Caretakers Survival Mode Rules: How Rounds Work

Survival Mode is the currently playable mode in Caretakers — Story Mode Chapter 1 is still labeled "coming soon" on the official game page. A round follows one loop: your team waits in a lobby, enters a map, every player receives a personal task list, and you complete your own objectives while an entity hunts the team. Finishing your tasks doesn't end the round — a survive countdown runs first, then the exit opens, and leaving through it wins the round. Dying, or failing to finish your tasks and reach the exit, loses it.

Progress is recognized through two persistent tracks: Money earned from objectives and escapes, and an in-game "Most escapes" leaderboard. Rounds repeat back to back, so the loop runs continuously.

What Survival Mode is

FunByte Studios describes Caretakers as "a multiplayer analog horror survival game where you must complete objectives, survive dangerous entities, and find a way to escape." Teams explore "multiple unsettling locations, work together, and finish objectives while being hunted by different entities lurking throughout each map."

The official Survival Mode section states the mode's rules in five bullets:

• Complete objectives to escape
• Survive different entities
• Earn money from objectives and escapes
• Unlock and equip unique gears
• Discover hidden secrets and lore

The game is flagged "GAME IS IN BETA, EXPECT BUGS!" on its official page, so exact round details can shift with updates.

How a round starts and the objective loop

A Survival Mode round moves through these stages:

1. Wait in the lobby. Between rounds you're in a lobby area with a shop, an arcade, and waiting minigames. One first-time player's recording shows the upcoming task names (repair the broadcast, find the tapes, repair the generator) displayed before the round begins; the same player was broke and couldn't buy from the shop yet.
2. Enter a map. Players move from the lobby into the round's map — one recorded creator selects "the bunker map."
3. Read your task list. When the round starts, each player receives a visible personal task list. Examples read on screen: "unlock two safes and collect two documents. Restore comms and stabilize pressure," and on the bunker map, "turn the valves, hack the terminals, and stabilize the pressure."
4. Complete your own tasks while the entity hunts. The list is per player, not shared — as one player realized, "everyone has to do their tasks before you escape." An unfinished list gates your own escape: players who couldn't find their last objective couldn't leave ("I couldn't escape because you wanted me to finish my dumb task").
5. Outlast the survive window and escape. Once tasks are done, a survive countdown runs before the exit opens; leaving through the opened exit wins the round (details below).

A recorded round shows that full structure in motion — lobby, task list, the entity hunting while players work, and the exit:

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Task types seen in recorded rounds include stabilizing pressure (done at two points), turning valves, hacking terminals ("Click and hold to hack"), repairing the broadcast, fixing breakers, shutting off gas tanks, finding tapes (they highlight when you're near), and unlocking safes — find a safe, enter its passcode, and collect the document inside.

Task volume scales with group size. "I've got so many tasks to do because I'm not playing with many people. The more people you play with, the easier it is," one player explains, adding his impression that a late joiner "takes a task off you." For a task-by-task breakdown, see the objectives guide.

The entity hunt: threats during the round

While everyone works, an entity patrols the map hunting the team. Recorded players treat it as AI-controlled rather than a person — "there's no player as Bon. The devs don't want it," one notes.

Two things draw it toward you:

• Movement noise. A small noise meter appears in the bottom left while you walk, and steps and task actions make noise ("You make noise when you step") that can lead the entity to your position.
• Your voice. Talking is also tracked — "You can see your voice meter, bro" — so a hiding player who chats can give themselves away.

Counterplays observed in recorded rounds:

• Lockers. Hiding in a locker until the entity moves off is the standard response ("You can get him off if you go in the locker and hide until he gets away") — but it isn't guaranteed. The same footage also shows the entity catching a player inside one ("I was in a locker... lockers don't do nothing").
• Oxygen management. Hiding draws on a limited oxygen supply; you're told to "Hold your breath" to make it last.
• Doors. Closing doors "does slow them down," though the entity opens doors, so they buy time rather than safety.

Being caught doesn't remove you instantly — one player describes getting his "neck snapped," ragdolling, and then being downed, still able to crawl. Teammates can revive you during a window that one group describes as about 30 seconds — short enough that they asked the owner to extend it. The entities guide and Bon guide profile the hunters, and survival tips collects counterplay tactics.

The survive window and the exit

Completing your last task doesn't open the exit immediately. A survive phase runs first, announced on screen. Its observed length differs between rounds: "Survive for 3 minutes" in one, "we got to survive for like another 60 seconds" in another, and "we got 30 seconds left" in a third. No single fixed length is documented, so treat any one number as that round's value rather than the rule. On-screen text such as "Exit is open... Survive down" marks the phase while the entity keeps hunting.

When the countdown passes, the exit opens ("Exit opens. Exit open"), an on-screen arrow points toward the goal ("I didn't know that arrow took me to the goal"), and leaving through it ends the round ("I'm out of there. I'm gone"). A shared tip from the footage: while waiting out the timer, position yourself by a slide-through gap near the exit so you can duck through the moment it opens. The how to escape page covers the escape actions in detail, and map routes helps with navigation.

Round outcomes: win or loss

Either ending flows straight into the next round.

How rewards fit into the loop

Money is the mode's persistent currency. The official text says Survival Mode lets you "earn money from objectives and escapes," and in recorded play Money arrives automatically when you finish a task — "I repaired the broadcasting stuff... Got some money from that" — with no separate collection step shown. It carries over between rounds; one player reports "I almost have $10,000 in the game already." Exact payout amounts per task or escape aren't documented, so don't count on a fixed figure per objective. If you want to top up your balance, see how to get money, and check the codes page for current Caretakers codes.

Escapes are tallied separately on an in-game "Most escapes" leaderboard — one player who escaped found himself at "Number 28."

Rounds then repeat back to back ("we're in a new round"; "we still got a round"), closing the loop: earn Money from tasks and escapes, spend it in the lobby shop on gear bundles, extra gear slots, emotes, and classes (recorded purchases include a supporter bundle and the Angel class, which reveals downed teammates), then run it again. The gear list covers what the shop's equipment does.

Story Mode status

Story Mode Chapter 1 is announced, not playable. The official game page lists the Survival Mode bullets and then states "Story Mode Chapter 1 coming soon," alongside the beta notice, and recorded play so far shows Survival rounds only. Because the game is in beta and updates regularly, that status can change — the updates page tracks what's new. If you're just starting out, the beginner guide covers the basics, and the multiplayer guide covers group play — worth reading, since more players means fewer tasks on each personal list.