The major selling point of Until Dawn is that any of the eight main characters can live or die depending on the choices the player makes. It’s a game designed to incentivise multiple playthroughs through its branching storylines, with collectibles and trophies that can only be obtained by ensuring certain characters are alive (or dead) by particular points in the story.
With so many moving parts involved, it’s easy to miss an opportunity to save somebody, which is especially frustrating if you’re trying to get the golden ending. Don’t worry though, because we’ve put together a complete walkthrough on how to save every character in Until Dawn. And, since this page outlines every possible character death when explaining how to avoid them, you could also just… do the exact opposite… if you especially wanted to make sure everybody dies. Just a thought.
Please note that this guide will contain major spoilers for Until Dawn once you scroll below the video. We highly recommend that you play through the game once without reading any walkthroughs, and then use our guides on subsequent playthroughs to help you see different outcomes and find hidden collectibles.
Finally, the advice in this guide applies to both versions of the game – the PlayStation 4 original and the PlayStation 5/PC re-release – unless clearly stated.
On this page:
How to save Jessica in Until Dawn
Jess has the dubious honour of being the first possible death in Until Dawn, as she can be offed as early as Chapter 4 depending on your actions.
How to save Jessica in Chapter 4
To prevent Jess’s death in Chapter 4 while playing as Mike, you need to always pick the quicker options when chasing after her, and avoid failing the QTEs along the path. It’s not as daunting as it appears at first, but nevertheless after three strikes, Mike’s next epic fail will ensure that Jess has already died by the time he reaches her.
The game is deliberately ambiguous about Jess’s early fate at first, and won’t even ping the trophy for saving her during this section until a few chapters down the line; but let’s just say that if she’s dead, you’ll definitely know about it when you get a look at her. If she maybe just looks unconscious, she’ll eventually reappear later on; if half her face is off, Jess is dead.
How to save Jessica in Chapter 10
Jess has a second potential death in Chapter 10, which plays out a bit differently depending on whether Matt is still alive by this point. If they’re both alive then you’ll be playing as Matt and have Jess as an NPC companion, whereas if Matt’s dead you’ll directly take control of Jess in this section.
Either way, however, you’ll need to pass a couple of Don’t Move challenges and, most crucially, always choose to hide rather than running when given a choice. But if you’re playing as Matt during this sequence, there’s an additional QTE you’ll need to pass to keep them both alive, and you (obviously) shouldn’t abandon her when given the option.
Jessica’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are a total of five trophies associated with keeping Jessica alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- Don’t Scare Jessica To Death: Jessica survives the night (PS4 version)
- Four Daughters of Darkness: All four girls survived the night (PS4 version)
- Drag Me Through Hell: Mike saves Jessica in Chapter 4 without failing any QTEs (PS5/PC version)
- Only Others Left Alive: Jess and Matt are the only two survivors at the end of the night (PS5/PC version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There is one trophy associated with ensuring Jessica doesn’t survive the night:
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Matt in Until Dawn
Matt is quite possibly the easiest Until Dawn character to accidentally kill off – not because he has the most possible deaths, but because it’s very hard to intuit which actions will contribute to his survival, especially on a first playthrough.
How to save Matt in Chapter 6
That being said, his first potential death is pretty easy to avoid: when prompted to attack the deer in Chapter 6, don’t do it. Let the action prompt time out and continue walking calmly through the herd to avoid honestly the stupidest death in the whole game.
Later on in the same chapter, though, you’re going to have to do some quick thinking to keep Matt alive and kicking. There are a number of moving parts involved here, so we’ll break it down into individual steps:
- In Chapter 5, Matt should disagree with Emily when she suggests heading to the fire tower to summon help. It’s a counterintuitive move for a number of reasons and won’t actually affect whether or not they go, but it’s obscurely important for setting up a key dialogue choice later. (However, if you agreed with Emily, Matt can still survive; he just has one less option for how to do so now.)
- In Chapter 6, when playing as Emily, give Matt the flare gun. If Matt disagreed with Em’s plan to summon help in the last chapter he’ll resist the urge to fire it off immediately and instead decide to save it for an emergency. (If they agreed earlier, Matt will waste the flare; you can still save him after this point, but again you won’t have an option as to how.)
- After resuming control of Matt later in Chapter 6, you need to make a choice after the collapse of the fire tower:
- You need to choose “Jump to safety” if Matt doesn’t have the flare gun, since to do anything else guarantees his death. (Don’t worry, Em won’t actually die if you leave her at this point, so you’ll still get a chance to save everyone – but it’ll adversely affect Matt and Em’s relationship.)
