Friday the 13th: The Game is quite the doozy of a challenge. More often than not, you will be playing as the counselor, and, more often than not, your first few games will likely be exercises in futility. You will stumble around a few cabins, find nothing, get killed by Jason and be tempted to uninstall.
But the more you play, the more you’ll figure out the particulars of Gun Media’s Friday the 13th: The Game. This guide will be more focused on counselors, because you should have no trouble killing scores of counselors as Jason. That’s not to say you can’t have a pretty solid success rate as a counselor if you remember these tips.
Items Are Intuitively Located
When Gun Media added a fuse to the phone, meaning you would have to find a part before you can fix the phone and call the police, they assured everyone that the fuse would spawn “within the same campground as the broken phone.” This way it wasn’t a wild scavenger hunt across the entire camp to find one part that could be anywhere.
But they also repeated this logic for other high-value items. Gun Media head Wes Keltner confirmed for GameRevolution that parts for the car and boat work in the same way. “While the parts are randomly placed each new session, they are spawned ‘close’ to their appropriate containers,” Keltner said, adding that “Vehicle parts have a wider radius to the vehicle itself,” So, if you’re searching for car parts for a car at one camp, those parts will likely be located in the same camp, or in one of the adjacent camps nearby.
“For example if there’s a car in Stillwater (Higgins map) you will likely find parts in: Stillwater, Evergreen and parts of Higgins (like the barn),” Keltner said.
This means that cabins away from the car or boat, while possibly safer because Jason will patrol more high-value areas, won’t yield many valuable items, meaning you could find yourself dead before you ever make an impact. Stick together, brave the high-value areas, and you’ll give yourself the best chance to escape.
Don’t Sprint!!! But Maybe Jog
It was funny to watch the early streams of Friday the 13th: The Game. Many people would get into a game, sprint around everywhere looking for items, get found by Jason in the first few minutes and die, not knowing what they could have done differently.
Here’s the thing: Jason has ears. When you make noise, (say, by sprinting) it appears on Jason’s HUD as little circular blips. That way, even without his abilities, he can track you down with relative ease. Not only does sprinting make a ton of noise, it also drastically reduces your stamina. That means that when Jason finds you (yes, when), you won’t have enough stamina to make any honest attempt at escaping him. Believe me when I say, escaping Jason with a full stamina meter is hard enough.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to crouch walk through the entire game. You would never get anything done, and you’ll give Jason a ton of extra time to find you or kill your friends. Alternatively, you can toggle “jog,” this will still burn your stamina, but not nearly as much. And, if you’re playing a counselor with high enough stealth, you shouldn’t show up on his radar while you’re doing it, so they’re better joggers.
There is an Invisible “Fear” Meter
While you’re working on managing your stamina and completing those mini-game QTEs to install car parts, you also have to worry about an invisible mechanic called “Fear.” Jason has an ability called “Sense” which will light up people or places in red assuming that counselor is scared enough. Unfortunately, there isn’t any way to meticulously track this.
Fear is increased by being alone, being in dark places, seeing Jason, running from Jason or seeing a dead body. Your only visual indicator of fear is your counselor’s facial expression. If it looks like one of terror, you’re probably scared and will light up like a Christmas tree once Jason activates his sense ability.
Fear is also reduced by a counselor’s Composure stat. Counselors with higher Composure will take longer to get scared. Using a counselor with this trait might be better suited for more stealthy options, such as calling the cops. That way, once the police arrive, you can sneak around without being seen and make a break for it.
Don’t Be a Hero, Unless Your Tommy Jarvis
The other day, I put the battery and the gas in a car, but I didn’t have the keys, so I was hiding nearby. Then, two counselors entered the area, one of whom had the keys. The person with the keys got in the car and started it up, but the other counselor was confronted by Jason around the same time. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to get in the car and for us to escape while Jason was pre-occupied. Instead, the person driving the car left me for dead before I could get in.
And you know what? I get it. Surviving in Friday the 13th: The Game is hard enough, and I’ve seen too many people die trying to be a hero. Don’t be a hero. Don’t wait around for someone to get in the boat or the car, because that just gives more time for Jason to kill you both.
Don’t drive around the camp, talking to other people on the radio saying you’ll come pick them up. If you’re in a car, you head for the exit. If you see someone driving the car get stopped and chased away, go ahead and grab the car while he’s gone. It’s nothing personal; it’s just survival. If you come back as Tommy Jarvis, though, you’re character is designed to be a hero. Help everyone you can and get out last.
Eerie Sounds Indicate Jason’s Abilities
Ch Ch Ch … Ah Ah Ah (or Ki Ki Ki … Ma Ma Ma, if you want to be technical). Anyone who knows the Friday the 13th series knows that eerie sound well. In the movies, it indicates that Jason is nearby. In the video games, Jason’s presence is announced by intense orchestral music, but you still, every now and then, hear that telltale sound. So what does this mean in the game?
This is probably the biggest strategic takeaway you need to know. Jason doesn’t start a match with all of his abilities available, but every time you hear that sound, it means Jason has gained one. The first time, it means Sense is available, meaning Jason can find you based on your fear. The second time, it means Shift is available, meaning Jason is a lot more deadly in close quarters. Finally, the third time indicates that Stalk is available, meaning Jason can hunt you without the music.
You need to take advantage of this in the early game. Not having Sense or Shift is a big deal, as you’ll be able to escape Jason a lot easier. He’ll have a harder time chasing you and a harder time tracking you. So, feel free to hit the high-value areas such as the phone and the car relatively early, because you’ll have better odds of successfully losing Jason. But, listen for those audible queues, because everything will change after he gets his second and third ability.
