Dead Rounds is a free, first-person co-op zombie survival game that runs in your web browser. You and up to three friends hold a wartime bunker against waves of the dead. Each round sends more of them, faster and tougher, and the match lasts until nobody is left standing. There is nothing to install and no account to make: open dead-rounds.com/play, pick solo or create a room, and you are in.
How a match works
A match is a series of rounds. At the start of each one the dead climb in through boarded windows around the map. Kill every zombie and you get a short breather before the next round begins.
- Points are your money. Every bullet that hits pays 10 points, a kill pays 60, a headshot kill 100 and a knife kill 130. You start with 500.
- Spend points to get stronger. Buy guns and ammo off the walls, open doors into new rooms, gamble on the mystery crate (950 points for a random gun), and buy perks once the power is on.
- Windows are the front line. Each window starts with six planks. Zombies tear them off one at a time before they can climb through, and you can nail them back on for a few extra points.
- Nobody plays alone in co-op. A player who drops to zero health is downed, not dead. A teammate has 30 seconds to reach them and hold E for three seconds to pick them back up.
The first rounds are slow walkers. From round 3 on, runners start mixing in, and by the later rounds most of the horde sprints. Zombie health grows every round, so the gun that carried you through round 5 will not be enough by round 15.
What you can buy
| What | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Field Carbine (wall) | 750 | Reliable semi-automatic rifle |
| Scattergun (wall) | 1,000 | Close-range shotgun |
| Mystery crate | 950 | A random gun, including ones you cannot buy on walls |
| Field Medic | 1,500 | Revive twice as fast; alone, get back up once |
| Hair Trigger | 2,000 | Fire a third faster |
| Light Boots | 2,000 | Move 12% faster |
| Iron Ration | 2,500 | Max health 200 |
| Quickhands | 3,000 | Reload twice as fast |
| Armorer upgrade | 5,000 | Upgrades the gun in your hands once: far more damage, bigger magazine |
Perk machines and the upgrade machine stay dark until someone throws the map's power switch, which is usually a few doors away from the start.
Solo or co-op
Solo runs the whole game inside your browser tab. It pauses when you press Escape, so you can step away.
Co-op runs on our server for up to four players. Create a room and you get a four-letter code; send it (or the link) to your friends and they join from the menu or from the home page. If someone's connection drops, the game holds their spot, points and guns for 30 seconds while they reconnect.
Controls
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| W A S D | Move |
| Shift | Sprint |
| Space | Jump |
| Left mouse | Fire |
| Right mouse | Aim down sights |
| R | Reload |
| F | Knife |
| G | Hold to cook a grenade, release to throw |
| E | Buy, open doors, rebuild windows, revive |
| 1, 2, Q or wheel | Switch guns |
Dead Rounds needs a keyboard and mouse, so it is a desktop game for now. It runs in a recent desktop browser.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dead Rounds free? Yes. The game is free to play in the browser. If we ever sell anything it will be cosmetic only: nothing you can pay for will make you stronger.
Do I need to download anything? No. The game loads in the page. The first load downloads the maps and models; after that your browser keeps them.
How many players can play together? One to four. Solo is one player; a co-op room holds up to four.
Can I play on a phone or tablet? Not yet. The game needs a keyboard and mouse.
Is it finished? No, it is in active development. Some maps are finished, the newer ones are still early versions, and boss rounds are next. This devlog is where we post what changed.
Start playing
Play Dead Rounds now. If you play a match, we would love to hear how far you got.