Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

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Overview

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a turn-based survival roguelike set in a post-apocalyptic world. You have survived the initial cataclysm, but staying alive takes planning. The world is procedurally generated and persistent: towns, forests, and underground labs remain just as you left them, along with the monsters roaming through them.

Every action takes time. A single step costs 100 movement points or more depending on terrain, while hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, and morale all affect your performance over time. Skills improve through practice and by reading books, and with the right tools, materials, and recipes you can craft a vast range of gear.

Characters are created inside a world you generate or select from the main menu. Saved characters stay tied to their world, and pressing S saves and returns to the main menu.

Made by: The Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead team
Released: 2013

Controls guide

Moving and fighting

Key	Action
`Arrows, numpad`	Move; step into an adjacent monster to melee attack
`. or 5`	Wait one turn
`!`	Toggle Safe Mode (halts movement when a new monster enters view)
`F`	Fire wielded ranged weapon
`T`	Throw an item
`U`	Unload a firearm or magazine
`< >`	Climb up or down stairs
`Z Z`	Zoom in or out

Items

Key	Action
`G`	Pick up items from an adjacent or current tile
`E`	Examine nearby terrain, furniture, or appliances
`I`	Open inventory
`/`	Open the advanced inventory manager
`Shift`+`E`	Consume food, drink, or medicine
`W`	Wield an item
`Shift`+`W`	Wear clothing or armour
`A`	Activate or use an item
`D`	Drop items
`&`	Open the crafting menu
`B`	Butcher a corpse or disassemble items on the ground

Around you

Key	Action
`O c`	Open or close a door
`S`	Smash an adjacent door, window, or piece of furniture
`;`	Look around with the cursor
`V`	List all visible items and monsters
`M`	Open the overmap
`$`	Sleep
`@`	Character status and skills screen
`Enter`	Open the full action menu
`?`	View keybindings for the current screen
`S`	Save and quit to the main menu
`Esc`	Go back, or open the system/options menu during gameplay

Touch screens

Key	Action
`Swipe`	Move or choose a direction (hold at the end of a swipe to keep moving)
`Tap`	Wait one turn in gameplay, or select an item in menus
`Double tap`	Cancel or go back
`Shortcut bar`	Displays contextual key shortcuts; tap to trigger, or flick upward to remove
`Two fingers`	Tap, swipe, or pinch for additional key actions
`Three-finger tap`	Toggle the shortcut bar

Tips

Prioritize your survival needs in order: shelter first, then a heat source, clean water, and finally food.
Search your starting shelter thoroughly before heading out. Putting on a backpack, coat, or other storage clothing dramatically increases your carrying volume.
Save firearms for emergencies: ammunition is scarce, zombies are plentiful, and gunfire draws every monster in earshot toward your position.
Keep painkillers on hand. Pain penalizes your speed and core stats, making it easy to get overwhelmed in melee.
Raid the outskirts of towns for supplies and retreat before hordes close in. Urban centres are packed with loot, but also with zombies.
Avoid unnecessary fights and break contact early while watching your stamina—zombies never get winded, whereas running out of stamina leaves you defenseless.
Never fight multiple enemies in the open. Funnel zombies through doorways or force them to climb through window frames, where they lose turns and take uncontested hits.
Dehydration kills much faster than starvation, and long-term nutrition matters too: living on junk food eventually leads to vitamin deficiencies.