Social deduction games have seen a massive rise in popularity thanks to the craze that Among Us set into motion in 2020. This has given birth to such titles as First Class Trouble, Fortnite‘s Imposters mode, and the recently released Dread Hunger. Dread Hunger was in early access for nearly a year before finally officially launching and now that it has, it’s clear why it’s become so popular in just a few short months.
The objective of the game is to safely pass through a treacherous stretch of the Arctic; however, there are plenty of obstacles standing in the way of the eight players and a safe exit. From freezing temperatures to bears to cannibals, players need to work together to survive long enough to make it home, but the biggest threat of all is the two players whose main job is to sabotage the other six every step of the way.
The saboteurs, called Thralls in-game, are the main threat and the rest of the crew’s job is to survive while also figuring out who the traitors are. While there’s no surefire way to know who the Thralls are, there are still a few tips for spotting them that could be the difference between living to see morning and laying in a frozen, Arctic grave.
How to Decide if Someone is a Thrall
Because of the very nature of a social deduction game, there’s no one way to detect if someone is lying about being a Thrall. Instead, the player will need to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious behavior and hopefully catch a potential Thrall in a lie so damning that there’s nothing they can say that can convince the rest of the crew that they’re not a traitor.
The first and biggest thing for players to keep an eye out for is a crewmate who isn’t playing their role. Each player is given a job at the beginning of the game and if someone isn’t doing what they’re asked or starts showing up in places where it doesn’t make sense for them to be, they should automatically be seen as suspicious. Players should constantly be asking themselves things like “what is the hunter doing in the kitchen?” Sometimes there are logical explanations such as “delivering meat to the cook” but other times the out-of-place crewmate doesn’t have a great explanation. “Could it be that they were trying to poison the food before anyone noticed?”
While out-of-place crewmates can be a reason for potential suspicion, it’s not always a condemning piece of evidence because it’s not uncommon for crewmates to fill different roles as they see fit. There are a lot of tasks that need completing meaning that there are potential real reasons why someone might be where they aren’t expected. When finding someone out-of-place, listen to their reasoning and decide from there if they’re suspicious or not.
One great giveaway for Thralls is someone who’s reluctant to contribute. If they aren’t bringing much to the table in terms of the workload, they might just be trying to sabotage the group by setting them back and causing more effort to be expended on tasks that could have easily been done by one person.
Make sure to also keep an eye on which items are where and who’s in the area when crucial items are being traded. Oftentimes a Thrall will try to get rid of things necessary for survival. If the player sees someone purposefully throwing items into the ocean without having a proper explanation as to why, they’re likely a Thrall.
At the end of the day, there’s no one way to know who the Thralls are in Dread Hunger without having situational awareness and the knowledge of what to look out for. The best thing a player can do in a match is to ask a lot of questions while staying vigilant and suspicious of everyone.
