Completing Food Acquisition in Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days

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Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days represents the ultimate survival game experience. With zombies that have acute hearing, ongoing assaults on barricades, and the risk of mental breakdown, it’s a miracle anyone survives in this environment.

A key strategy for staying alive is managing the hunger levels of your survivors. If you neglect their needs, they’ll starve and you’ll face defeat. Let’s explore how to ensure your survivors stay well-fed so they can continue to fight.

How to Eat

First and foremost, meals can only be consumed at your shelter during the Day or Night phases. When you’re out scavenging, the hunger meter won’t display, and attempts to eat will be ineffective.

While you can’t eat outside the shelter, your survivors can still drink alcohol or coffee, unless a specific trait prevents them from doing so.

To feed your survivor, select them first. Then open your inventory, pick a food item, and press the action button (E on the keyboard, A or X on the controller).

How to Get Food

Preventing your survivors from starving is crucial for their survival. If they go without food for too long, they will experience a status called Gnawing Hunger, which can lead to death within a few phases if not addressed.

There are several types of food you can find in the game, including:

Vegetables
Raw meat
Junk food
Dog food
Cooked meals

These items can be located at areas marked for food on the map. The best places to scavenge for food are restaurants and gas stations.

While vegetables and junk food can suffice in an urgent situation, the best approach is to set up a cooking area and prepare your own meals.

If you must give your survivors raw meat or dog food, be aware that this can cause illness, and dog food will likely decrease their morale.

How to Craft Meals

While you may find cooked meals while out scavenging, it’s generally more effective to prepare them at your shelter. Start by crafting a Cooking Area using the workbench.

The initial Cooking Area provides two recipes: Meat Stew and Vegetable Soup. These will set you off on the right path, but as your group expands, you may need to upgrade your cooking station up to two levels.

Meal	Ingredients Required	Unlocked	Effect
Meat Stew	2 Raw Meat 1 Bottled Water	Level 1 Cooking Area	Refills a moderate amount of hunger.
Vegetable Soup	2 Vegetables 1 Bottled Water	Level 1 Cooking Area	Refills a moderate amount of hunger.
Goulash	1 Vegetable 1 Raw Meat 1 Bottled Water	Level 2 Cooking Area	Refills a large amount of hunger.
Chili Con Carne	1 Vegetable 1 Raw Meat 2 Bottled Water	Level 3 Cooking Area	Refills an extra-large amount of hunger.
Casserole	2 Vegetables 1 Raw Meat 2 Bottled Water	Level 3 Cooking Area	Refills an extra-large amount of hunger.

The first two recipes yield two meals each; the rest yield three. If you use a survivor with the Good Cook trait, each recipe will produce one extra meal. Additionally, crafting meals generates empty bottles, which can be used as distractions or saved for collecting water.