Get the Game or Try the Demo
Use the official Steam full-game page for Casualties: Unknown, or install the separate free Steam demo. Scav Prototype on itch.io is the older prototype, so choose the download that matches the version you want to play.
Open the official Steam full-game page
Match the Instructions to Your Build
The starter route below follows Steam demo 7.0.1. The itch.io prototype download is V5.1, while the paid full game is a separate release. Treat these as different builds when checking recipes, controls and equipment values.
The developer stated that the demo would not be updated to match the full release. When playing the full game, follow its current item descriptions and training prompts wherever they differ from the demo instructions here.
Finish Basic Training Before Descending
Complete Basic Training before starting your first descent. It introduces movement, items, basic first aid, containers, crafting and sleep, and the game warns you if you skip it. Practise opening your inventory and health panel until you can find them without hesitation.
In demo 7.0.1, the First Aid Course unlocks after reaching layer 2, and the Crafting Course unlocks after reaching layer 3. Those detailed lessons can wait until they become available. First Aid covers blood pressure, fibrillation, defibrillators, fractures and pain; Crafting covers INT, recipe pinning, favourites, campfires and clean water.
The demo controls you will need immediately are A/D for movement, Space for jumping, R for the health panel and C for crafting. Hold Left Control to reveal nearby item labels. Right-click items to interact, or right-click yourself to open the inventory.
Choose Settings That Give You Room to Learn
For a gentler demo attempt, Relaxed gives you more time, while Paradise offers plentiful loot and fewer hazards. Starting-supply options also let you begin with a light or a full kit. Choose the setup that lets you practise the system currently causing trouble.
Keep the health panel available while learning to recognise injuries. Unchipped removes the layer time limit but also disables that panel. It trades away information you may still need, so extra time alone is not a reason to choose it.
Prepare Your Kit Near the Starting Pod
- Search the starting area and nearby drop pods or crates for foliage, scrap, a light source and medical supplies, giving yourself materials and useful equipment to build around.
- Make a container before optional equipment. If you need storage, a Foliage bag uses 1 Rope and 2 Canvas at INT 5, with the materials coming from foliage.
- Prepare basic bleeding treatment. A Dressing uses 2 Ripped dressing at INT 5; the ripped material comes from ripping suitable bags or clothing through crafting.
- Favourite the bags and tools you intend to keep with F, preventing crafting from consuming or ripping those useful items.
- Pack accessible clean drinking water, so hydration is part of your usable kit before you commit to exploring farther.
- Set aside a cutting tool as part of your basic equipment, rather than filling the available carrying space entirely with raw materials.
- Check that you have usable light, bleeding treatment, accessible water and free carrying capacity; use those essentials as your signal that you are ready to descend.
Layouts and starting supplies vary, so follow these priorities instead of expecting a fixed route from the pod to a particular item. You can craft with materials lying nearby without picking everything up. Pin the recipe you are working toward to keep its ingredients visible while you search.
Avoid the Mistakes That End Early Runs
- Inspect unfamiliar shafts before dropping into them. Falling into an unexplored space is an early-run mistake; favour a route whose landing and hazards you can assess.
- Check the ground for hidden spikes before rushing forward. Use a disposable item to test a suspected trap instead of committing your character to the same space.
- Keep spare light available before entering darkness. If your lighting situation is already poor, reconsider the route before going farther.
- Leave redundant scrap behind when it crowds out essentials or burdens your load. A useful kit needs room for water, treatment and equipment you can actually use.
- Keep clean water separate from contaminated liquid. For groundwater, the demo route uses a Canteen to collect it and a Campfire to boil it into clean water.
- Check your health panel after trouble and address bleeding before continuing. When an escape route exists, retreat from a fight that threatens the supplies and health you need to survive.