This game works best when everyone knows how to play. There's a LOT of deep knowledge in this game that's not obvious until several playthroughs, and in the interest of reducing frustration and getting to the WOO FUN part faster for those of us who hate having to learn things the hard way, this is meant to be a guide to all the nitty gritty details.

Don't have time for all that? Punch a rock, get an ore. Punch a tree, get a wood. Make a pickaxe, search for ore deposits, and mine all the ore you can find and bring it back to base. Eventually people will start asking you to do things. Find people you trust, communicate, and STAY TOGETHER. Good hunting.

This content is relevant to survivors by default. Content relevant to traitors is listed in bold.

The survivor's objective is to ESCAPE. Not to kill the traitors, not to achieve the bonus objective, not to find all the caches or get all the wood. ESCAPE.

The traitor's objective is to make sure ALL THE SURVIVORS DIE. You don't have to kill them personally, but they must not escape.

STEP ONE: REPAIR THE POWER STATION

The power station is marked on the map outside the cabin, and not too far away. To repair it, you'll need one or more of the following, determined randomly:

- fuel (you can make this with 2 berries)
- electronic scrap (you can make this with 1 wood and 1 ore)
- mechanical scrap (you can make this with 1 wood and 1 ore)

If you craft it, it's generally less risky BUT you will not learn anything about who you can trust. Getting materials from bunkers is the fastest way to find out who's untrustworthy. You will need 2 to 3 survivors to unlock bunkers, because there are consoles that need to be activated simultaneously.

The traitor can sabotage bunker consoles, causing them to lock for 1 minute 30 seconds. There is no indication of who sabotaged, but it only sabotages once all three people use it.

You can deposit the needed items in the power station, but it's safer to carry the items with you until your team collectively has enough to repair it, because the traitor can remove items placed within the power station and hide them around the map.

The traitor can sabotage the power station with 6 traitor credits (discussed later). It takes 3 items of the same type as the original repair required to repair a sabotaged power station, or 1 of each relevant type if it needed more than one.


STEP TWO: REPAIR HELIPAD / DISTRESS BEACON

This will be far from the cabin, and it will be in one of three potential spots marked on the map. Power lines run to the second objective, so if you find power lines you can follow them to the objective. Wolves frequently prowl the immediate area, making it a dangerous place to explore alone. The objective will need one or more fuel, electronic scrap, or mechanical scrap, just like the power station. There is ALSO a chance for the objective to be a special surprise! The surprise objective will not require scrap, but will have a big circle on the console.

The second objective has an ability you can activate to send a signal beacon out so that everyone in the game can locate it. Traitors can also see the signal beacon. The beacon will appear as a blue wrench-and-gear icon on the edge of your screen. Items can be deposited in the second objective just like the first, but it's even riskier if you haven't yet killed the traitors.

IMPORTANT: The type of item for the second objective, as the first, is completely random. This means that it's entirely possible to require 15 electronic scrap for the first objective, then 12 more electronic scrap for the second. Do not assume you will not need whatever the first objective required.

The traitor can sabotage the second objective. If the escape vehicle is already approaching, sabotaging the second or first objective does nothing. No items are required to repair a sabotaged second objective.

STEP THREE: CALL FOR RESCUE

There is a radio on the east side of the cabin which you can activate once both objectives are repaired. Once it is activated, a yellow escape vehicle beacon will show up on the edge of everyone's screen showing where the vehicle will show up. After a minute or so, the vehicle will arrive, and survivors will be able to board the vehicle. Once at least one survivor is aboard the vehicle, you can initiate take-off, which will start an irreversible 20 second countdown, after which the vehicle will leave. If the vehicle leaves one or more survivors behind, you can call for a backup rescue from the cabin. There is no third backup rescue, so be sure to wait until everyone is on board to initiate take-off.

Traitors cannot board escape vehicles. Survivors cannot lose health, warmth, or hunger while inside the escape vehicle.

Depending on the number of players, there will be one or more traitors:

5 players: 4 survivors, 1 traitor
6 players: 4 survivors, 2 traitors
7 players: 5 survivors, 2 traitors
8 players: 6 survivors, 2 traitors

Traitors start with a radio, even if you are a solo traitor. The radio color is determined randomly. You can communicate via radio over any distance; normally voicechat is proximity-based, so you can only talk with people near you.


At the top left of your screen, you have three bars: Health, warmth, and hunger.

If your warmth gets low enough to turn red, your max health will decline. If your hunger goes into the red, your max health will also decline, but a little more slowly. If both are red, you will lose max health quickly, but you will not die until something hits you OR the mega-blizzard begins (see below).

