Free on Steam: Challenging Auto-Shooter 'Just Move: Clean City Messy Battle' Drops to $0

Indie developer daminggede has made their top-down shooter Just Move: Clean City Messy Battle completely free on Steam, dropping the price from $15.99 to $0. Released in June 2025, this auto-shooter challenges players with increasingly difficult enemy hordes where "sometimes you need luck to win," according to the developer.

Simple Controls, Complex Challenge

The game strips combat down to its essence - you don't aim or shoot manually. Instead, your character automatically fires at enemies within range while you focus purely on movement. This four-button control scheme creates an interesting dynamic where dodging projectiles becomes your primary skill.

As the developer notes, the difficulty curve spikes dramatically in later stages. What starts as manageable combat against scattered enemies quickly escalates into overwhelming waves that test both your reflexes and patience. The projectile-based combat system adds depth, allowing you to see incoming attacks and dodge them, though getting too close to enemies renders your automatic fire useless while they can still attack you.

Crafting and Progression Systems

Between battles, players can use coins dropped by defeated enemies to upgrade their character and existing weapons. Weapon parts collected during combat can be combined to craft new ranged weapons, providing some strategic depth to the otherwise straightforward gameplay loop.

The upgrade system offers meaningful progression, letting you increase your overall strength to tackle the increasingly difficult challenges ahead.

Mixed Reception From Players

With approximately 127 Steam reviews, the game sits at a modest 29% positive rating. Players cite several issues:

• Sudden difficulty spikes that shift from "too easy" to "overly difficult"
• Oversimplified design leading to feature gaps
• Partial controller support despite the minimal control scheme

However, the game's minimalist approach and challenging gameplay have found an audience among players who enjoy tough, arcade-style shooters where success often feels like a combination of skill and fortunate timing.

Is It Worth Playing?

At its original $15.99 price point, the mixed reviews and steep difficulty curve made it a harder sell. But as a free game, Just Move: Clean City Messy Battle becomes an easy recommendation for fans of challenging top-down shooters looking for something different. The auto-combat mechanic offers a fresh take on the genre, and the crafting system adds enough depth to keep players engaged through multiple runs.

The game's current free status is subject to change, so interested players should grab it while it's available at no cost on Steam.