Dead by Daylight

Gameplay

A group of survivors – anywhere from one to four players (typically four) – must elude one player who is the killer in an enclosed area at night which will either be a secluded forest, an abandoned junkyard, a decrepit cornfield, a haunted asylum, a gas station, a dark swamp or the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois. The survivors’ perspectives are third-person, while the killer’s perspective is first-person.

Survivors

When playing as a survivor, players assume the role of Jake Park, Meg Thomas, Dwight Fairfield, Claudette Morel, Nea Karlsson, Laurie Strode, or Ace Visconti. The goal of the survivors is to escape the enclosed area, which can be done in one of two ways: either by repairing a certain number of disabled generators (usually, the number of generators is one greater than the number of survivors playing) to provide power to switches which open large metal doors leading out of the area, or by escaping through a trapdoor (hatch) which only opens when there is one survivor left and at least two generators have been successfully repaired. The trap door will appear at one of several predetermined locations. The survivors' movement options consist of sprinting, walking, or crouch-walking. They must elude the killer by using the darkness, crouching behind objects, and hiding in buildings, foliage, or inside lockers.

The survivors have the option to utilize perks that affect how you play each game. Each of the survivors has a set of 3 unique-to-them perks that are only available to that survivor until you unlock the ability to teach them to other survivors. These perks can be unlocked and upgraded in the Bloodweb using bloodpoints and each blood web can only hold up to two perks. These perks can range from giving a burst of speed when running from the killer, to being able to heal yourself without a first aid kit, to unlocking the ability to sabotage meat hooks without a tool kit. There are also a multitude of 'universal' perks that are available to unlock by any survivor no matter who it is.

In dealing with the killer, survivors can also make use of a handful of items and traps in the area – searching chests inside buildings will sometimes yield first-aid kits (which allow the survivors to heal themselves rather than wait for a teammate), maps (can be used to spot generators all around the map), flashlights (which can be used to temporarily blind the killer), and tool-kits (which can be used both to repair generators faster and to disable the sacrificial meat hooks). One trap that survivors can use is a massive wooden pallet, many of which are placed upright, and can be pulled down when a survivor runs past them – if the killer is right behind them, the pallet will stun the killer for a brief period of time. The survivor can also vault over fallen pallets and climb through windows significantly faster than the killer can.

Other technical advantages that survivors have include the ability to see the aura of downed and hooked teammates – thus easily drawing them to their location for a rescue – and can similarly see the locations of newly repaired generators and the exit doors once all necessary generators are repaired. When the killer is near, the survivors will hear a heartbeat, and eventually tense music, both of which increase in intensity with proximity to the killer. They can also see a red light emanating from the killer’s eyes which shows his approximate field of view.

Killers

As the killer, players assume the role of either the Trapper, the Wraith, the Hillbilly, the Nurse, the Shape, or the Hag; each of which has his/her own unique ability. The killer cannot run or crouch, but simply walks at a very fast pace which is slightly faster than the pace of a sprinting survivor. When hunting the survivors, the killer must capture them by either striking them twice with his/her weapon (the first hit reduces the survivor to a limp, while the second hit drops them to crawling on the ground), or can grab them in one move by either catching them inside lockers, while attempting to vault over pallets or through windows, while repairing a generator, trying to save a fellow survivor on a hook or attempting to escape through a trap door. The Hillbilly's chainsaw attack will also drop survivors to crawling on the ground in one hit.

The killer can initially only kill the survivors by throwing them on one of the many meat hooks in the area and waiting for the claws of the 'Entity' to eventually finish off the survivor, carrying their soul into the sky. After a player has earned enough experience points as the killer, however, certain single-use items called 'Mori's can be unlocked that include the ability to finish off survivors instantly with their weapon, rather than the lengthy process of taking them to the meat hooks.

The first time a survivor is hooked they enter the first phase. In this phase only, the player can try for a low (5%) chance of escaping the hook at the cost of accelerating their death upon failure to escape based on their 'hook health' (at full, granting up to four chances). Players can also be rescued by fellow survivors. If the player escapes or is saved and is hooked a second time they will enter the struggle state, in which the player has to resist the entity trying to stab him/her by pressing the spacebar continuously until saved by an ally or killed by the 'Entity'. If the player escapes or is saved again and is hooked a third time they will die instantly with no opportunity of survival.

