Surviving a match in GRIMWORKS requires managing your flashlight battery, working with up to seven teammates to repair generators during blackouts, and evading lethal Attractions until 6:00 AM. In this asymmetrical survival horror experience developed by puliltz on Roblox, eight survivors face off against a single killer inside dark, labyrinthine maps inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's.
Because Attractions deal heavy damage and down survivors in just two to three hits, understanding your defensive tools, revival windows, and movement mechanics is essential for making it through the night.
Core Objective and Match Structure
Every match in GRIMWORKS begins at 12:00 AM in a server featuring up to nine players: eight survivors and one Attraction. Your main objective is to stay alive until the match clock reaches 6:00 AM.
Survivor gameplay is locked strictly to a first-person perspective. The developers designed the mode this way to maintain tension, limited peripheral vision, and claustrophobia in pitch-black corridors.
While alive, your user interface displays:
- The match clock centered at the top.
- Teammate status icons on the sides showing their player avatars, remaining health percentages, and downed countdown timers.
- Your personal status in the corner, tracking your remaining health, stamina bar, and flashlight battery percentage.
- Two perk or item slots.
If you die, your screen turns to static and you enter spectator mode. The spectate system allows you to cycle through remaining teammates, either through a third-person camera or a survivor point-of-view camera feed.
Default Controls and Movement
Navigating the pizzeria requires balancing your sprint meter and using agility to break line of sight.
| Action | Default Keybind | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Move | W / A / S / D | Standard directional movement |
| Sprint | Shift | Consumes stamina to run away from Attractions |
| Crouch | Ctrl | Lowers your profile to enter tight spots |
| Slide | Sprint + Crouch | Allows you to quickly slide under or through certain obstacles |
| Interact | E | Used for reviving players, fueling, and charging equipment |
| Ability | F | Activates assigned survivor abilities or perks |
| Attack / Use | M1 | Uses equipped items or tools |
Health System and Reviving Teammates
Survivors do not die instantly upon taking fatal damage; the game utilizes a two-life mechanic.
When an Attraction depletes your health bar, your character enters a downed state on the floor. Downed teammates are highlighted and visible through walls to other survivors, and an emergency icon appears with an active countdown timer.
- First Down: If a teammate reaches you before the timer expires, they can interact to revive you. Reviving brings you back up at exactly 50% health.
- Second Down: If your health bar is depleted after being revived, your character dies permanently and you are eliminated from the round.
- Baiting Warning: Because downed players emit a visible outline, Attractions often linger nearby or patrol the area to ambush incoming rescuers. Approach downed teammates cautiously.
Medical items such as first aid kits can spawn on the map. Developer discussions indicate that first aid kits heal up to 50% of a survivor's health and can be applied to yourself or wounded allies.
Flashlight Battery and Recharge Stations
Pitch darkness blankets the map, making your flashlight your most critical tool for spotting traps and pathfinding through corridors.
Your flashlight drains battery whenever it remains active. If your battery drops toward zero, you must locate a wall-mounted charging station scattered throughout the pizzeria.
- Recharging requires you to plug in and stand completely motionless while the battery meter refills.
- Because you are locked in place during the charging animation, verify your immediate surroundings before plugging in. Running out of battery leaves you vulnerable to ambushes in the dark.
Blackouts and Generator Tasks
Midway through a match, a blackout event will cut the power to the facility. When a blackout occurs, ambient light drops to zero, mechanical security doors stop functioning, and the match countdown clock completely pauses. Time will not resume until survivors repair the central generator.
To restore power, players must locate the generator and gather components that spawn randomly across the map:
- Gasoline Canister: Find a fuel can, carry it to the generator, and complete a minigame where you hold and shake your mouse to pour the fuel in.
- Cables / Jump Start Kit: Locate the power cables or jump-start device and connect them to the generator's terminals.
- Task Coordination: The killer holds a significant tactical advantage while the lights are out. Survivors should split responsibilities—one player scavenging for fuel while another searches for cables—to get the power back online as quickly as possible.
Defensive Tools: Security Doors and Air Vents
Survivors cannot engage in direct combat with Attractions. Your survival depends on using facility fixtures to delay chases and break pursuit.
Security Doors
Certain high-value rooms, such as the security office, feature powered mechanical doors.
- Pressing the door control drops a blast door to temporarily block the Attraction from reaching you.
- Doors remain closed for approximately 3 seconds before automatically resetting.
- After a door opens, it enters a cooldown period of roughly 30 seconds before it can be used again.
- Doors rely entirely on facility power. If a blackout occurs and the generator is unpowered, security doors will not work.
- In the original pizzeria map, one side of the office doorway is visibly damaged, leaving only a single operable blast door.
Ventilation Ducts
Small ventilation shafts allow survivors to crawl quickly between adjacent rooms to escape linear chases.
- Crawling into a vent initiates an on-screen oxygen meter.
- Staying inside the duct continuously drains your oxygen. If your oxygen meter runs out, your character will die inside the shaft.
- Vents must be used as quick transition shortcuts rather than permanent hiding spots.
Last Survivor Standing (LMS) and Perks
GRIMWORKS features an active reward system that monitors individual contribution across the match.
Perk System
Before a round starts, survivors can equip up to two perks that introduce tactical trade-offs. For example, some perks grant a 20% increase to teammate revive speed at the cost of making you slower for 10 seconds afterward, while others trade stamina consumption for flat movement speed boosts.
LMS Health Reward
If you are the final player alive in the pizzeria, the game triggers Last Survivor Standing (LMS).
Players who actively completed generator tasks, revived downed teammates, or used healing items during the earlier phases of the match receive a large health restoration when LMS begins. Conversely, players who hid throughout the match without contributing to team objectives do not receive this recovery bonus, making lone survival significantly more difficult.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can survivors play in third-person view?
No. Survivor gameplay is locked to first-person view to ensure limited visibility and maintain horror tension. Third-person view is only accessible via the spectator camera after you die.
Can survivors fight back or stun the killer?
Survivors have no combat abilities to fight or defeat Attractions directly. You must rely on mechanical doors, sprinting, sliding, and air vents to evade incoming attacks.
What happens if the generator is never repaired during a blackout?
The match timer remains paused for the duration of the blackout. You cannot wait out the night or reach 6:00 AM until the generator tasks are fully completed and power is restored.
Can an Attraction kill a survivor in one hit?
Under standard conditions, Attractions do not possess instant-kill attacks. Survivors take two to three standard hits before entering a downed state, providing an opportunity for teammates to perform a rescue.
