Dead Rails is a new Roblox game fresh off the oven, and while it is currently still in early alpha development, there are already thousands of players regularly on it. If you are looking into trying it out yourself, then make sure to check this entire guide out first to learn all of the basics and hopefully progress faster than others with the knowledge gained here!
Complete Beginner’s Guide & How to Play
The very first thing to note is that you can pick almost any item up by holding left click on it and dragging it around with you. Once you start up a game, you will be told exactly what you need to do.
In the starting town, your first task is to go to the Trading Post and grab the gold bar off the ground. You will then have to let go of it over any of the two tables. This is how you sell items, and you are forced to do this at the start as you need a bit of money for the next part.
After selling the gold, do not forget to collect the bag of money on the table! This should give you a flat amount of $50.
Now, go to the general store on the opposite end of this line of buildings. Here, you can buy some coal at the cost of $20 per piece. You only need to buy one for the objective, but if you want, you can get more of them.
It should be noted that you can carry multiple items by equipping the sack that you start with. Just select the sack and press the F button to store items in it, and then you can remove them by pressing the same button while not looking at any items.
With some coal on hand, head over to the train and drop it on the furnace with the lit fire. This is how you refuel the train.
Once you are ready to head out, flip the switch on the roof just above where you dropped your coal earlier. This will cause the train to start moving, marking the actual beginning of your run.
Along the way, various buildings can spawn along the tracks. Whenever you can, you should check them for loot. Zombies might appear in and around them, so be ready to fight them with whatever weapons you have.
To deal with these enemies, just kite them by running backwards after every hit. This should usually be enough to keep you alive, as long as they do not manage to surround you.
Zombies can be dragged around or kept in your sack once they are dead. They are actually considered as fuel, so it is definitely worth killing them whenever you can. Don’t forget that you can weld items to the train by pressing Z while dragging something, allowing you to use them for later.
Night Time & Making Money
Throughout your journey, the sun will eventually set, and night time will begin. There are different variations of night, and various enemy types can spawn depending on what kind of moon shows up during that period.
Be on the lookout for enemies like werewolves and vampires. These are worth killing with the best weapons you have at the moment, as you can sell their bodies at the trading post for a decent amount of money.
Just like other corpses, you can keep them in your sack or weld them to the train. Kill as many of these as you can in order to make a lot of money fast. Zombies can also spawn at night, but only get out of your way to kill them if you really need the fuel, as their bodies are not valuable at all.
Outlaws might spawn as well, and these enemies carry guns with them. If you can take them out, they are worth selling too. However, take note that these guys are sold at the Sheriff’s office rather than the trading post. They are worth a lot of money compared to monsters.
Once you make it to the next town, it will have the same facilities as the one you started in. Take some time to sell bodies and loot, and then check the weapon shop if you do not already have a gun.
Bandages can also be purchased in town. These are used to revive your teammates if they ever get downed. Just note that you need their body with you as well, so if somebody in your team goes down, weld them to the train.
The main gameplay loop is basically just roaming the procedurally generated wild west and gathering loot from towns and whatever else you run into. One thing to watch out for is a banker zombie, which is one that wears a hat.
These can drop a bank code, which can be used to open the vault of a town’s bank. By unlocking a vault, you can loot a lot of bars that can easily net you a few hundred dollars. Unicorns can spawn in the wild as well, and these are incredibly valuable as their bodies are worth 250 dollars each.
What to Use Money On + Ending
Finally, you are probably wondering what all of this money is going to be used for. Well, aside from buying weapons, ammo, and healing supplies at the town, they can also be spent on stuff that will reinforce the train.
Sheets of metal and some coils of barbed wire can be purchased in general stores, and these can be attached to wherever you want on the train. With these, you can protect yourself from both outlaws and monsters, making it infinitely easier to farm them.
Escaping the Map and Winning
Once you reach the end of the line at around 80,000m distance, you are going to encounter a fortress that houses an army of outlaws. As such, be ready for an intense gunfight. Make sure to reinforce your train and bring a lot of ammo and bandages with you.
The goal here is to lower the bridge at the end of the track. Once you clear the area and activate the switch, you will have to hold off enemies for a few minutes. During this period, more outlaws and zombies will spawn and charge through the entrance of the fort.
If you are doing this at night time, be ready for werewolves or vampires too, depending on the type of moon you have. If you can survive the onslaught, the timer on the bridge will eventually hit zero, and you will be shown the victory screen. Congratulations, you have completed a whole run!
That is everything you need to know about the game right now, as it is still in alpha and very much bare in terms of content. In the future, new maps or additions to the current one will undoubtedly be added, but for now, get used to this gameplay loop to start winning more runs!
