Dead Sails: A beginner’s guide

Modified Mar 26, 2025 10:21 GMT

Dead Sails is about sailing through a narrow canal across the zombie-infested world to reach the end and find the final safe zone to escape. This title places you in charge of a boat that goes through several checkpoint towns and major landmarks. In these areas, you can resupply, find weapons and important items, and fight off powerful enemies that stand in your way.

Let’s take a look at Dead Sails and find out how to play this survival experience.

Getting started with Dead Sails

Overview

Official cover art for the game (Image via Roblox)

Dead Sails is a cooperative multiplayer experience inspired by Dead Rails, a game with which this title shares many gameplay mechanics. This experience has you scrounging for resources and Cash as you sail through the land on a boat.

Your boat cannot move much since it is on a canal that effectively acts as rails, so the only direction you can move is forward. The boat has a limited fuel supply, which means that you must refuel it using coal or zombie corpses to continue your journey.

As you cross thousands of meters, you will begin encountering more powerful undead archetypes, against whom you must find a way to defend.

The title offers a few options to help you defeat these foes. You can use the default axe or rely on store-bought ranged weaponry. However, since guns and similar weapons have limited ammunition, you may want to save them for when you need them the most.

Go through the land of the undead by moving from one safe zone to the next in an effort to survive and reach the end of the canal.

Also read: How to play Dead Rails

Controls

Movement: W, S, A, D
Jump: Spacebar
Equip Tool: Number keys 1-0
Use Tool: Left Mouse Button
Sprint: Left Shift

Gameplay mechanics

Linear Survival Experience: The game is about surviving as long as possible while you go from one safe town to the next. While you can go off the predetermined route, you won’t get very far without being overrun by zombies. So, your best bet is to stick to the canal and beeline it straight for the next checkpoint town, where you can refuel and keep going.
Fuel Management: Managing your fuel supply is the most important thing you need to worry about before reaching the final checkpoint town. Your boat requires routine refuels to resume routing the river. So, you will find yourself venturing off the beaten path to nearby zombie-infested settlements. Ideally, these trips will be few and far between, but if you can find neither cash nor fuel, you can use zombie corpses as fuel.
Combat: The combat in this title is straightforward and requires very little effort on your part. The undead will walk towards you in a straight line, so you can quite simply attack them until they die. Certain enemy types will be more belligerent, requiring slight tactical adjustments like strafing or walking backward. Even so, you should be able to take down enemies with ease.
Classes: You can purchase access to Classes in the hub world to access unique perks. These perks will be available to you from the beginning of the match, increasing the odds of making it to the end of the title.
Multiplayer Experience: A total of four players can join an expedition, which makes the game significantly easier. This is doubly so if all participants know each other and can communicate strategies well. If your aim is to reach the end as quickly as possible, gather up to three friends to tag along and tackle the game’s challenges.
Stores: Each checkpoint town includes various stores, from where you can resupply and refuel your seafaring vessel. These stores accept Dabloons as their primary currency, which can be earned through pickups across the game world. Be sure to scrounge the houses found along the way as you sail through the canal.