Game Mechanics
Die Young features different game mechanics, mixing them together to convey the experience to be left alone in a hostile island. Playing as Daphne, an athletic girl with a passion for climbing and other extreme activities, the player can run, jump and climb with the agility of a freerunner. Being trained by her father since she was a kid, Daphne knows more than one trick to survive in the wild, including gathering resources and crafting tools. Obviously, she's not as strong as most of her enemies, but she knows how to defend herself both in melee and ranged combat, if necessary.
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Parkour
The ability to run, jump and climb on things is what makes Die Young's gameplay pretty dynamic at its base. Daphne has a good stamina from the beginning, and she can run faster than the other human enemies in the game; only dogs and wolves manage to be close on her tail, and that's when jumping over fences or reaching higher grounds becomes extremely useful. Escaping from enemies is usually the best option, especially if you find yourself outnumbered.
By default, in Survival Mode, Daphne can run continuously for 32 seconds before depleting the stamina gauge (visit the Difficulty page to check the stamina modifiers for each mode). Once the stamina runs out, Daphne will stop running and you'll need to wait a few seconds before the stamina gauge replenishes enough to start running again.
| Tip: to increase your stamina for running you can equip Sneakers and Running Shoes. Also remember that other wearable items, like the Gas Mask and the Body Armor, negatively affect stamina. |
Daphne can climb on pretty much any flat surface up to 2.5 meters high, and she can perform fairly long jumps.
| Tip: during the game you may face few difficult jumps that require you to leap at the very last moment; once you find the right timing for jumping (usually a step further from where you would instinctively jump) the game becomes a lot easier. |
One thing to always take into account is fall damage. Falling from more than 5.5 meters causes Daphne to lose health. The damage amount increases depending on the height of the fall; however, regardless of your current health, the fall won't instantly kill you unless you fell from 10 meters or your status was critical (less than 5% of health).
| Tip: equip the Kneepads to reduce fall damage. |
Climbing
Daphne can use her skills to climb on walls - both natural or artificial - provided that there are handholds and ledges, which can be highlighted using Perception. By pressing the jump button in front of a handhold, Daphne will enter the climbing mode (Daphne will also automatically grab to a handhold if you reach it after a leap). In this mode you can move horizontally along the ledge or climb vertically above you if there's a handhold close enough to be reached without jumping. To jump from one handhold to another, point your cursor towards a handhold around you. If the cursor changes its shape (like two arrows pointing outwards) that means that you can safely press the jump button to let Daphne climb on that hold.
| Tip: if you don't see any "safe handhold" around you, remember that Daphne can automatically grab on any handhold or ledge that is on her reach after a "free fall" jump. Few times you'll have to take your chances a take a leap of faith. |
Climbing, like running, consumes stamina. Hanging from a handhold slowly decreases your meter, while jumping handhold-to-handhold will consume a fixed amount of stamina (this is why you should jump only if necessary, and use directionals to move whenever possible). If the gouge reaches zero, Daphne will loose her grip and fall.
| Tip: equip the Climbing Gloves to greatly improve your stamina in climbing. DO NOT equip Working Gloves, which are not suitable for climbing. |
Survival
Being set on a sun-drenched Mediterranean island in summer, the survival aspect of the game is mainly focused on hydration (hunger is not an issue for the story takes place across few days; food is just one way to recover health). The hydration gauge is a blue circle around the health and stamina meters. The hydration level decreases faster or slower depending on several conditions: faster in sunlit areas, slower in shadowy or indoor ones; faster if running or climbing, slower if walking; faster if the Body Armor is equipped, slower if you wear the Soccer Team Hat.
The hydration gauge can be replenished in different ways:
- drinking from a Water Source (water pumps, natural springs, fountains, water taps, etc.)
- drinking from the Canteen
- consuming food and drinks (Beer Bottle, Beer Can, Canned Food, etc.)
- eating edible berries from plants
- drinking from water pitchers
Every time you do one of the aforementioned actions the hydration will stop decreasing for a few minutes, depending on your Difficulty settings.
When you pick up your first Canteen, a new icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the HUD, indicating how much water can be stored (collecting more canteens lets you store more water). One unit of water will completely replenish your hydration gauge. The Canteen can be refilled at any water source and used whenever you want.
If your hydration level goes under 25% you may start to notice a distortion effect around the screen. At 20% Daphne will say something about her being dehydrated and a tutorial message will pop up advising you to drink as soon as possible. Under 10%, your stamina will decrease a lot faster and your sight will turn very blurry. If the gauge reaches zero, your health will start depleting until you die from a heatstroke.
| Tip: at the beginning of the game, Daphne wakes up in The Well partially dehydrated. Go the Twin Houses to find your first Water Source. |
Apart from hydration, another survival element in the game is sleeping. In Die Young, game time and real time are the same (one minute in the game is one minute in real life); however there's no full day-night cycle. At 8:30 pm, Daphne says something about her being tired and that she should look for a safe place to spend the night. At this point, Campfires are disabled for saving and you're urged to find a Shelter before the sunset, at 9 pm. Once you entered a shelter, select "Sleep" and Daphne will wake up the next morning at 8 am.
However, if you find yourself outside a shelter after 9 pm, Daphne will be too tired to go on and she'll decide to sit and get some sleep; the screen turns black and you can hear Daphne waking up in the middle of the night a few second before being attacked by an unidentified person (probably someone from the militia). It ends with a game over screen.
