Dead Rails is a cooperative survival game where your goal is to fuel your train while fighting off enemies. As you travel the railroad, you’ll find lootable buildings and zombie-filled towns. Over time, you’ll get stronger with new weapons and items to weld to your train. Take advantage of our beginner’s guide to survive this Roblox game! Our guide covers what to do first, what to buy, tips to survive, and what monetization exists.
| Roblox Game | Dead Rails |
| Developer | RCM Games |
| Maturity | Moderate |
Getting Started in Dead Rails
What to Do First
When you first start, walk to the train platform to join a lobby. You can join others or create your own game and choose how many people you want to play with. This works well if you’re playing with certain people.
Once the game starts, you’ll be in a small outpost that will keep you safe for now. A couple of instructions will appear at the top of your screen for what to do first. Follow them to sell a gold bar and then fuel your train. You can lift items by clicking and dragging them or placing them into your Sack. To do so, equip your Sack and press F (on PC) while looking at an item to store it. You can then press F again to unstore it.
After fueling up, I recommend grabbing the three newspapers near the newsstand. You can weld them to the train by dragging them near it and then pressing the Z button. These are bulletproof and work as a wall to keep enemies away. I recommend blocking part of the train cabin so you’re safe inside. Afterward, you can purchase extra items like coal, bandages, or a weapon. Check out the next section for tips on what to buy first in Dead Rails.
Before leaving the outpost, there’s a trick if you don’t mind waiting. Every 10,000 meters, there’s an outpost like this one that has turrets with limited ammo. These will protect you from the enemies that spawn at night. If you want extra fuel or money, wait out the first night before leaving. Only one enemy type spawns each night, and certain ones are sellable at the Trading Post.
Once you’re ready, hop into the train seat and hold the W button to accelerate. Be careful not to jump while the train is moving, otherwise, you may fall off as it speeds ahead. Fortunately, the train will eventually stop if nobody is controlling it. At this point, keep the train fueled with resources you find while staying alive. Each section below gives more Dead Rails tips and tricks.
What to Buy First in Dead Rails
Deciding what to buy first can be tricky depending on how many people you’re playing with. However, our beginner’s guide should help regardless. Here’s what you should buy both on the first day and as you reach farther outposts:
| Item Name | Item Cost |
| First Day | |
| 2 Coal | $40 |
| 1 Bandage | $10 |
| or | |
| 1 Coal | $20 |
| 1 Revolver | $35 |
| 1 Revolver Ammo | $15 |
After the First Day
Prioritize getting ranged weapons so you can raid large towns for tons of loot to sell. This will make it easier to purchase anything you need at future outposts. Such as ammo, bulletproof walls, healing items, barbed wire, etc.
Surviving the Open Road
The toughest part of Dead Rails is the nighttime and looting dangerous areas. You can see when nighttime starts at 10 p.m. by checking the clock inside the train cabin. To prevent getting hurt at night, you’ll want ranged weapons. While slow zombies are easy to whack at, vampires and others can mean trouble. A Revolver is a good start, a Shotgun is a huge upgrade, and the Rifle is perfect for sniping enemies. I love the Rifle for clearing towns.
Aside from that, you’ll need Bandages to revive teammates. It’s easy to get caught in dangerous situations that are out of your control. I’ve run from a quick zombie into a building only to get hit by zombies on the outside wall. Fortunately, you can also hit enemies through the wall.
Monetization in Dead Rails
What You Can Buy Using Robux
The Dead Rails monetization isn’t too aggressive, but it will give you an advantage if you spend money. However, some features like classes are unlockable using in-game currency. Otherwise, here’s what you can spend Robux on:
- Permanent Sawed-Off Shotgun – 148 Robux
- Permanent Mauser C96 – 148 Robux
- Permanent +5 Storage – 79 Robux
- Revive Everyone – 200 Robux
- Self Revive – 45 Robux
- Bonds to purchase one-time items and classes.
I wouldn’t recommend the Revive Everyone option since it’s a little expensive and you could lose immediately afterward. Permanent purchases like the weapons and storage increase are much better. That aside, purchasing Bonds is up to you since you can find them while playing. However, they can help you unlock classes quicker. The cost to unlock every class using Robux is 1,034. This is a little over $10, or $15 based on the Robux purchase amounts. And that wraps up our Dead Rails beginner’s guide!
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.