Player guide
Gate of the Dead: the player guide
Gate of the Dead is a free zombie game you play in your browser, on a phone or a computer. You are the Mayor of a camp of survivors at Riverside Depot. By day you build the camp up from a campfire and a few lean-tos. At night you hold the gate in the wall, putting defenders on posts and throwing grenades as the dead come down the road. Between the two, your leaders take squads of troops out along the Road and across the map for supplies and more survivors.
Everything feeds everything else. The camp makes the gate tougher and trains the troops; the nights and the Road bring in the people and materials the camp needs to grow. These guides explain how each part works, with the numbers where they help, so you can spend your energy and Scrap Metal well.
Every guide
Getting startedThe tutorial, step by step: from a cold campfire to your first crisis night.
The campBuilding crews, collecting, the Headquarters cap, survivors and beds.
Every buildingAll 23 buildings: what each does, when it opens and when to raise it.
Chapters and goalsHow goals pay, how crisis nights work, and all 20 chapters of Part One.
Defending the gateGate nights: defenders, upgrades, abilities, power-ups, Last Stand and bosses.
Daily Siege, Bad Night and moreThe four extra modes on the Gate tab, and when each one opens.
The RoadEndless stages: strength against rating, casualties, Field Manuals and leader levels.
The map and missionsSend squads on timed missions: mission kinds, levels, replays and wounded troops.
Troops and trainingSpears and bows first, guns later: every tier and what it needs.
LeadersStory leaders, keys and their odds, tiers, stars and levels.
The Mayor and energyWhat costs energy, how it comes back, meals, and Mayor levels.
Materials and Scrap MetalTimber, steel, food, water, ammo and Scrap Metal: sources and uses.
Trading Post, School and DockSwapping materials, the six School lessons, and fishing boats on the river.
Daily jobs and leaderboardsEight jobs a day, activity crates, streaks, and the leaderboards.
Saving your progressGuest accounts, Google and email, recovery codes and moving devices.
Tips for new playersPractical advice for the camp, the nights, the Road and your energy.
FAQIs it free? Does it work on phones? Ads? Saving? Real answers.
About and contactWho makes the game, and how to get in touch.
These guides follow the game as it is now. Numbers can change as the game is balanced; if something here doesn't match what you see, tell us.