Just as the survivors can use the wooden pallet traps (which the killer can destroy with their foot after activation), the Trapper can make use of bear traps lying around the area, and set them for survivors to trip and become trapped in them. However, it is possible for the killer to become stuck in a bear trap as well, causing minor inconvenience as he resets it with his foot. Additionally, The Hag can lay voodoo traps that, when activated by a survivor coming within range of it, reveal a clone of The Hag that stands stationary, only moving to watch the survivor who sprung it. The Hag can also choose to take possession of the clone and chase them herself.

The killer, despite walking at a fast pace, is slower in most other movements: After striking a player, the killer will slow their movement to wipe the blood off their weapon. The killer is also slower in climbing through windows, and cannot leap over the pallets survivors can lay into their path, but can spend a lengthy amount of time destroying the barricades. The killer also has an aura reading ability similar to the survivors, only for the killer it can be used to see the locations of every single generator, totem and meat hook on the map.

Objectives

Interacting with most objects and actions in the game causes random Skill Checks to trigger. When a skill check triggers, a needle appears within a circle on-screen and quickly spins around, the player must hit either the space bar or the left mouse button when the needle is within a certain randomly chosen section of the circle before the needle passes it. Failing a skill check has multiple consequences based on the action being taken.

Repairing each generator takes a lengthy period of time and makes a rather small mechanical noise during the process. Failing a repair skill check will cause an explosion that will set the progress of the generator repair back and make a loud noise alerting the killer where the player is and what they are up to.

Sabotaging a hook takes a significantly shorter amount of time than repair a generator but is considerably louder. To sabotage a hook, survivors must be equipped with a 'tool kit' or have the Saboteur perk active. Skill checks are more common during this action than when repairing a generator. Failing a sabotage skill check makes a loud banging sound, also setting back progress and alerting the killer.

Healing yourself or your allied survivors can take drastically different lengths of time depending on multiple factors such as if they have a first aid kit, certain perks active, killer debuffs and whether the player is healing themselves or an ally. Skill checks are as common as when repairing but have a slightly less sever consequence when failed. Failing a healing skill check still reduces the progress of the action but the wail made by the survivor being healed is quieter than the other explosions and bangs.

If a survivor is caught by the killer, they are picked up and usually carried to the nearest meat hook. During this time they can attempt to wiggle out of the killer’s grasp before they reach the hook, and attempt to run away. If the killer succeeds in impaling a survivor on one of the many meat hooks in the area, a teammate can rescue the impaled survivor or, more rarely, the impaled survivor can pull themselves off the hook (although attempting this is likely to backfire and injure the survivor further, drawing them closer to death).

Once all generators are repaired, a survivor must find a switch next to one of two the possible exit doors and hold it for a period of time in order to open the door. The game only ends when all survivors have either escaped or have been killed – thus, while some survivors may escape and finish early, those still inside must keep playing. Players who have escaped or died have the ability to observe the remaining players through the game's conclusion, or return to the menu and join a new game.

Bloodweb

Both survivors and killers are able to unlock items, perks, and offerings through the Bloodweb. Every action performed in a match gives the player a number of Bloodpoints, and the sum are added to the player's total at the end of the match. Each level of the Bloodweb is procedurally generated, and gets larger as the character gains levels. The rewards are connected to each other in a radial tree, and players must purchase rewards along the progression path to gain access to others. Once every reward on the tree has been purchased, the Bloodweb will generate a new level for the player to progress to, increasing that character's level.

The Bloodweb may contain items, add-ons for items that increase their efficiency, offerings that can be spent at the start of the round to influence the match's conditions, and perks that make the character more powerful. Offerings and add-ons may only be used in one match, whereas items can be re-used until the player dies or loses them, and perks are permanent. Items can also be acquired from chests on the map, but this does not affect the character's Bloodweb. Since a killer's special ability is tied to their item and killers are invulnerable, their items are permanent and cannot be changed.

Locales

The game takes place across six locales which are based on the places the killers became murderers: The MacMillan Estate (Trapper), Autohaven Wreckers (Wraith), Coldwind Farm (Hillbilly), Crotus Prenn Asylum (Nurse), Haddonfield (Shape), and Backwater Swamp (Hag). Over time, the evilness of their actions accumulated there until it attracted the attention of the Entity, an unknown force of darkness from a place with no name. Most locales are split into multiple maps with similar features but small variations.

Map features

Located in every map are many different features and objects that affect the game in different ways.

1. Meat Hooks are one of the main objects in the game and are the killer's main objective. The hooks are spawned in random places around the map that change every game. They are the killer's only way of sacrificing the survivors. When caught, the killer picks the survivor up and find the nearest hook to hang them on and wait for the Entity to take them. They can be sabotaged by the survivors to make it harder for the killer to find one to hang their victim and they break automatically if a survivor is successfully sacrificed on them.

