---
title: "Citadel FAQ | Breaches, Ships, Squads, and Early Access"
description: "Answers about playing Citadel in a browser, entering Breaches, PvPvE combat, ship loss, squads, progression, and early access."
canonical: "https://www.thecitadel.com/faq"
content_type: "machine-readable marketing page"
language: "en"
---

# Citadel FAQ

> Before you breach.

## 01 / Access

Platform, session format, and the current state of early access.

### What is Citadel?

Citadel is a high-stakes gunship sandbox MMO built around focused extraction sessions. You fit a ship, enter a dangerous Breach, fight and recover resources, then try to extract with your ship and cargo intact.

### Where can I play?

Citadel runs in a desktop web browser with no installation. The playable early-access build is available through the Play Now link. A desktop or laptop is required; mobile browsers are not a supported play surface.

### Do I need long sessions to make progress?

No. Citadel is designed around focused sessions rather than continuous attendance. Complete a contract or spend time in the hubs, then step away. Your ships, inventory, fittings, resources, and progression will be waiting when you return.

### Is Citadel finished?

No. Citadel is in active early-access development. Systems, balance, content, access requirements, and presentation can change. The Discord is the best place for current playtest information and direct updates from the team.

## 02 / Breach protocol

Entry conditions, other captains, squads, and what is at risk.

### What is a Breach?

A Breach is a timed multiplayer zone inside the Citadel. It contains routes, encounters, resources, NPC activity, other captains, and one or more extraction opportunities. You decide how deep to push before getting out.

### Is Citadel PvP or PvE?

Both. Breaches contain hostile NPCs, faction activity, environmental threats, and other players. Another captain can become an ally, a rival, or the source of the wreckage you tow home.

### What happens when my ship is destroyed?

Your ship and unsecured cargo are at risk inside a Breach. When a ship is destroyed, its recoverable contents become physical wreckage that other players can claim. Protected safety cargo is the exception.

### Can I play solo?

Yes. You can enter as a solo captain or form a squad of up to three players. Squads coordinate their entry, share battlefield awareness, and can build around complementary ship roles.

## 03 / Ships & world

Fitting, hangar activity, interaction systems, and persistence.

### What do I do between Breaches?

The hangar is where you manage your stash, refit ships, compare loot, trade with merchants, manufacture equipment, and decide what level of risk to take next. Your ship is your build—not a disposable character loadout.

### What makes ship fitting different?

Modules occupy a spatial fitting grid with different slot types, shapes, ports, and adjacency rules. Hull, fit, heat, signature, cargo protection, and module choices combine into a ship with a distinct role and risk profile.

### Why is the harpoon important?

The harpoon is Citadel's primary world-interaction tool. It lets you recover loot, tow objects, connect to machinery, work with cargo systems, and interact with extraction infrastructure without reducing the world to menus.

### How persistent is the world today?

Ships, inventory, fittings, resources, and progression persist between runs. Citadel's larger faction-war and player-driven world are the direction the game is building toward; not every part of that broader vision is live in the current early-access build.

## Official links

- [Play Citadel now](https://alpha.thecitadel.com/?utm_source=ai_agent&utm_medium=markdown&utm_campaign=agent_discovery&utm_content=faq_play)
- [Read the lore](https://www.thecitadel.com/lore?utm_source=ai_agent&utm_medium=markdown&utm_campaign=agent_discovery&utm_content=faq_lore)
- [Citadel Discord](https://discord.gg/XKmfAkdWGG)

Citadel is in active early-access development. For current playtest information, use the official Discord.