DayZ Trust no one, survive everything

DayZ is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun by infected, and it gives you no missions or quests to follow. Your story comes from the environment, the infected, and other survivors: what you find, what you avoid, and who you meet on the road.

Other players are the biggest danger here, more than hunger or the infected. That constant pressure keeps the game tense from the first spawn to a sudden end.

You get no guiding overlay, so you stay oriented by reading towns, roads, and forests around you.

You can wander Chernarus or Livonia, and Livonia keeps something buried that gives even steady survivors fresh trouble. Tools, food, and gear must be searched for by hand, and loot and gear are scarce, so you check sheds, houses, and villages carefully.

Up to 60 players share the world at once, and any meeting can turn the day. Meeting other players often ends in a fight.

At other times, other players can be friendly rather than hostile. It is best played with friends, when you can watch corners together. Players often prefer modded community servers, where you can shape the game around what you enjoy.

Between meetings, you keep yourself alive with your hands. With crafting you stretch thin supplies, mending worn clothing, preparing food over a fire, and knocking together rough tools from scraps. Between trips you can raise shelter, grow food, take fish and game, and lay traps around your ground.

You can also get a car or truck running and drive it across the wasteland, which changes how far you can roam. Dynamic events such as train crashes, military convoys, and PvP hotspots give you places to risk a run for better gear.