- However, if you’ve followed the steps above and Matt has the flare gun, you can make the better choice to “Save Emily”. This results in a longer sequence that ends with an action prompt to fire a flare at Matt’s attacker; succeed and you’ll have saved him for another little while.
Note that you’ll encounter this choice twice in quick succession, and Matt can choose to jump to safety at either point to ensure his survival, with or without the flare gun.
How to save Matt in Chapter 10
Matt isn’t quite out of the woods yet though, as he has one more possible death in Chapter 10. Your other actions will depend on whether Matt is alone or with Jess during this sequence.
If Matt and Jess are together, you’ll need to always choose to hide rather than running, and pass a couple of Don’t Move challenges as well as an additional QTE to ensure that a heavily injured Jess doesn’t draw a monster’s attention, which is deadly for both characters. Matt does have the choice to abandon Jess at one point, and in doing so can save himself, but this will guarantee Jess’s death without ensuring Matt’s survival so it’s not really worth it unless you’re actively trying to get her killed.
If Matt is alone, you can choose whether to hide or run. Hiding means passing several Don’t Move challenges, whereas running results in a mix of QTEs and Don’t Move challenges. Either way, though, you’ll need to pass all of them to get Matt out alive.
Matt’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are three different trophies associated with keeping Matt alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- The Quicker Man: All four boys survived the night (PS4 version)
- Only Others Left Alive: Matt and Jess are the only two survivors at the end of the night (PS5/PC version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There is one trophy associated with ensuring Matt doesn’t survive the night:
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Emily in Until Dawn
Emily is Until Dawn’s most-killable character, with no fewer than five different opportunities to die throughout the game. On the plus side, it’s not too difficult to work out what you need to do in order to keep her alive, although you’ll have to be able to cope with every one of the game’s skill challenges in order to ensure her survival.
How to save Emily in Chapter 8
Emily is in a lot of danger throughout Chapter 8, and her playable section in this chapter is one of the most action-heavy segments of the game. While playing as her, you must act decisively and start the elevator as soon as you’re able, as well as passing a whole series of QTEs while being chased. If Emily has the flare gun, there’ll also be an additional prompt to fire it during this chase.
Note that if Emily gave Matt the flare gun, she’ll receive a bite courtesy of her pursuer during this section; this will also happen if she has the gun but fails to shoot the flare in time. This isn’t a death sentence for Emily, but does open up another possible death for her later on.
She doesn’t get much of a breather once she makes it outside, either, since the conveyor belt she finds herself on will drop her into an industrial rock grinder if she doesn’t jump off in time, leading to one of the nastiest and most pointless deaths in the whole game. Choose to “Jump off” the conveyor belt as soon as the option becomes available and pass the QTE that follows (which you get two chances at) to see her to safety.
It’s only a brief reprieve in the event that Em got bitten though, because later on in the chapter while playing as Mike, you’ll have the option to shoot her in fear that she’s about to turn into a monster. Let the timer run out and do not shoot Emily, since doing so will achieve nothing other than killing her.
Once that unpleasantness is over and done with, one final minor choice in this chapter can have a small influence on Emily’s fate, although it’s strictly optional. If Emily was bitten, Ashley can reveal the truth about the harmless nature of the bite; doing so will result in a confrontation between the two that will make Emily moderately easier to save in Chapter 10, at the cost of making Ashley moderately harder to save.
How to save Emily in Chapter 10
Unless you’ve created a very specific set of circumstances getting up to this point, Emily is at risk of death a couple more times in the final confrontation at the very end of the game, which you’ll be playing as Sam.
In order to survive, Emily needs to get clear from the lodge before Sam or Mike blows up the building. Depending on her relationship with Ashley based on the choice outlined above, she’ll either be the first (if she’s angry with Ashley, or if Ashley has died) or second (if she’s not angry and Ashley is still alive) character Sam needs to escort to safety.
Note: If Chris is already dead and Emily is either angry with Ashley or Ashley has already died too, then Emily’s survival during this section is guaranteed, as the first person to leave the lodge always survives.
To finally ensure Emily’s survival, you need to pass the corresponding Don’t Move challenge as Sam while Em tries to flee, and do not choose “Run to switch” until you see her get out the door. A butterfly effect overlay will play on-screen to confirm once she’s safe.
