Developed by Gamepires and published by Devolver Digital, Scum is a online multiplayer prison riot survival game. Scum entered early access on Steam on August 29, and we’ve been trying out the game prior to its full release in 2019.
In Scum, you take on the role of a prison inmate who’s been trapped on an island and must survive. Similar to DayZ, Scum takes place in an open-world environment where you’ll need to contend with both zombie NPCs and other players. When you’re not dealing with external threats, you’ll have to manage your bodily needs. You’ll need to monitor your health and nutritional balance, as well as hydration. If your teeth get knocked out, you’ll need to find a way to liquify your food, and anything that goes in your body needs to come out eventually too.
Your goal in Scum is to survive long enough to remove a chip that monitors your movements so that you can escape the island. You lose what’s on you if you die, so it’s best to run from a fight you can’t win. In the video above, Dave walks you through seven tips and tricks to ensure you’ll survive your first few moments in Scum.
At the start, you’ll want to scavenge for materials and supplies. Although a pistol and ammo are valuable, it’s rare that you’ll spawn anywhere near either. Scrounging for simpler crafting materials, like small stones and sticks, is a very good use of your time and energy as doing so lets you break down small trees and shrubs, as well as build simple tools and spears.
Those spears are one of your best bets against zombies. These meandering monstrosities react to sound, so a gun should be a last resort. Spears are silent and reusable as they can be pulled from a corpse. Best of all, you can use spears to easily snipe zombies through an open window.
If you manage to survive past the first hour, the rest of Dave’s tips should help you avoid making any costly mistakes. Spare clothes shouldn’t be thrown away, as they can serve other uses as bandages and rope. You also don’t need to waste time hunting for food if you’ve just killed another player, because there’s no downside to cutting up, cooking, and eating human flesh. And even if you can build shelters anywhere you want, it’s best to set one up in a place that’s out of the way. You don’t want another player to wander by and steal everything you’re storing for a rainy day.
Scum is a PC exclusive. There are currently no plans to port the game to consoles.