The last thing you’d hope to happen while away at summer camp would be horror icon Jason Voorhees showing up to crash the party and lop off some heads, but that’s exactly the situation that Counselors find themselves in during the seven-on-one gameplay of Friday the 13th: The Game.
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Luckily, you’re not going into this fight empty-handed. There are 10 Counselors to choose from as you take to one of the three playable maps, and each one comes with their own set of stats to help you evade Jason’s clutches. You can outfit yourself with some extremely important perks that’ll do wonders to help you stay alive, and the vast campgrounds are littered with helpful items such as flare guns, walkie talkies, and car parts that for some reason are dismantled and cast on opposite ends of the map.
Even with all of these resources going for you, you can only evade Jason for so long before he starts picking up some traction and picking off your team’s numbers until he eventually turns his attention towards you. Once you reach that stage in the game, the paragraphs of tutorials will only get you so far before you have to start busting out some clever gameplay tactics to escape the map or survive for a grueling 20 minutes.
To make matters worse, if you’re one of the ones that gets picked off right near the beginning of the match, you’re forced to sit there for the remaining duration of the chase, watching your teammates scramble for survival. You could always leave and look for a new game, but that means you’d forfeit your experience gained and have to wait to find a new game that may or may not fully connect.
Everyone wants to survive summer camp, so we’ve put together some tips for playing as the Counselors to tip the scales in your favor if you find yourself being chased by Jason. If you end up playing as Jason yourself, check out these tips for him as well.
Stealth, Stamina, And Speed Are Key
There’s seven different stats that each Counselor in the game will come with, and each one of them will have varying amounts depening on who you pick. All of the Counselors bring their own strengths to the fray, but out of all the stats available, the three main ones to keep an eye on are Stealth, Stamina, and Speed.
Counselors with higher Stealth will make it much more difficult for Jason to pinpoint your location. It also affects how well you can hide in spots such as tents or under beds, and while the full details of Jason’s Sense mechanic aren’t for sure as to how well he’s able to Sense Counselors who are hiding in their locations, it does seem to give you a chance to avoid his Sense sometimes if you’re crouching with a high-Stealth Counselor.
Of course, sneaking around and hiding can only get you so far, and that’s when the Stamina and Speed components come into play. Some might argue that being able to run away longer and faster tops the benefits that Stealth brings, but you’ll also be making a lot of noise when you move around. It might seem like a good idea to pick someone who has a balance, such as Kenny Riedell who has fives accross the board for his stats, but you’re probably better off picking someone who has a specialty.ย
Check Your Spawn Location Quickly
Once you’ve chosen your Counselor and the game begins you’ve only got a few seconds before Jason makes his first move. Assume that he’ll stop to pick up a couple of throwing knives, that gives you just enough time to check your minimap and see where you spawned before he Morphs across the map.
Spawning next to somewhere like a car or the Lodge may seem like a score, but it actually puts you in the most danger. Put yourself in Jason’s undead shoes for a minute: Where would you go first to look for the Counselors? The answer to that is likely the most populated spots, which you unfortunately just found yourself dropped into.ย
It may seem tempting to go straight for the bigger locations and raid the cabins for resources, but you can’t stay for too long if you choose to do so. Jason won’t have all of his abilities from the get-go, so you still have a chance of escaping him early on, but even him landing a hit or two on you and slowing you down can really mess up the rest of your game.
To avoid this, it’s best to not look towards the inviting hotspots towards the beginning. If you find yourself spawning near one, high-tail it out of there and work your way back when you’ve got a partner or some pocket knives to back you up.
Find Yourself A Map, Quickly
Your minimap can only do so much for you as you attempt to navigate the sprawling campgrounds, and without having an actual map, it can prove quite difficult to remember your surroundings and coordinate with teammates who tell you where to go.
While you should be checking drawers in each cabin anyway to get whatever you can out of the homes before Jason descends on you, finding a map should be one of your top priorities. Many of the other elements of the game depend on it, such as repairing vehicles and assisting your teammates. If you don’t find a map, you’re just going to be carrying around that car battery aimlessly as you attempt to find that little two-seater escape pod.
Another reason why this is so important to grab early on is that its use only increases as the game progresses. It’s one of the few items that can’t be used up or broken against Jason’s thick head, meaning that once you’ve got it, you’ve got it for the rest of the match.
The previous slide mentioned that it’s best to avoid hotspots like the two-story buildings where lots of resources are, and while that’s true, there’s still a map to grab on your way out. As you look around these Lodges, look for a stand that’s usually near the Lodge’s campfires that contains an endless supply of maps for each player to pick up. It’s a lot easier than searching through drawers if you find yourself nearby and in need of a map.
Get That Car Moving
One of the most attractive win conditions that Counselors have inย Friday the 13th: The Game is also one that takes the most teamwork to pull off. Repairing the car can take quite awhile as you search for the three components that have been scattered across the map, but doing so will allow you to get multiple team members to safety.
When repairing the cars, you can either go for the blue car or the yellow car. The blue is obviously the more attractive option as it can fit up to four Counselors inside while the yellow will only fit two, but they both take the same effort to repair, so it really comes down to choosing whichever your situation calls for.
Coordination is also key in repairing whichever car you go for. There are few things more frustrating in the game than finding the car keys only to see that one member of your team but the battery in the blue car and another filled up the gas in the yellow car. Figure out with your team which one you want to go after, and make sure that you all stay vocal if the plan needs to change.
Leaving in the car is an entirely different challenge on its own. You can expect Jason to Morph directly onto the road in front of you if he gets wind that the car is in motion, so be prepared for a brawl in case you crash into him. That’s just another example of why it might be beneficial to go for the blue car to turn the fight into a four-on-one situation.
“Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma” Actually Means Something
You’re definitely going to be bombarded by the iconic music ofย Friday the 13th as you play the game, there’s no doubt about that. An eerie background music sets the mood and keeps you on edge, and the tunes erupt into a disturbing climax when Jason gets near you to let you know that he’s on your trail.
But one part of the music that many players may not pay as much attention to is the “Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma” sound effects. You might find yourself saying them out loud as they’re heard, but while it is catchy, hearing it actually means something that you should definitely pay attention to.
Every time that you hear that noise, it means that Jason has just gained a new ability. He’s got four to work with that include Morph, Sense, Shift, and Stalk, abilities that are learned in that order. The second tone of the sound effects is when you’ve really got something to worry about because that means he’ll have picked up his most powerful ability, Shift.
If you aren’t paying attention to what’s in front of you and the music around you, you may end up like poor Kenny here who didn’t notice that Jason had just picked up all of his abilities and was able to sneak up on him with ease.
Much of the success as the Counselors will come from team coordination, but hopefully, these tips will allow you to best Jason should you find yourself running into the game solo. If not, maybe they’ll at least keep you alive long enough to rack up some decent XP.
