Survival Guide

Controls

Move: WASD
Aim & Shoot: Mouse
Select Structures: 1–8
Place / Interact: E
Rotate Structure: R
Cancel Selection: Esc

Day & Night

Zombies hit harder and move faster once night falls. Use the daylight hours to gather resources and shore up your defenses before the horde grows dangerous — and watch for the occasional Blood Moon, a harder night than usual.

Resources & Building

Gather wood, stone, iron, and gold to build and upgrade defenses between waves. Six tower types (Cannon, Mortar, Sniper, Tesla, Frost, Toxic), spike traps, and campfires are available — each has 5 upgrade levels. Spikes funnel zombies into your turrets' range, and a campfire placed near your build cluster heals the whole squad between waves.

NIGHTFALL screenshot at dusk showing a spike trap and a cannon tower placed near the player

Weapons

You start with a reliable pistol. At level 15 you choose a permanent replacement for the rest of the run:

Dual Guns — twin pistols, +50% fire rate, -35% damage per shot. Fast and mobile.
Machine Gun — very high fire rate and sustained damage, but slows you while firing. Strong against large groups.
Shotgun — 3-shot spread, devastating up close, falls off at range. High-risk close combat.
Grenade Launcher — slow-firing explosive shells with heavy splash damage and short range. Crowd control.

Mutations

At level 25 you pick one permanent mutation:

Vampire — heal 2% of damage dealt, +25% movement speed. Aggressive survival.
Overclocked — +50% fire rate, but the weapon overheats with sustained fire; +35% size.
Titan — +400 max HP, -15% movement speed, +100% size. Tank build.
Pyromaniac — bullets have a chance to burn enemies for damage over time.

Classes

Chosen at the start of a run, before the first wave:

Gunner — +40% fire rate, -15% max HP.
Builder — structures 30% cheaper, +30 starting wood.
Scavenger — +50% resource yield and harvest XP.

Team Mode

Queue with 2-4 players, ready up together, and take on the horde as a squad. Downed teammates can be revived — stay close and cover each other, and coordinate who builds versus who fights.

Advanced Strategies

Weapon and mutation choices stack — pick complementary options at level 15 and 25 rather than whatever looks strongest alone. A Gunner running Dual Guns leans fully into fire rate; a Builder running Titan can hold a chokepoint almost indefinitely. Check the Bestiary for how to handle each zombie type, especially the ranged Spitter, Spider, and Witch, which reward a different response than melee-focused zombies.