and ten minutes, rated 8.1 by its TapTap testers and argued over by fans of the studio's last game. Take it if you want a tactical hero shooter on a phone now and accept a closed beta's wipes and hidden reviews. Skip it until release if you want a settled map pool and a rank that stays.

Gameplay6A recognisable tactical-shooter loop with hero abilities; balance and map count unknown until release.

Controls5TPP/FPP switch and a standard virtual-stick layout in the screenshots; no tester has praised or damned the aim yet.

Replay value5Ranked ladders and heroes to master would carry it; the beta shows one map cycle.

Graphics & sound6Bright stylised desert town and agent designs, close to its inspirations.

Monetisation7No ads, purchases listed to $23.99, a no-P2W pledge — and a data card that collects personal info.

5.9out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

Frequently asked questions

Can you play Core Runners offline?

No, and it will not be: a 5v5 online hero shooter with plant-or-defuse rounds and a squad lobby exists only on servers, and the beta already requires a connection. There is no bot practice mode described. This page will state the release build's answer when it exists.

Is Core Runners free?

The closed beta is free with no ads. Google Play lists in-app purchases from $1.49 to $23.99, and the studio's screenshot promises victory is earned, not bought — so expect cosmetics and a battle pass rather than power. Launch pricing has not been announced.

What phone do you need for Core Runners?

Google Play hides the Android requirement while the game is in Early Access; the studio's own claim is a download under 300 MB. There is no App Store build yet — TapTap lists iOS, but no iPhone version can be found.

Can you play Core Runners with friends?

Yes — squadding up with friends for 5v5 is the pitch, and the lobby screenshot shows five squad slots. Whether the beta has ranked play, custom rooms or cross-platform matches has not been stated; TapTap lists iOS, but no iPhone build is available yet.

How long is Core Runners?

Matches are about ten minutes by design, and the game is open-ended — plant-or-defuse rounds with heroes to learn rather than a campaign. How much a beta account carries into the release, and whether ranks reset, Studio ARM has not said.