If you lose all your health, you will go down, and a timer will appear over your head. If you are not revived after a brief period of time, you will die. You can still talk and use the radio while down. If you are revived, your warmth and hunger will be in the red. If they were in the red before you went down, your max health will continue to decline while you are down but not out.

When you die (or escape early), you will become a ghost, and only other ghosts can hear you. Your corpse will be lootable, including any radio on your person. Furthermore, anyone will be able to swap clothes with you. This changes your outfit and the name appearing above your head, but your original name will still show up in voicechat and your body type will not change.

After about thirty seconds or so, a mega-blizzard warning will occur, and a 30 minute timer will begin. Several things happen at specific points in time:

-at 10:00 minutes remaining, if there are two or fewer survivors remaining, a survivor airdrop will appear, containing 6 of each type of objective item, medkits, weapons, and other assorted items. A beacon will appear for survivors but not for traitors.

At 5:00 minutes remaining, a mega-blizzard warning will sound. This has no game effect other than to remind the players of the time.

At 0:00 minutes remaining, the mega-blizzard will begin. Players will lose warmth as though they are in a blizzard, even if they are in the cabin (the fire goes out), and it cannot be restored except by drinking vodka. Players will also steadily lose hunger. Finally, warmth and hunger will begin killing people whose max health drops low enough.

At -2:00 minutes remaining, the last escape vehicle will depart of its own accord, leaving any remaining survivors behind. There is no hope for these last doomed few.

Most of the items in the game can be crafted from the base resources:

Red berries occur naturally on bushes, and renew themselves every 2.5 minutes. They are OK to eat, but cooked berries will restore more health and satisfy more hunger. There are always three red berry bushes in a group a little west of the cabin and a second cluster of three bushes a little north of that.

White herbs occur naturally in clumps of 3-6, but once picked are gone. They will restore your health, while 4 can be used to make a medkit.

Wood can be obtained by hitting trees or signposts, and is used for scraps and campfire kits.

Ore can be obtained by hitting ore deposits, and is used for scraps, bear traps, and landmines. There is always an ore deposit just southwest of the cabin.

Electronic and mechanical scraps can be crafted for 1 wood and 1 rock apiece. Fuel can be crafted for 2 berries apiece.


You need to be in the cabin to craft, using the crafting bench. If you are exiled, you cannot craft anything until you are back inside the cabin.

If you have no free inventory slots after crafting an item, it will fall at your feet.

Some items, such as tranquilizer guns, crossbows, energy drinks, and poison, cannot be crafted. You can find them in bunkers or in traitor crates.

Every item has a chance to appear, however small, in a bunker crate.

All the melee weapons (axe, sickle, pickaxe) do the same damage to animals and other players. Axes do more damage to trees and signposts, sickles do more damage to berries & herbs, and pickaxes do more damage to ore deposits. A melee swing can be charged up by holding down attack button or mouse button; a melee swing charged to 90% or more will interrupt the target's action, canceling whatever it was they were trying to do. If they were trying to consume an item, the animation is canceled but the item remains in the inventory.

Melee weapons can be thrown like any other item, but do more damage the longer you aim.

The bolt-action rifle is slow to aim, but extremely accurate and deadly. Best for killing other players.

The shotgun is a little faster to aim, but not that accurate even at the best of times. Best for killing animals.

The semi-auto rifle can fire five quick, accurate shots between reloading, and gets 15 bullets, so that's 3 'volleys' of five. Five snap shots at close range will kill a survivor who has no health bonuses.

The crossbow is silent and can be poisoned so that when shot, people suffer poison effects. It comes with 9 bolts, is quick to aim, and accurate, but not very damaging. You can find pre-poisoned crossbows in traitor airdrops, in the armory, and sometimes even in traitor crates. The crossbow cannot be crafted, but you can 'craft' a poisoned crossbow if you have a crossbow and a vial of poison.

The tranquilizer gun does 200 damage, slows, and mutes for a time. While muted, players cannot use proximity chat, radio, or text chat. Still unsure just how long the mute lasts for. The tranquilizer gun cannot be crafted.

Weapons do not stack; you cannot hold 3 pickaxes in one item slot.

Bear traps make a quiet noise when placed. They will do 150 damage and trap a human or an animal for six whole seconds or so, which is enough time for at least two full swings. An activated bear trap is recoverable and can be set anew.

Landmines make a loud BEEP when placed and activate immediately upon beeping. They have a SENSITIVE trigger- move directly away from the landmine a bit after placing it if you plan to place multiple mines or traps. Two landmines will down a full health survivor.

A few things are true of both traps and landmines:

-Traps or mines cannot be placed within a short radius of the cabin door or too closely to other traps or mines.
-Traps and mines are invisible to everyone else once activated... except your traitor buddy, if you've got one.
-Throwing a mine or trap will do 50 damage but will not activate the trap or mine.

