Your first night

You wake up in a ground-floor bedroom. It’s quiet for now. Here is how to keep it that way for a while.

1. Don’t go outside yet

The house you wake up in has no zombies in it, and there’s always something to fight with somewhere inside. Before you open the front door, go through every room.

• Press E facing a wardrobe, a kitchen cupboard, a fridge or a bathroom cabinet to search it. A first search takes a second or two and makes a little noise.
• Open the inventory with Tab to see what was inside. Click a row to take it.
• Look for a weapon (a knife in the kitchen, a bat in a wardrobe, a hammer in the laundry), water, food that keeps (tins, crackers, peanut butter) and anything for wounds: plasters, gauze, antiseptic.

Right-click a weapon in your bags to hold it.

2. Mind your weight

Everything you carry has a real weight. Up to your carry limit you’re fine; past it you’re burdened, then heavy (no running), then overloaded (no climbing). A backpack adds room, not lightness. Take what you need.

3. Learn how they find you

Zombies see you in a cone in front of them, much less at the sides and hardly at all behind. Daylight helps them, darkness helps you, and sneaking (C) makes you far harder to spot.

They hear everything: footsteps (running is loud), doors, smashed glass, fights. A zombie that hears you walks to where the noise was, not to you, so making a noise and moving away works. Groaning zombies pull their neighbours in, which is how a crowd becomes a horde.

4. Fight like it might kill you

It might. A zombie that reaches you can scratch, gash or bite, and some bites carry the infection.

• Fight one at a time. Back up so they come to you in a line.
• Shove (Space) when two or more crowd you. It always staggers them and sometimes knocks one down.
• Stomp a zombie that’s down (Space again, standing over it).
• Hit them from behind if you can: crits are likelier and knockdowns easier.
• Watch your endurance. Tired swings are weak swings. If you’re winded, walk away, and stand still somewhere safe to get your breath back: it comes back slowly while you walk.

5. Shut the door behind you

Zombies don’t open doors, but they will batter one they know you’re behind until it breaks, and the thumping draws more of them. A shut door buys time, not safety. Windows break faster than doors.

6. Patch yourself up

If you’re hurt, press H. Each wound shows where it is, whether it’s bleeding and what it needs.

• Bleeding wounds kill in hours. Dress them: gauze or a plaster on a small one, a rag if that’s all you have.
• A dirty dressing (a plain rag) can make the wound fester. Wash rags in clean water to make clean ones, or use antiseptic first.
• Deep gashes need stitching with a sewing kit.
• Painkillers help with pain. Nothing helps with the infection.

7. Eat, drink, sleep

Hunger, thirst and tiredness rise through the day. The tags next to your health bar say when they start to matter; hover over one to see what it’s doing to you. Fresh food goes off, so eat it first and keep the tins.

When you’re tired, find a bed (a sofa will do, the floor if it must) and press B. A tired survivor also runs out of breath sooner: tired, your endurance only fills to three quarters, and exhausted, to half. Time runs fast while you sleep, and you’ll wake if something comes close or makes a noise nearby.

When you die

You’ll see what killed you, how long you lasted and what you did. Press R to start again in the same town. It’s the same town every time for the same seed, so what you learned about it still counts.