Recently, my friends and I have discovered the video game Friday the 13th.

(NOTE: This game is rated M for mature due to the intense violence, inappropriate language, and large amount of blood and gore that may be inappropriate for kids under a certain age.)

The game was released May 26, 2017 for the PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. Based off of the popular film series, this single player game is suspenseful, involves strategy, teamwork, and overall a LOT of fun. In the game, you will be randomly selected as either a counselor or Jason (the killer). If you’re chosen to be a counselor your goal is to escape by finding the parts to the car, calling the police, escaping in the motorboard, surviving the entire 20 minute round without getting caught by Jason, or by killing Jason. If you’re chosen as Jason, you have a series of abilities to help you kill all of the camp counselors.

This game is fun for everyone, whether you’re a video game person or not. My friend who doesn’t play video games at all enjoys watching to see if we’re successful in killing all of the counselors as Jason or to simply see if we’re able to escape. As for my friends and I who do play, we love the challenge this video game entails because it’s not easy. If you’re interested in playing this game, let me help you out with a few tips as Jason and as a counselor.

As a Counselor:

First and foremost, choose a counselor you’d want to be before starting the match. If you don’t choose a specific counselor, you’ll randomly get selected a counselor. In addition, you might prefer to have a character with perks you prefer over others. For instance, my character is AJ Mason. I choose her because she is extremely stealthy, smart, and has good composure. This means, Jason has a harder time seeing her on his map, installs car and boat parts faster, and doesn’t get easily scared. BUT she also has downfalls as well, she lacks stamina, has bad luck, isn’t strong, and doesn’t run as fast as other characters. This means she can’t run for as long as other characters can, lacks strength to escape from Jason’s grip if caught, and has bad luck. In addition, you can also roll for perks to help make your character stronger or better, such as an increase in health, harder to see, etc. So find a character that best suits you!

Now aside from just having a good character, you’ll also want to have a bit of knowledge of what to do. Believe me when I first started playing I had no clue, so let me explain!

First rule of thumb, DON’T RUN UNLESS YOU NEED TOO. When you run, it increases the sound your character makes. Thus, making you an easier target for Jason.

Secondly, look for different items throughout the map. You’ll want a map, a weapon, health spray, a pocket knife, and a walkie talkie to talk and listen to other players in your lobby. These are all key items to helping you escape from Jason.

Thirdly, allow me to explain the map:

This is your map; you won’t be given a map at first so you’ll need to search the drawers in different cabins to find one. Once found, you can press the select button and pull this screen up. The map will show you where key items are along with other characters. The yellow arrow is you, the little gray circles are other players, and the little gray houses are cabins you can search. The 3 key landmarks you need to know are the car the motorboat, and the main house. Now on the right hand side of the map are a list of tasks. Whenever someone completes a task it will have a red checkmark next to it. These are the different ways you can escape from Jason. A lot of this will require teamwork! Now let me walk you through the different ways to escape.

1) Calling the Authorities:

This is a fairly simple task IF you can find the fuse. The fuse looks a little like the first image below. Once you find the fuse, you need to find the fuse box to repair it. (Note: The fuse and the fuse box are generally close in proximity to one another.) After repairing the fuse box, go inside the cabin and call the police. BUT THERE’S A CATCH...The police takes about 5 minutes to show up, and once they show up, you need to find where they are on your map and run to them to be saved. It sounds super annoying, but I swear once you find the fuse, the rest is easy!

2) Calling Tommy Jarvis:

This is the easiest task if you can find the radio. Once you locate the radio you simply call Tommy Jarvis and a character who dies or escapes will randomly be selected to come back into the game as Tommy. Now Tommy has the ability to kill Jason, but to do so it’s such a long and difficult process that none of my friends nor I could complete in doing so. But it’s always nice for Tommy to come back and help achieve some of the other tasks! So definitely try and call Tommy if you can!

3) Escape Using the Car:

There are 2 cars in the game, a four-seater car and a two-seater car. Which obviously means only four or two people can escape using the car. The car is annoying because it won't run without 3 key parts. The gas, the keys, and the battery. And guess what? They're all scattered throughout the map. Finding the items is only half the challenge, you then need to install the battery and gas without getting caught by Jason. Then when all the parts are installed and the keys are found, you need to start the car and drive it to the exit in order to escape. This is the most common way people escape from Jason, but it is not easy, especially because driving the car isn’t easy. ALSO if you can, try not to leave in the car by yourself, people hate that. So try and save others if you're the driver of the car, don't be Chad. (Chad is the douchey character in the game)

4) Escape Using the Boat:

Just like escaping in the car, the boat also requires you to find some missing parts. The boat is easier and more difficult in some ways. You only have two pieces to find for the boat unlike the car which requires three, the gas and the propeller. While you don't need keys to start the boat, finding the propeller is the hard part. The propeller is the hardest part to find because it's small and usually hidden on a shelf in a cabin and can be easily missed. Another hard part about the boat is Jason can swim a lot faster than the boat moves. ON THE UPSIDE, the boat is way easier to drive than the car is!

Well! There's your beginners guide to Friday the 13th the game as a counselor. Definitely takes some practice, but once you get the hang of things it's a really fun game! So will you survive? Only one way to find out...

As Jason

Now here's the hard part... Being chosen as Jason. When starting as Jason, he's is commanded by his mom, Pamela to kill all of the counselors and make his mother proud. Like the counselors you want to choose a Jason that best suits what you want. Each Jason has different perks just like each counselor has different perks. For instance, my Jason starts with 6 throwing knives, can sense people faster, and shift faster than other Jason characters. BUT on the downside, his defense is low, he can't run, and morphing to different areas of the map takes a little longer.

All Jason character have different kill's based on their weapons for example, my Jason has a shishkabob kill because he has a spear. Other kinds of kills can be bought to make your Jason more interesting!

Now let's run through Jason's abilities.

1) Sense:

Jason's sense ability allows him to see which houses counselors are hiding in and where counselors are near him. The counselors and houses appear red making it easier for Jason to find them and kill.

2) Morph:

Jason's morph ability allows Jason to teleport anywhere on the map. You move the red dot to anywhere on the map and you'll teleport to the selected location. This is the first perk available to you when you're Jason.

Tips for Morph:
-Go to the car and put down bear traps to make using the car more difficult for users.
-Go to the fuse boxes and knock out the power to scare counselors making them more easy to detect.
-Go to the main cabin, people are usually there searching for items.

3) Shift:

Shift allows Jason to disappear and move at a very quick speed for a short amount of time. This is helpful when chasing counselors who have the ability to run fast. It moves VERY fast, so controlling it takes some getting used too.

4) Stalk:

This ability allows Jason's theme music to be silent not giving away to counselors that he's close. This ability is good for sneaking up on counselors.

5) Throwing Knives:

Jason has throwing knives all around the map he can use to injure counselors to slow them down making it easier for him. (Note: Counselors can't reach throwing knives unfortunately.)

6) Bear Traps:

Jason has a series of bear traps to use wherever he pleases. They're hard to see sometimes, and when a counselor is caught in one, Jason is immediately notified.

Best places to put bear traps:
-Around the car to make getting the car started more difficult.
-In front of the fuse box, making it more difficult to repair the fuse
-In front of the boat, making getting into the boat more difficult

And this concludes your beginners guide to playing as Jason Voorhees. Will you let the counselors escape and disappoint Pamela? Only one way to find out...

Now that I've given you some tips, get out there and buy this game, I promise you WON'T be disappointed. While it's a single player game, it's really fun to watch how your friends will do. Plus you never know, you might find me playing, who knows?

Good luck!