Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric survival horror game developed by Behaviour Interactive. Dead by Daylight was released on the Microsoft Windows operating system in June 2016, released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One home consoles in June 201 , is scheduled for release on the Nintendo Switch on September 24, 2019, and scheduled for release on iOS and Android before November 2019, and is currently in Beta phase on mobile Devices. The game is played exclusively as a one versus four online multiplayer where one player takes on the role of the savage killer, and the other four players play as survivors, trying to escape the killer and avoid being caught and sacrificed to the Entity.
Along a handful of original characters, the game also includes downloadable characters from famous horror franchises Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, Evil Dead, and Scream.
As of January 1, 2018, Behaviour Interactive became the game's publisher, acquiring publishing rights from Starbreeze Studios.
Gameplay
A group of up to four survivors must elude one killer. The survivors' perspectives are third-person, while the killer's perspective is first-person.
Survivors
Players assume the role of one of the 17 survivors, Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Nea Karlsson, Laurie Strode, William 'Bill' Overbeck, Ace Visconti, Feng Min, David King, Quentin Smith, David Tapp, Kate Denson, Adam Francis, Jeff Johansen, Jane Romero or Ash Williams. 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 (always equal to the number of Survivors that spawned into the trial plus the killer) to provide power to the switch boxes of two exit gates leading out of the trial grounds; or by escaping through the hatch. The hatch opens only when there is only one survivor remaining in the trial. The survivors will need a key to open the hatch if there is more than one person alive.
The survivors' movement options consist of sprinting, walking, crouch-walking or crawling. They must elude the killer by losing their line of sight in a chase or by successfully hiding from them.
Killers
Alternatively, players assume the role of one of the 16 killers, the Trapper, the Wraith, the Hillbilly, the Nurse, the Shape, the Hag, the Doctor, the Huntress, the Cannibal, the Nightmare, the Pig, the Clown, the Spirit, the Legion, the Plague, or the Ghost Face. Most killers only have one form of locomotion, moving at a fast pace, which is moderately faster than the pace of a sprinting survivor. When hunting the survivors, the killer must capture them by either striking them twice with their weapon (the first hit reduces the survivor to the "injured" state and pushes them a short distance ahead of the killer, while the second hit drops them to crawling on the ground) or grabbing them in one move by either catching them inside lockers, while attempting to vault over pallets or through windows (these work only when the survivor is injured), while repairing a generator, or trying to rescue a fellow survivor from a hook. Some killers have secondary attacks that deal double-damage and put survivors into the "dying" state in one strike.
Every killer has a secondary ability, called a killer power. Each killer power is unique. For instance, the Wraith can "cloak", turning invisible and moving faster (but being unable to strike survivors while hidden), and the Hillbilly wields a chainsaw which allows him to dash quickly along the map and instantly knock down survivors it comes into contact with. The powers can be augmented using add-ons, which are purchased in the bloodweb.
The killer's goal is to sacrifice survivors to the Entity, a malevolent being which rules over the realm in which Dead by Daylight takes place. Caught survivors are put onto meathooks located throughout the trial grounds, which starts the sacrifice process, which will take two minutes to complete without any outside influences. Some special add-ons, perks or the 'Memento Mori' offerings allow the killer to bypass the sacrifice process and kill a survivor directly, with a special animation.
The first time a survivor is hooked, they enter the first phase. In this phase only, the survivor can try for a low (4%) chance of escaping from the hook at the cost of tremendously accelerating the sacrifice process upon failure to escape. Hooked survivors can also be rescued by fellow survivors. If the survivor escapes or is saved and eventually hooked a second time, they will enter the 'struggle phase', in which the survivor has to resist the Entity trying to stab them by rapidly pressing the spacebar, X, or A, depending on the platform, until they are either saved by an ally or killed by the 'Entity'. If the survivor is saved during the 'struggle phase' and is hooked a third time, they will die instantly with no opportunity of survival.
The killer, despite walking at a fast pace, is slower than survivors in most other movements: after striking a survivor, the killer will slow their movement to wipe the blood off of their weapon. The killer is also slower in vaulting through windows and cannot leap over pallets that survivors can throw down into their path (with the exception of The Legion), but instead have to go around the spot or spend some time destroying them.
The killer also has an aura-reading ability, constantly revealing the location of generators, hex totems and in case of carrying a survivor, hooks across the map. A new mechanic was added in Patch 1.5.0, which introduced 'Bloodlust'. 15 seconds into a chase, the killer receives a boost of 0.2 m/s to their base movement speed; 30 seconds into a chase grants the killer a 0.4 m/s boost; and finally, if a chase lasts for 45 consecutive seconds, the killer receives a 0.6 m/s boost. Bloodlust only lasts until a chase ends after which the movement speed boost will degrade at a rate of 10% per second spent not chasing a survivor, with breaking a pallet or injuring a survivor instantly removing it completely.
