No Rest for the Wicked is the latest mythical entry from Moon Studios and a departure from the more whimsical magic of Ori and the Blind Forest, especially in terms of gameplay. This unique soul-like game emphasizes “don’t rest” with challenging combat that requires expert use and understanding of the game’s controls. If you need clarification on the correct buttons to press, here’s our handy guide to all keyboard and controller controls in No Rest for the Wicked.
Tips for handling No Rest for the Wicked controls
Those who have been trying to get acquainted with No Rest for the Wicked’s controls have probably noticed that the mapping for them isn’t great at the moment. Of course, it all comes down to personal preference, but during the game’s early early access days, there are unfortunately little customization option.
The game controls guide can be accessed at any time by going to Settings and scrolling down to ‘Controls’ at the bottom.
If you prefer keyboard-based controls, at the moment there are two different sets of default control schemes: Regular and Alternative. At the time of writing this article, there are there is no option to reset any key combinations in any of these schemes. A future update may (hopefully) bring that option, but for now, you’ll have to adapt to one or the other.
Those who like the controller experience are decidedly in better luck, as the game seems to focus mainly on controller support. When you launch the game on Steam, a huge message strongly recommends using any type of controller, from Xbox to DualSense.
However, if you dive into the game with a DualSense controller, you’ll notice that The control glyphs are still connected to the Xbox controllers.. That can make things a bit gruesome, especially when you’re first starting out in an unforgiving, soul-like environment.
If you don’t have an Xbox controller to switch to, we’ve provided a controller guide below that will help you determine which button is which.
All controller controls in No Rest for the Wicked
| Action | Buttons (Xbox/PlayStation) |
| Map | ‘View’ button / ‘Create’ button |
| Menus | Maintain: Inventory | ‘Menu’ button / ‘Options’ button |
| Stall | LT/L1 |
| Main rune switch | RB/R2 |
| Makeshift Rune Switch | LB/L2 |
| Gesture menu | RT/R1 |
| shoulder barge | LB + RB / L1 + R1 |
| Tap: Eat food | Maintain: Food Gatherer | ‘Up’ on D-Pad / ‘Up on D-Pad |
| Tap: Consume item fast | Maintain: Quick Item Picker | ‘Down’ on D-Pad / ‘Down’ on D-Pad |
| Tap: Toggle parent item | ‘Right’ on D-Pad / ‘Right’ on D-Pad |
| Move | Touch: sneaky | L-rod / L-rod |
| Change items/food | Rod R / Rod R |
| Dodge | Maintain: Run | A/X |
| Cancel | B/O |
| Interact | Y Button / Triangle |
| Attack | Hold: charge attack | X / Square Button |
All keyboard controls in No Rest for the Wicked
Regular checks
| Action | Buttons) |
| Runes | 1/2/3/4 |
| Interact | my |
| Consume item fast | Maintain: Item Selector | q |
| Menus | ESC |
| Motion | W/A/S/D |
| Quick menu | Wait: Menus | EYELASH |
| Maintain: Sprint | CHANGE |
| Makeshift Rune Switch | CONTROL |
| Toggle parent element | z |
| Toggle improvised item | x |
| Press and hold: walk to cursor | HIGH |
| Dodge | SPACE |
| Stealth/Deployable | c |
| shoulder barge | V |
| Consume food | Maintain: Food Gatherer | F |
| Map | METER |
| Diary | j |
| Inventory | Yo |
| Gesture menu | GRAM |
| Target Lock | Press and hold: Exit manual aim lock | t |
| Toggle primary/secondary runes | R |
| Attack | Hold: charge attack | left click |
| Stop | Change active rune | Mouse 3 |
| Primary/Secondary Hand Rune | Hold: Charged Rune | Right click on |
Alternative controls
| Action | Buttons) |
| Runes | Hold: Charged Rune | 1/2/3/4 |
| Interact | my |
| shoulder barge | q |
| Menus | ESC |
| Consume food | Maintain: Food Gatherer | W. |
| Quick menu | Wait: Menus | EYELASH |
| Toggle parent element | TO |
| Maintain: Sprint | CHANGE |
| Maintain: improvised use | Hold: Makeshift Rune Switch | CONTROL |
| Consume item fast | Maintain: Item Selector | Yes |
| Toggle improvised item | d |
| Dodge | SPACE |
| Stealth/Deployable | c |
| Map | METER |
| Diary | j |
| Inventory | Yo |
| Gesture menu | GRAM |
| Target Lock | Press and hold: Exit manual aim lock | t |
| Toggle primary/secondary runes | R |
| Attack | Hold: charge attack | left click |
| Stop/change active rune | Mouse 3 |
| Press and hold: walk to cursor | Right click on |
This concludes our guide to all the keyboard and controller controls in No Rest for the Wicked. We hope you found it useful and please let us know how you are enjoying the game so far. Do you think the controls are balanced or do they need improvement?
Be sure to check out all of our other guides and news on No Rest for the Wicked as Early Access continues.