Emily’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are four trophies associated with keeping Emily alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- Let eM In: Mike chose not to shoot Emily when prompted (PS4 version)
- Talk to eM: Mike chose not to shoot Emily when prompted and Ashley later revealed the truth (PS5/PC version)
- Four Daughters of Darkness: All four girls survived the night (PS4 version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There are also three trophies associated with ensuring Emily doesn’t survive the night:
- The Exorcism of Emily: Mike shot Emily (PS4 version)
- Instant Inferno: Sam immediately flipped the switch to set the lodge ablaze, killing anyone still inside (PS4 version)
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Chris in Until Dawn
Chris is the first character who can be permanently saved in a playthrough of Until Dawn, but he has to go through some harrowing stuff to get that far. Also, despite the fact that he can only die quite late in the game, the choices you make as him much earlier on will play a major factor in his survivability.
How to save Chris in Chapter 6
Despite the fact that Chris can’t die until Chapter 8, there’s a crucial choice in Chapter 6 that can guarantee his death later on if you’re not careful. When Chris and Ashley are caught by one of the Psycho’s traps and Chris is instructed to shoot one of them, he must choose to shoot himself, not Ashley.
Some players are confused by Ashley’s dialogue in this scene making it sound like she’s asking Chris to give her the gun; do not attempt to extend the gun to her, as the game will register this as Chris choosing to shoot her. This is made less ambiguous in the PS5/PC version, which shows targets on both characters when making this choice.
How to save Chris in Chapter 8
Chris’s playable section in Chapter 8 will see him running back to the lodge pursued by several unspeakable horrors. Fortunately he’ll have a shotgun with him, but you’ll still need to succeed at every single shooting prompt in this sequence in order to get him back to the lodge alive.
Once there, it’s all in Ashley’s hands: as long as Chris didn’t try to shoot her earlier, she’ll unlock the door and he’ll be let safely inside. If Chris did try to shoot Ashley to save himself, she will either be unwilling to let him in (on PS4) or won’t have waited for him and so will be too late to do so after a moment of hesitation (on PS5/PC).
How to save Chris in Chapter 9
Chris is also at risk of death in Chapter 9, although it’s much easier to prevent anything bad from happening this time around. The simplest way to ensure that Chris survives is for Ashley to choose “Reassure” and tell him that he’s not slowing the group down. This way, he’ll choose to stay with the others, and will be out of danger permanently.
However, if you did make a choice that resulted in Chris hanging back, he can still be saved. You just need to make sure that neither Chris nor Ashley opens the trapdoor, which you can still walk away from even if one of them elected to investigate the area.
How to save Chris in Chapter 10
Despite the situation the group find themselves in back at the lodge looking pretty dire for everyone, Chris can’t actually die in Chapter 10, making him the only character whose survival is guaranteed if he makes it this far. Pay attention to what he does when leaving, however, as his escape to safety provides a subtle tutorial on what you need to do next to get Emily, Ashley, and Mike out alive.
Chris’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are two trophies associated with keeping Chris alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- The Quicker Man: All four boys survived the night (PS4 version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There are also five trophies across various versions of the game associated with ensuring Chris doesn’t survive the night:
- Fatal Grudge: Chris chose to shoot Ashley, unknowingly guaranteeing his own death (PS4 version)
- Ashley Snaps: Ashley refused to unlock the door, and let Chris die (PS4 version)
- Nightmare on Ash Street: Ashley hesitated before going back to unlock the door, and Chris died (PS5/PC version)
- You Let The Wrong One In!: Chris or Ashley opened the trapdoor after investigating the voice (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Ashley in Until Dawn
Despite being one of the first characters to endure some nightmarish stuff, Ashley can only actually die quite near the end of the game, and you don’t need to do an awful lot of prep to make sure the odds are in her favour once she’s in real danger.
However, if you want to improve her chances just a tiny bit, in Chapter 8 you can choose not to confess the truth about the bite to Emily (under the circumstances where Emily has been bitten and Mike has chosen not to shoot her). This will avoid a confrontation between Ashley and Emily and will thus make Ashley moderately easier to save in Chapter 10, at the cost of making Emily moderately harder to save.
How to save Ashley in Chapter 9
Ashley can die in Chapter 9 if she chooses to open a certain trapdoor with a voice calling from behind it. The easiest way to avoid this is to choose Rejoin Group when given the option, skipping the next part of the scene altogether.
However, doing so causes you to miss your only shot at getting one of the game’s Totem collectibles, so you can also elect to Investigate Voice, which gives you the opportunity to explore a new area where you can pick that up. Just whatever you do, don’t interact with the trapdoor and most certainly don’t open it – doing so results in an instant game over for Ashley (and possibly also Chris, if he’s with her).
How to save Ashley in Chapter 10
Unless you’ve created a very specific set of circumstances getting up to this point, Ashley is at risk of death a couple more times in the final confrontation at the very end of the game, which you’ll be playing as Sam.
