SCUM 1.0is a video game players turn to if they want to learn what their body needs to be healthy. Wrong!SCUMis a game players should turn to if they’re looking for an epic survivalist adventure game that will take them to highs and lows they could never have imagined.
Out of all the survival games, it’s the only one that provides complete information about a selected character’s metabolism, vitamins, and nutrition values. This information isvital to game survivaland adds to the survivalist experience.
Updated on June 17th, 2025 by Chad Thesen:Most survival games have players working towards a point where they can thrive, and having death as a minor annoyance. SCUM, on the other hand, is a very hard Survival game that can have players on edge at all times. SCUM will have them clawing their way from starting with almost nothing to facing off in some extremely tense situations. However, players should always remember to keep the basics fresh, and should pop open their codex from time to time to make sure there isn’t something they have started to neglect.
16Trust No One
No Matter How Friendly Someone Might Seem
Anyone coming from another survival game into the unforgiving maw ofSCUMought to be familiar with this rule. Absolutely anyone and everyone can and will betray in a survival game. Human decency can only go so far in the face oflimited resourcesand a lack of laws.
That’s why inSCUM,the best method of staying alive in multiplayer sessions is to shoot or kill on sight. Even ill-equipped players can employ subtle and manipulative social tactics to rob unfortunate players of their gear or precious loot.
15Pick Survival, Engineering, and Demolition
There Are Many Useful Skills, But Some Will Help Out More Than Others
Hopefully, a player hasn’t made a character yet before reading this because, chances are, the wrong stats and skill picks have been chosen. The three most beneficial skills to develop inSCUMare Survival, Engineering, and Demolition.
Survival must be high as this ensures that the character is never a sitting duck, even without modern weapons. Engineering is alright at medium because it lets players experience more of the game’s content. Meanwhile, Demolition is awesome for having the skills necessary to craft some excellent traps. Traps that will likely save a life a time or two.
14Make Tools Out Of Your Starting Clothes
Players Will Benefit from Rags Earlier Rather Than Later
Unlike other survival games,SCUMdoesn’t set players out in the open without supplies. Everyone gets a set of prison clothing. Yet, removing them immediately is best because the bright orange color sends a pretty clear and loud message to other more experienced players. This message being that a player is newly spawned and likely without reliable supplies. In other words, easy pickings.
However, players will be pleased to know that they can make something out of these prison clothes; they can be turned into a basic bag. That’s assuming players have a knife. This is easy enough to craft with two stones. As for the clothing, players should be able to rob the downed zombies or puppets of their rotting attire. They’re not even close to Salvation Army blessings, but they’re better camouflage at least.
13Loot Respawns After 30 Minutes
Keeping a Mental or Physical Log of Good Spots Can Be Beneficial When Making the Rounds
Now on to the game’s fun part, the looting. Looting inSCUMfeels like being a kid at a toy store, except mommy’s not watching, and baggy pockets look mighty spacious. Loot is precious inSCUM,and moving from loot point to loot point can be a huge time suck.
It turns out you might not have to do this since loot containers replenish on their own after 30 minutes. That’s assuming the admin set the settings to default. That also means players can set upan HQ, secret stash, or an outpostnear an areawith good loot and make a stockpile that can outlast an apocalypse or two.
12Farm Fame Fast With Tree-Cutting, Sentries, And Headshots
Players Will Want to Get Their Fame Up as Fast as Possible to Start Trading
Fame is another precious resource inSCUMthat allows players to respawn easier after an unfortunate death. That tends to happen more often than players think, no matter how careful they are, with all the bugs and glitches in the game.
That’s why accumulating lots of Fame is the key to resiliency inSCUM,and in order to be famous, a player needs to either shoot some Sentry Bots or puppet heads. These accumulate Fame the fastest. Another method, however, is deforestation, but that takes too much energy and time though it’s a lot safer than other methods.
11Animals Can Also Bleed Out
A Quality Well-Placed Shot Can Be More Valuable Than Multiple Poor Ones
SCUMloves to abide by the rules of reality as much as possible. This is evident enough in its highly accurate health system; such rules also apply to the NPCs, even the animals which can be hunted. Just as the player characters can bleed and even leave trails of blood, so can the animals.
This is why hunting down animals can be made easier inSCUM.Players don’t even need guns to do it. They can impale a deer with a wooden spear. Even as the animal runs away, players can still track them while they bleed, leading to easy hunts and food security.
10Waste Can Give Away A Player’s Position
Hide Your Waste, Before It Gets You Wasted By Others
Regarding tracking and hunting victims, player characters are also not exempt from this. Besides leaving behind markings such as blood or unused items, the player’s excrement can also be used to track them.
That’s why strategic and tactical pooping inSCUMis a must. That is, choosing the most hidden places to eject one’s “baggage.” Even doing it in the middle of some bushes can increase one’schances of survival. However, this only applies in multiplayer sessions.
9Waste Can Trick Other Players
Make Other Players Go Where You Want Them
While hiding waste is one option, players can also place their waste where they know enemies will see it. This in turn can cause them to track the player and walk right into an ambush. This could be done via long-ranged sniping, or by laying traps. Risker players may even unleash their wrath at point-blank from nearby cover.
Using waste this way can be tricky, and many players may still find it more beneficial to still hide their waste to not risk finding themselves on the losing end of a violent exchange.
8Pop Open the Codex for the Occasional Refresher
It Never Hurts to Revisit the Basics from Time to Time
Players can easily forget things when there is a large amount of mechanics to keep track of. Luckily,SCUMhas a Codex in the menu that lets players refresh their knowledge at a glance. Players that neglect certain aspects of the game might find themselves filled with regret later.
Players don’t need to do this often, and over time might not need to ever worry about such a thing. However, even players that have not put the game down in months may find themselves benefiting from a quick refresher.
7Avoid Using Guns
Guns can Be Too Loud and Expose Yourself
A player can consider themselves rich or well-off inSCUMonce they’ve found their first gun. It might be tempting to go gung-ho over any puppet or other players encountered, but that’s ill-advised. Gunshots attract not only more puppets but also other players.
Moreover, ammunition is rare inSCUMand often has to be crafted since stocks are limited spawns. So, using guns can be more trouble than it’s worth, which is why sticking to meleeweapons is betterfor most enemies.