Vials of poison can be used with LOTS of stuff:

-A poisoned console, crate, objective, or traitor hatch will poison someone when they activate it fully. Partial activation will not trigger the poison.
-Once so poisoned, it will be obvious to your traitor buddy if you have one. It will be invisible to everyone else.
-If a crate is closed, poisoning it will not open the crate.

-Escape pods and escape vehicles CANNOT be poisoned.
-A crossbow can be poisoned, which will allow you to silently poison someone at range. Poisoning a crossbow will also replenish its bolts to 9.

-Poisoned food will set someone to ZERO hunger instead of its normal effects, slow movement, cause damage over time, AND induce occasional vomiting. This is more damaging to traitors than to survivors, since they will usually have more hunger to recover to avoid losing max health AND they will often be exiled and thus unable to cook more nutritious food.

You can cure the effects of poison by using a medkit, but your hunger will still be zero. If you are wounded, the medkit will also recover health as normal.

The medic's heal ability will restore health to full, but cannot cure poison.

Wolves prowl in packs of two to three. Black wolves are less aggressive than white wolves. If there is a wall that requires a number of survivors to cooperate to detonate it, there will always be a pack of wolves behind that wall to ambush unwary survivors who rush into the billowing smoke of the detonation. Wolves also prowl the area immediately surrounding the second objective, often in multiple packs. It generally takes three fully-charged melee attacks to down a wolf. Once wolves are killed, they can be looted for two raw meat and a pelt.

Bears are generally stationary, 'guarding' a bunker or other location. They will roar before attacking, and if you run when they roar, they may give chase but they usually will turn back before attacking. Bears are chaotic and unpredictable, and pick targets capriciously. They are easy to kill with a team who has weapons. It takes approximately six fully-charged melee attacks to down a bear. Dead bears can be looted for 4 raw meat and 2 pelts.

Moose travel in herds of two to three along well-marked trails in the snow. They do not have much HP, and do not attack unless provoked. If one moose in a herd is provoked, the others will ignore the attack unless they are also wounded in the attack. Moose generally can only survive two fully-charged melee attacks. Dead moose can be looted for 1 raw meat and 1 pelt.

Polar bears are very rare and very aggressive.

In general, it is safest to attack animals by thinking like a matador- run to the side when they charge you, then attack as they run past you. Sometimes you can 'run alongside' them, relying on the wide arc of your melee weapon to damage them as you keep pace.

There is an approx. 30% chance for each player that they will be granted a special role. Most roles have a charged ability that can be charged up by being productive- harvesting resources, making scraps, etc. You can also charge it a LOT by opening crates or repairing the power station. The roles are limited, meaning it's impossible for all survivors to be medics or both traitors to be stitchers.

SURVIVOR ROLES:

-Medic: only takes 2 herbs to make a medkit, can heal others with a charged ability. The heal does not cure poison. Max 2 per game.

-Defector: Can open traitor crates and airdrops with a charged ability. CANNOT use traitor hatches or see traitor landmines/poison. Does NOT start with a radio. Max 1 per game.

TRAITOR ROLES:

-Stitcher: Exactly like the medic. Max 1 per game.

-Saboteur: Energy drinks grant 3-4 traitor credits instead of max health/warmth/hunger, can craft landmines in the cabin for 2 traitor credits. Max 1 per game.

The science center has two doses of truth serum- the first is available immediately, the second is available four minutes after the science center is opened. Truth serum only reveals the identity to the user.

If there are no significant obstacles, it takes approximately 90 seconds to get from the cabin to the second objective when not carrying an item.

Being poisoned zeroes out your hunger, slows you, causes vomiting, and deals minor health damage over time. Using a medkit can cure you instantly of poison's effects but it will not restore hunger.

You can run faster if you select an open inventory slot. This means you can usually escape a 1v1 traitor attack if they haven't poisoned, tranq'd, or beartrapped you. If traitors are fleeing a group, you can throw non-combat items just like you were aiming a gun, and if you connect you will slow them down briefly.

If you run your hunger down to zero, you can lose up to 25% of your maximum health. If you run your warmth down to zero, you can lose up to 75% of your maximum health. This means that if you are both freezing and starving, you *can* die just by being out in the cold.

Traitors can earn traitor credits by opening traitor crates. Traitor crates make a LOUD sound when opened, and keen survivors will track a traitor by the sound and snow trails. Among other things, traitor crates almost always contain energy drinks which will boost the traitor's health, warmth, and hunger. These drinks are cumulative.

