Hello, Hikers!
The forest has been listening. Every bug report, every complaint – all of it went into this. And now Playtest 3 is live, ready to prove it.
We've put a huge amount of work into Deadhikers since the last test. Exploration, survival, progression and the world itself have all seen major changes, but the biggest difference is how it feels to play: this is a proper survival experience now. Don't expect a casual walk in the woods.
🗺️ One region, many trails
We're moving toward longer expeditions across connected maps, with shared progress and real reasons to revisit places you've already walked.
This playtest includes one of several areas that make up our first region, Canada. It's still being actively developed, which is exactly why your feedback on it matters right now.
🌧️ Things that go wrong out there
Larger locations mean preparation matters much more:
Run out of food halfway through a hike, and you'll have to forage
Break a leg, and reaching shelter becomes a serious problem
Rain can put out your campfire and leave you exposed to the cold
Fog can make the whole group lose its bearings
That extra bottle of water suddenly feels worth carrying.
🎒 What you can do about it
You'll have more ways to prepare along the way. Carry a tent, build a campfire, craft a raft, or put up defensive stakes. Recipes are available from the start, while books hidden across the maps improve your character's abilities.
Just choose your campsite carefully. A tent keeps the rain out — it doesn't keep monsters from tearing it apart.
📓 Anna's house is empty
Her scattered notes describe an unfamiliar predator in the area. Following the clues means meeting survivors and exploring remote farms, abandoned homes, and places someone clearly wanted to keep hidden.
Read carefully. Those notes might be your best lead on where to go next.
🌙 Nightfall makes it worse
Staying outside drains your sanity, and when someone reaches zero, Barkers appear. Campfire light no longer scares them off.
Wolves and Barkers can also hunt each other, though we'd suggest keeping your distance from both.
🧭 Long Walk or Dead Hiking
Navigation is central to the challenge, and you choose how much of it you want:
Long Walk – gentler survival conditions and player markers on the map
Dead Hiking – a map, a compass, landmarks, and nothing else
Make sure someone in your group knows where you're going.
And this is only part of what's changed. We've also reworked survival balance, improved the environments and the interface, fixed multiplayer issues, and made a long list of smaller changes that didn't fit in here.
Grab your gear and get back out there – the swamps are waiting, and so are the wolves.
Jump into Playtest 3 now, and if you run into anything broken, weird, or one wolf too many, tell us about it. That's exactly what this playtest is for.