Lobby gamemodes: New and Returning

Anarchy/Ranked Battles

Ranked battles, called Anarchy battles in Splatoon 3, are usually more competetive than casual turf war and have certain win conditions for different modes. Ranked comes in 4 different gamemodes, including Splat Zones, Rainmaker, Tower Control, and Clam Blitz. In Splatoon 3, there is Anarchy Open and Series. Open is one match of ranked, and winning or losing will increase or decrease your ranking meter by a bit. Series is where you have a goal to make with wins: 5, but you can only lose 3 times before it ends. You have to pay rank points to begin one, but completing a series gives you a lot more points than open and possibly more than what you paid. How many points you get depends on you wins/losses and the new medal system.

Turf War

Turf war is usually the casual gamemode, where you have to ink the map you are on the most. There are 2 four person teams, and you must work together with your teammates in order to defeat the "bad guys," as said in Splatoon's results screen. Inking the enemy's inkling or octoling enough can splat them; splatting will make you or your enemy explode in the ink they were splatted in, but everyone respawns when they get splatted. Every match lasts 3 minutes, which is filled with inking your base(spawn point,) mid(the usual battleground,) and the enemy's base(spawncamping.) These matches can get competetive really quickly, but not like some ranked battles.

Splat Zones

Splat Zones is pretty simple: ink the zone in the center of the map and reach 100 on the countdown. There can be up to 2 zones depending on the map, and being in control of the zone means that it is completely covered in you ink. "We lost control" means that the enemy has inked around half of the zone and "they're in control" means that the enemy has completely inked it. Once the enemy is in control of the zone, a small timer within a black box will appear below the main countdown, saying +_. When you gain control again, the countdown will have to go through the small timer before continuing the main countdown. Each match can last up to five minutes, and if either countdown reaches 0, the match ends. You or the enemy will have won on knockout, and this gives much more experience points, 2500. To the right are badges possible to win by winning a certain amount of splat zones matches.

Clam Blitz

From getting into a match of Clam Blitz, you will notice that in your and the enemy's spawn is a basket. This is where you and your enemy score after collecting a certain amount of clams, which are scattered throughout the map and can spawn anywhere. Upon getting the powerclam, a football with you ink color, everyone can see its location and target you. If circumstances are good, you will be able to throw the powerclam at the basket, breaking the barrier. You and your teammates can now throw regular clans into the basket, extending the time the basket is open for a few more seconds. Once the basket closes, there will now be a small timer you have to go through before getting to the main timer again. To the right are the badges obtainable through winning a certain amount of clam blitz matches.

Rainmaker

In the center of the map lays the Rainmaker, a golden fish that shoots out blasts of ink. Inking the barrier will break it, which can also splat whoever is too close to the explosion. After it is picked up, you will have a limited amount of time before getting splatted to bring it to the goals, which now have 2 goals; putting the rainmaker on one of them will unlock the final goal. The goal is to get to the other goal, which lays deep in the enemy's spawn and usually very difficult to get to. The countdown will decrease as you move, but to get the countdown to continue to decrease after losing it, you must get past the area you were last. To the right is an image of the rainmaker, which replaces your main weapon once you pick it up.

Tower Control

In the center of the map is a tower. Getting on the tower may be difficult, but once you are on it, it will start moving towards the enemy's spawn slowly. There are checkpoints throughout the tower's route, and getting through them requires the tower to be on them for a couple seconds while the timer runs out. The goal is to get it to the end, which is often difficult because it is in the enemy's spawn.To the right is an image of the tower, which comes in 3 different sizes based on the map you are playing this mode on.

Wipeouts

Wipeouts can occur in any mode, and are usually either really good or really bad. This happens when every member of either team has been splatted before any of them respawned. This gives people the chance to push towards the other team's spawn, but it doesn't guarantee a win. When a wipeout occurs, a sound is heard and the words "WIPEOUT" appear at the top of the screen. If it is black, it means it was your team but if it was white, the other team was wiped out. An example of a wipeout below.

Here are the current stages for the regular modes, splatfests, and challenges

Map Name	release date	Game
Bluefin Depot	Chill Season 2023	Splatoon, Splatoon 3
Flounder Heights	Chill Season 2022	Splatoon, Splatoon 3
Hammerhead Bridge	on Splatoon 3 Release	Splatoon, Splatoon 3
Humpback Pumptrack	Sizzle Season 2023	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Inkblot Art Academy	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Mahi Mahi Resort	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon, Splatoon 3
MakoMart	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Manta Maria	Fresh Season 2023	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Museum D'Alfonsino	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon, Splatoon 3
Sturgeon Shipyard	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Wahoo World	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3
Barnacle and Dime	Sizzle Season 2023	Splatoon 3
Brinewater Springs	Chill Season 2022	Splatoon 3
Crableg Capitol	Drizzle Season 2023	Splatoon 3
Eeltail Alley	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 3
Hagglefish Market	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 3
Mincemeat Metalworks	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 3
Robo ROM-en	Chill Season 2023	Splatoon 3
Scorch Gorge	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 3
Shipshape Cargo Co.	Drizzle Season 2023	Splatoon 3
Um'ami Ruins	Fresh Season 2023	Splatoon 3
Undertow Spillway	on Splatoon 3 release	Splatoon 3