Rust's new companion app lets you activate traps from your phone

I am glad that Rust is embracing its role as a game for wannabee Bond villains. The social survival game already let you build giant metallic fortresses from which to harangue new and naked players, but now you can take the next logical step and remotely activate traps from your telephone. That's thanks to the new app, which also lets you chat with your team and track in-game events as they happen on the map. You can even set up push notifications that alert you when your new "Smart Alarms" get tripped.

I'm not wild about Rust, but I adore the idea of sitting in an armchair with brandy, a cat, and a button that sends the peasant rabble plunging to their deaths.

The full patch notes aren't out until 7pm tonight (11am Pacific), but developers Facepunch have already run through the highlights here. The "official companion app" is called Rust+, and yep, I've already covered pretty much everything it does: chatting, tracking, and trapping.

If you want to cackle at your pitiful invaders from afar, preferably next to a roaring fireplace, you'll need to rig those traps up to the two new electrical components. "Smart Switches" can be turned on and off from inside the app, while "Smart Alarms" send you push notifications when they detect an electrical signal. This builds on all the electric wotsits that were added in an update last year.

There are also some new building blocks, "including new stairs, ramps for vehicles, steps, as well as triangle floor frames, ladder hatches and floor grills".

After the harrowing experiences of my Rust Review, I'm glad to be on the outside looking in. It's great that players can get to the point where ideas like this are exciting and meaningful, but the path there is long, brutal, and plagued by annoying children.

When the patch notes go live at 7pm, you'll find them over on the Rust blog.