Traitor airdrops will contain super energy drinks (black cans instead of blue) which will give you a MAJOR bonus, plus a random assortment of other useful stuff like campfire kits, cooked berries, and ranged weapons. They will spawn a red beacon that only traitors can see, which disappears once the airdrop is opened, so make a really good note of where it is if you plan to come back to it and don't assume your traitor buddy will be able to find it after you.

Traitor credits can be spent to sabotage the power station (6 credits required) or blow up a bridge (6 credits required). The power station can be sabotaged up to three times per game. The second objective can also be sabotaged up to three times per game, for a total of six possible sabotages per game.

The primary objective and secondary objective have timers associated with them. If they are not repaired before the timer expires, the traitors get an airdrop. This airdrop is marked with a signal beacon that only traitors can see, and contains a variety of powerful items, potentially including guns.

When exiled, traitors cannot enter the cabin OR the power station.

The traitor hatches take time to operate, and damage will interrupt use of them.

Traitors can see landmines and bear traps placed by other traitors as though they placed them themselves.

Only the user of the truth serum sees the result of the truth serum, so traitors can lie about the results.

People who select an open inventory slot run faster than people who are wielding a weapon or carrying an item. This means you can safely run from people who try to kill you if you are unarmed and you can catch up to people wielding weapons and punch them to death if you have to.

On maps with ice walls, traitors can activate valves to block off areas of the map.

The objective in the top right of the screen will have the word survivor when you mouse over it, so if anyone asks you to spell survivor backwards, there it is. You're welcome.

An escape pod will cause a plane symbol to appear in the top left of the screen and a yellow signal beacon to show up on everyone's screen. The escape pod will be inaccessible for about four minutes, after which time there will be a brief window in which a single survivor can get in. The escape pod will automatically initiate takeoff and deploy after a 5 second countdown. The survivor, once escaped, then becomes a ghost who can help fellow teammates or hinder a suspected traitor.

A blizzard will cause snow flurries at first and start a 30 second timer. After this timer, a snowflake will appear in the top left, and visibility will be greatly reduced while warmth will go down QUICKLY if you are not in the cabin. Also, snow trails will virtually disappear. Sound still carries, however, so a traitor opening a traitor crate outside the cabin can be clearly heard by everyone inside the cabin. This can last for up to 3 minutes.

You can survive the blizzard outside with a good amount of warmth left if you put down a campfire kit once the blizzard starts and fuel it with one piece of wood once the meter gets halfway down. A campfire kit with less than a third of its meter remaining is utterly useless.

Bunny Time is preceded by 30 seconds of creepy music, after which time all players grab their heads then turn into bunnies. Nametags disappear and are obscured in voicechat; when texting, names show up as ????????. Carried items or wielded weapons will still show normally, so players can identify themselves to others by claiming to hold specific items, especially if custom. Bunny Time can last for up to 3 minutes.

Loot Drop: A lot of crates will spawn in random places far from the cabin. Most will explode for 200 damage or so after a few seconds; one will have a LOT of items in it.

If there's a series of TNT detonators that need cooperation to blow a nearby rock wall, it will cause an explosion like a smoke grenade *and* there will always be a pack of wolves patrolling behind the rock wall. Traitors should take extra care when exploring behind that side of the map- if you get downed by wolves, people may come to hear you but nobody will be able to save you.

There's one bunker on every map that's huge and brown called the armory. It always has ranged weapons and is always far from the center.

The outer edges of the map will occasionally have radio boxes, which contain a matched pair of radios free for the taking.

There are long bridges with a single console on either end. These bridges can be destroyed by the traitor, and if anyone is on them they will be killed. The activation time is significant, though, so you may have enough time to throw an item at the traitor to disrupt them. These bridges can be rebuilt but you need to put in 3 mechanical scraps.

A bridge that is blocked off at the start will have a double console on the far side of the bridge. You'll have to explore the far side with another player to get there and activate the shortcut bridge, but it's usually worth doing, particularly if the objective is there.

Some maps will have ice water, which will drop your warmth to zero in a matter of moments. Ice, which leaves a funky reflection of things above it, will not drop your warmth any more than it already is being dropped.

If you find a dead player, you can swap their clothes once. Your body type won't change, so if they were large and you were thin, you'll look obviously different, but your name will show up in chat, in voice, and over your head. It does not disguise your voice at all.

If you change your clothes after being dosed with truth serum, whatever visible icon you had disappears.

If you are exiled and you swap clothes, you cannot re-enter the cabin. If you get your namesake exiled, you are still not getting in even if your original exile was lifted to ban your current disguise.

If there's anything I've missed, feel free to ask and I'll be happy to share what I know or figure it out. Thanks for reading, favorite this guide if you liked it, and feed me a pot pie if you see me starving in the cold :)