Dead Keys

DEAD KEYS
Your keyboard is the weapon.
Dead Keys is a fast-paced typing action game set in a pixel-art zombie apocalypse. Every correct key fires a shot, every mistake costs you time, and the horde does not care how quickly you can find the right letter.
Fight alone, survive together, build increasingly powerful runs, or race another player and find out whose hands give out first.
BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE - THANK YOU
We can code. We cannot draw. What we did, you'll notice xd.
Dead Keys looks the way it does because a handful of pixel artists put their work out into the world and let people like us build with it. Every zombie you put down, every tile you stand on, every explosion, every letter of the font you are about to stare at for hours - theirs, not ours.
fkgcluster · Cute SCKR · Ansimuz · Seliel the Shaper · handekaya23 · ToffeeCraft · CraftPix · YukiPixels · Helton Yan
This game does not exist without you. Thank you, genuinely.
TYPE TO SURVIVE
Combat is controlled through typing.
Words and sentences replace traditional shooting controls. Type correctly to attack, keep your rhythm to stay in control, and improve your speed and accuracy as the pressure rises.
The better you type, the better you fight. The better you fight, the stronger you get.
CLASSIC
Classic is the main roguelite experience.
Hold the barricade for fifty waves. Choose a survivor, build your run through augments and upgrades, and adapt as new enemies and bosses begin to overwhelm the battlefield.
Five survivors bring their own abilities and playstyles, while randomised run choices make each attempt develop differently. Between runs you train your survivors, buy kits and unlock starter augments, so a losing run still moves you forward.
Play solo, or with a friend over Steam or LAN.
ENDLESS
No builds. No abilities. No excuses.
Endless strips the game back to pure typing performance.
Type continuous sentences while every correct character feeds your minigun. Maintain your rhythm to spin the weapon faster, keep the horde away, and survive as long as your hands can keep up.
Track your:
Live WPM

Average WPM

Accuracy

Clean streaks

Survival time

Personal records

There is also a Daily run: one seed a day, the same sentences, the same horde and the same ruleset for every player in the world, so your number actually means something next to someone else's.
The longer you survive, the harder the horde pushes back.
SHORT CAMPAIGN
Dead Keys also features a short story-driven campaign, playable solo or in co-op.
Fight your way through the outbreak alongside a small cast of survivors, move through handcrafted scenarios, face unique encounters, and see the world behind the endless hordes.
The campaign is still in development and is planned to ship as part of Dead Keys at launch.
RACE ANOTHER PLAYER
Endless can also be played competitively.
Two players face the same escalating challenge under the same conditions. Watch your opponent's progress, keep your own lane alive, and outlast them.
Type fast to put pressure on your opponent - but when one of you finally breaks, there is only one thing left to do:
Say that your cat walked across your keyboard.
BUILT AROUND YOUR KEYBOARD
Dead Keys is not a shooter with typing bolted on top. Typing is the combat system.
Your speed controls your firepower.
Your accuracy keeps you alive.
Your consistency determines how far you get.
Whether you are chasing a new personal WPM record or trying to survive one more wave with a friend, getting better at the game means getting better at typing - which is the entire point.
FEATURES
Typing-driven zombie combat

Classic: a fifty-wave roguelite with augments, upgrades and boss fights

Endless: continuous sentence typing, no builds, no abilities

A short story campaign, solo or co-op

Co-op over Steam or LAN

Competitive online Endless VS

A shared Daily run, same seed for everyone

Five playable survivors with their own abilities

WPM, accuracy and personal-record tracking

Pixel-art zombie apocalypse

No mouse needed once the typing starts