In order to survive, Ashley needs to get clear from the lodge before Sam or Mike blows up the building. Depending on her relationship with Emily, she’ll either be the first (if Emily is not angry with Ashley, or if Emily has died) or second (if Emily is still alive and angry with Ashley) character who Sam needs to escort to safety.
Note: If Chris is already dead and Emily is either not angry with Ashley or Emily has already died too, then Ashley’s survival during this section is guaranteed, as the first person to leave the lodge always survives.
To finally ensure Ashley’s survival, you need to pass the corresponding Don’t Move challenge as Sam while Ash tries to flee, and do not choose “Run to switch” until you see her get out the door. A butterfly effect overlay will play on-screen to confirm once she’s safe.
Ashley’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are up to two trophies associated with keeping Ashley alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- Four Daughters of Darkness: All four girls survived the night (PS4 version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There are also three trophies associated with ensuring Ashley doesn’t survive the night:
- You Let The Wrong One In!: Ashley or Chris opened the trapdoor after investigating the voice (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
- Instant Inferno: Sam immediately flipped the switch to set the lodge ablaze, killing anyone still inside (PS4 version)
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Josh in Until Dawn
There’s only one point in Until Dawn at which it’s possible for Josh to die, and there’s only a single variable that goes into ensuring he survives.
During Chapter 10, when exploring the underground lake cavern as Sam, you must find and fully examine the Scrawled Journal clue. This diary is located behind the waterwheel to Sam’s left as she enters the water. She needs to climb up onto the nearby ledge before crossing the lake, and read the journal in full so that the related clue pings. Doing so will allow her to communicate some lifesaving information to Josh in a couple of scenes’ time, which he’ll then act on autonomously when the time is right.
That’s literally all it takes to ensure that Josh doesn’t get killed. However, with the updated rerelease of Until Dawn for PS5 and PC, Josh is now the only character whose survival ending has a couple of significantly different branches. See our guide to getting Josh’s new ending in Until Dawn (2024) for instructions on how to ensure you see the best outcome.
Josh’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are three trophies associated with keeping Josh alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- The Quicker Man: All four boys survived the night (PS4 version)
- We Need to Talk About Josh: Achieved Josh’s best ending (PS5/PC version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There is also one trophy associated with ensuring Josh doesn’t survive the night:
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Mike in Until Dawn
Despite spending much of the night alone in a strange and menacing location – and potentially ending up a few fingers short of when he started – Mike can in fact only die during Until Dawn’s very final scene in Chapter 10.
When given the choice, Sam must choose “Save Mike” to ensure that he isn’t too grievously injured to flee the lodge. If this happens, even if you do everything else perfectly, Mike will go out in a blaze of glory once everyone else has either escaped or died – a fittingly heroic end, but a fatal one nonetheless.
Once the initial danger to Mike has passed, Sam must then succeed all subsequent Don’t Move challenges and wait until Mike is clear of the building before choosing “Run to switch”.
Mike’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are two trophies associated with keeping Mike alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- The Quicker Man: All four boys survived the night (PS4 version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There are also two trophies associated with ensuring Mike doesn’t survive the night:
- Instant Inferno: Sam immediately flipped the switch to set the lodge ablaze, killing anyone still inside (PS4 version)
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
How to save Sam in Until Dawn
Sam is the character you’ll be playing as during Until Dawn’s final confrontation, and as such, she can only die right at the very end of the game in Chapter 10.
The criteria for Sam’s survival is simple on paper, but in practice can be more difficult than it sounds. You need to succeed at up to four consecutive Don’t Move challenges, depending on the number of other survivors remaining in the lodge, and then make the final decision to “Run to switch” before the timer runs out.
However, you might be interested to know that you can choose “Run to switch” any time it becomes available to guarantee Sam’s survival, but this will sacrifice anyone left in the lodge at the time, which can potentially mean the deaths of Mike, Emily, and/or Ashley
Getting Sam out alive in the PS5/PC version of the game also guarantees that you’ll see a brand-new post-credits scene introduced in the re-release.
Sam’s trophy list in Until Dawn
There are two trophies associated with keeping Sam alive, depending on which version of the game you’re playing:
- Four Daughters of Darkness: All four girls survived the night (PS4 version)
- They All Live: All eight main characters survived the night (PS4/PS5/PC versions)
There is just one trophy associated with ensuring Sam doesn’t survive the night across all versions:
- This is THE End: All eight main characters died before dawn (PS4/PS5/PC versions)