Dead by the Water
A narrative strategy game of un(for)seen betrayals
Dead by the Water is a semi-cooperative game of survival, mutiny and adventure. You and three friends play as the officers of a Cursed Pirate Crew aboard The Avarice. You have six days to navigate a triangular archipelago of hostile islands, find the Idols and cleanse the Curse.
But the Idols whisper and one of you does not intend to leave at all.
In this tense social deception game you will explore unique islands, fight creatures that inhabit them, collect resources to improve your chances, and test your coordination in challenging landmarks.
Note: The game is currently in early prototype stage, public testing phase.
No AI-generated visuals or graphics will be used in the final version of the game.
I am looking for an illustrators (style of Kilian Eng) and a graphic designer (cards, layouts, tokens etc.).
Why support?
DBTW features a modular board with semi-random exploration, survival elements, lite character customisation and engaging battles - all coming together to create a tense experience anchored into emerging gameplay.
Cooperation is critical but the heart of the game is built on weaponized incompetence and plausible deniability. This threads across all systems, all interactions, providing tough, meaningful choices throughout.
Rich in player interactions, DBTW requires strategic planning and careful resource management, whether you are part of the Loyal crew or the Cursed sailor. Each session spontaneously creatures unique challenges which constantly make players reassess priorities. Decisions ripple throughout the session, creating gameplay depth. With asymmetry and a large amount of modular parts, no two playthroughs is the same.
Our goal is for Dead by the Water to be a game of moments, of stories told; a game about “that time” your friend did “that thing” to save the day (or doom it); promising high player agency and depth of decision.
Innovative combat and social-deception
Cooperation is essential - but trust is dangerous. Players juggle survival under pressure while sussing out a hidden traitor in their midst.
Designed from the ground up for betrayal, the game delivers high-stakes confrontations, sharp twists, and countless viable strategies to sabotage from the shadows.
Emergent gameplay and highly replayable
Varied roles, shifting weather, modular board, mini-dungeons, unique enemies, and mutators ensure strong replayability.
Each system is tightly interlinked to create depth - not through component bloat, but by letting every decision ripple across the game through a mix of public and hidden information, never at the cost of planning.
Immersive & unique pirate roleplay
Many actions in Dead by the Water require players to physically perform an action that mirrors what their character is doing in-game.
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Aiming a musket? Choose where to place a line of damage.
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A seasoned duelist? Call out the enemy’s next move to avoid it.
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A Soothsayer? Predict the next icon to unleash powerful effects.
Key game features
Your character, your playstyle
Customize your playstyle by picking from 10 characters with diverse strengths and weaknesses, 9 roles each with 3 unique abilities, and customize your playstyle with 80 unique equipment - from armors, weapons, kit or even an assistant lemur (how did they even get that thing?).
As you progress in the session, the crew will likely find Treasures: unique weapons, companions, trinkets or even ship improvements.
The Avarice is a living base where resources are stored and the crew is kept fed and alive through the night.
Each day, the First Mate gives orders: managing the crew, choosing where to make landfall, and deciding how to spend Crew Strength on unique, instant bonuses, often the difference between survival and disaster... provided the crew is still alive and resources are available.
Use social deception to mislead, poison food, lure creatures, or burn supplies... or reveal yourself to murder your friends and seize victory.
Hidden information and role interdependence force cooperation under pressure. Key actions require players in different roles to work together, even as doubt and misdirection creep in. Every system assumes a traitor may be present, creating plausible deniability, tactical cover, and betrayals that are as funny as they are devastating.
There is no player elimination. When a character falls, the crew track is reduced by 1, but the player remains in the game as generic crew—weaker, but still very much involved.
A series of unique and challenging landmarks are scattered throughout the Archipelago.
Each landmark requires players to first clear two modular rooms, modified by landmark-specific mutators, before accessing the final challenge.
The final challenge pushes coordination to its limits, delivering unexpected twists and one-of-a-kind gameplay.
Victory offers a powerful, game altering reward, strengthening the expedition and tipping the scales in favor of the Loyal crew.
Weapons deal damage using thematic damage shapes, slashing attacks form curves, while piercing attacks strike in straight lines.
Attacks are resolved with a secret dice roll, revealed only if you claim to have hit. You can empower attacks to improve your odds:
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use Dexterity to roll two dice
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Strength to deal more damage in melee
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or Wisdom to trigger your weapon’s unique ability (crafty indeed).
On a hit, place the damage shape onto the target’s hit grid, potentially disabling attacks or reactions. When the grid is completely filled, the creature is dead.
Simple. Brutal.
At the end of each day, an Event triggers.
Players draw the top card of the Event deck and resolve its effect. The Event interacts with the icons publicly displayed in The Wake: cards that were revealed and splayed throughout the day.
Some of these icons will modify the Event, while others will have no effect.
Each day builds tension, offering both insight and misdirection as the crew prepares for the crisis ahead.
Play a Day
Discover what you can expect playing DBTW
1
Each morning, the First Mate orders the ship forward, moving up to the current Crew Value (How many are still alive, really), and deploys two Jolly Boats ashore for the crew to disembark.
As the Fog rolls back, unmarked locations must be explored again—unless a trail of torches was left behind.
The weather shifts to one of three states—Clear, Heatwave, or Stormy—introducing light mutators that shape the day ahead.
Once the crew sets foot on the island, the Day begins.
2
Each day consists of three rounds, forming the core loop of the game.
In each round, players take turns. On their turn, a player performs two actions, then Creatures activate - advancing toward the nearest target and attacking if able.
After all players have acted, the Discovery step of that round resolves.
Any player in an unexplored location draws a Discovery card, triggering a challenge or opportunity, often at a cost. Multiple players often resolve one discovery, together... watch your back as these often include skillchecks.
Skillchecks are a staple of social deception games: in DBTW, players may pool some of their attributes secretly, shuffly and then drawing to see whether the check was successful... Only the active player resolves negative effects - ouch, seems like I fell down the cliff!
Once all three rounds are complete, the day gives way to the Night phase.
3
Players return to the Jolly Boats, hoping to make it back to the ship—or choosing to remain on their island if they have the right equipment or have blazed a trail.
Once aboard, resources are deposited into the hold and shuffled together. The crew then performs basic maintenance: trimming the lamps, stoking the galley, and ensuring they won’t starve or freeze during the night.
This is when a mutiny may occur if the First Mate has mismanaged the crew.
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Did someone die?
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Did the hull take damage?
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If so, this is your opportunity to sway the crew and seize power!
Why does it matter? The First Mate issues orders. They choose three orders, each costing Crew Value, which can be executed during the following day—ranging from supporting cannon fire, to extra rations, to taking an additional crew member ashore (risky… it'd be a shame if they didn't make it back.).
Finally, an Event triggers, resolving against the icons splayed in The Wake... tokens of the crew’s questionable decisions made throughout the day *wink* *wink*.
Coming soon
Join the Crew!
Join the Crew!
Playtest the game today and give your feedback below!
Download the public beta on Tabletop Simulator (TTS)
AI art disclaimer