Game Modes

 are different types of modes that can be played in VALORANT. Most modes can be categorized as either Plant/Defuse-style or Deathmatch-style. Players can access five modes at a time, with four permanent (Unrated, Competitive, Spike Rush, and Deathmatch) and one other that is part of a rotating game mode queue that changes every patch (Escalation, Replication, and Snowball Fight).

Plant/Defuse
Plant/Defuse is a type of game mode where you play as an Attacker or a Defender. The Attacker's objective is to plant the spike or kill all living Defenders, while the Defender's objective is to prevent the Attacker to plant the spike (either by killing all living Attackers or preventing the Attackers from planting within the round time limit), or defuse the spike if it has already been planted (killing all living Attackers is not enough to win the round in this case). These modes are played in rounds where participants only have one life per round. Upon being killed, players must either wait for the next round to begin or be revived by Sage's Resurrection to enter the battlefield again.

Most Plant/Defuse modes give access to a shop, where players can spend credits to obtain weapons, shields, and abilities.

Competitive
Competitive is a higher stakes version of Unrated where you play competitively against other players to earn and compete for a rank.

Should a game reach a 12-12 scoreline, the games instead goes into Overtime where the first team to get a 2-round lead on their opponent wins the game. Players can vote every two rounds on whether to continue Overtime, which can result in the game ending in a draw should enough players vote for this option.

This mode lasts for 30-40 minutes.

Replication
Replication is 5v5 Bo9 mode where all players on a team play as the same agent. Players vote for an agent they want to play and the game then randomly selects one of the choices.

Replication has an estimated game time of 10-15 minutes and grants the same amount of XP as Unrated (100 XP per round plus 200 XP for every won round).

Spike Rush
Spike Rush is a Bo7 5v5 mode where all players start each round with the same random weapon. Random orbs spawn around the map that players can collect to grant buff for themselves and/or their teammates or afflict enemies with debuffs.

This mode lasts for 8-12 minutes.

Unrated
Unrated is VALORANT's standard Plant/Defuse mode. Teams play 12 rounds on Attack or Defense, then swap to the other side for the next 12 rounds. The first to 13 rounds wins (Bo25), with a final Sudden Death round played should the game reach a 12-12 scoreline.

This mode lasts for 30-40 minutes.

Deathmatch
Deathmatch is a type of game mode where the objective is tied in some way to killing enemies. These modes can either be free-for-all or team based. Players have an infinite amount of lives and upon being killed will respawn at a random location after a short delay.

Deathmatch
Deathmatch is a 12-player free-for-all game mode designed to allow players to hone their gunplay mechanics or warm up before playing Competitive. Players equip weapons of their choice and kill anyone in their way until either a player reaches 40 kills or 9 minutes have passed, at which point the game will end.

Deathmatch grants 900 XP for completing the game, but cannot be used to complete missions.

Escalation
Escalation is a 5v5 team deathmatch mode where players kill and race the enemy team through a cycle of different weapons and abilities, advancing together as a team through Escalation levels. The first team to finish level 12, or the furthest along in 10 minutes, wins the game. Each level has a specific weapon or ability that the player is equipped with. Killing enemies grants points for the team that help to advance levels.

Escalation games run for about 7–9 minutes, and grant 800 XP for completing the game, plus 200 XP for the winning team.

Snowball Fight
Snowball Fight is a 5v5 team deathmatch mode where the first team to 50 kills wins. All players only have access to a Snowball Launcher that fires lethal projectile-based snowballs. Gifts also appear on the map that contain temporary power ups for the player. These can increase the launcher's rate of fire, increase snowball size, let snowballs ricochet, or increase the player's movement speed and max jump height.

Snowball Fight granted 750 XP for each game completed, and 150 bonus XP for the winning team, but cannot be used to progress missions.

Practice Game Modes
Practice Game Modes are a series of modes that you can play in the Range. These series of modes will let you have a taste of how VALORANT games will work.

Shooting Test

 * Test your gun skills with a variety of shooting challenges.

Spike Planting

 * Take control of the site, plant the Spike, and defend until detonation.

Spike Defuse

 * Methodically defeat enemies and defuse the Spike before time runs out!

Rotating Game Mode Queue
During 2.09, one of the available queues became a rotation of some of VALORANT's more casual modes. The available mode changes about every two weeks with VALORANT's patch cadence. Riot has opted to having a rotating queue instead of having all existing game modes live at once to prevent the dilution of the playerbase across several queues and the increase of queue times it would cause.

Replication, Escalation, and Snowball Fight were the first three modes to be revealed as part of the rotating queue, though it is possible that more new modes could be added.