2. Generators are also a main object in the game and are most important to the survivors. They are what the survivors have to repair to power the exit gates and escape. They are also spawned randomly throughout the map and feature a tower with 2 flood lights on the top, making it easier for survivors to find. These flood lights remain off until the generator is powered, at which point they turn on, alerting everyone to their location and lighting the area around the generator. Once the required amount of generators are powered, all the generators power on.

3. Item Chests are a secondary object that are also spawned randomly throughout the map each game. Survivors can interact with these chests to scavenge through them and find a random item. However, this action is loud and draws the attention of the killer so it should be done at the discretion of the survivor player.

4. Totems are a secondary object like chests and hooks, and are spawned randomly throughout the map every game. They are small object made of sticks and topped with human skulls. Totems are used by the killers to emit a harmful aura to the survivors debuffing them in certain ways based on certain perks. Survivors can 'cleanse' the totems by interacting with them for a short time. Doing so will give the survivor 400 points and if it is the right totem, it will remove or reduce the debuff.

5. Pallets are a survivor's best friend when escaping the killer. They are randomly placed in door ways and choke points at the start of each game and start standing up. As the survivor runs through them or stands next to them, they can throw them down blocking the path and stunning the any killer in the way. Once the pallet is laid down across the path, survivors can vault over them but killers can not. However killers can break them to create a quick path to run through.

6. Two Exit Gates spawn randomly along the edge of each map and can be activated once 5 generators have been powered on for 4 survivors, 4 generators for 3 survivors or 3 generators for 2 survivors. To activate and open the gates, the survivor must stand and interact with the switch for an amount of time 'charging' the gate. Once opened, the door slides away and the survivor may escape the map.

7. The hatch is the second way for a survivor to escape the map, it's a small square hatch on the ground that spawns in one of 4 random spots on the given map and remains closed until both conditions are met: all but one survivor has been killed or escaped and at least 2 generators have been powered on. The hatch can also be opened by The Skeleton Key if enough generators are powered. The Hatch makes a dull windy sound when near, helping the survivors and killers find it.

8. Crows are another way the killer can track down the survivors. They spawn all over the map, on top of rocks, crates, tables and ledges as well as just on the ground. Whenever a killer or survivor gets too close to them, they get spooked and quickly caw and fly away. This is a good thing for the killer to look for as fly crows in the distance means a survivor lurking over there. Survivors can avoid spooking the crows by remaining crouched as they pass by them, though this greatly reduces how quickly they move.

Buildings

Every locale and map features a map-specific building or landmark that remains in the same place in the map every game. Every map also features a building know as "The Shack" which is the same throughout all maps and appears a different one of a few predetermined locations in the map. Every new game, a room known as the "Basement" is placed under either the map-specific building or the shack.

The Basement is a special room consisting of 1 item chest for the survivors to scavenge in, and 4 cabinets for them to hide in. It's also home to a special 4-pointed hook that cannot be sabotaged and does not break after a survivor has been sacrificed on it. The basement is a favorite tool of the killers and a feared landmark for the survivors as there is only one way in and one way out, making it a very secure place for killers to bring their victims without fear of other survivors saving them. Because of this danger, survivors are awarded a small amount of points for even venturing into the basement.

Plot

The Entity, a supernatural being hailing from some ancient, evil place, is awakened from its slumber whenever it is summoned by actions of great violence and malice. The killers, exclusively serial murderers, are pulled out of reality by it and convinced to do its bidding. In order to maintain its existence, the Entity requires sacrifices, and demands that they hunt and kill the survivors so it can feed off their hope and steal a piece of their soul upon death. Then they are brought back to life to repeat the trial, endlessly attempting to escape.

The survivors are pulled into the Entity's constructed world when they wander too close to the places the killers were taken from, disappearing from the real world without a trace. They end up at a lonely campfire, where they rest between trials, until a killer pursues them again. Escaping from the grounds always takes the survivors back to the campfire, and offerings can be created to be burnt at it and appeal for the Entity's favor. Since the Entity feeds off the hope of the survivors to escape, it helps them just as much as the killers, acting as an impartial observer of the hunt, stepping in only to claim those hanged on its hooks.

Sales

Dead by Daylight sales topped 1 million units after two months on sale.

Critical response

It has a score of 71% on Metacritic. GameSpot awarded it a score of 6.0 out of 10, saying "Dead by Daylight executes the concept of a competitive horror game well, but only to a point."