Quick hits: Season 7 "Project Boneyard" is live (July 14, 2026), and it's the best time to start The Outlast Trials. This guide covers your first trials, which rig to pick after the v1.61 balance patch, the new Prison Farm trial, and the co-op etiquette that keeps randoms from rage-quitting.
What Is The Outlast Trials?
The Outlast Trials is Red Barrels' co-op survival horror, set in the Cold War era. You're a "Reagent" — a kidnapped civilian being conditioned by the Murkoff Corporation, the same company behind the original Outlast games.
You can play solo or with up to 4 players, in procedurally-mixed "trials" that combine stealth, objectives, and brutal enemy AI. It's Outlast's "you can't fight back" DNA, but built for repeat runs with friends.
- Price: $39.99 on Steam (frequent 30–40% sales)
- Released: March 5, 2024 (1.0); Early Access began May 18, 2023
- Rating: Very Positive on Steam — 94% from 41,000+ reviews
- Platforms: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One / Series X|S — full cross-play
- Runs on: modest hardware; FSR 4.0 support added in 2026
Your First 30 Minutes: What Actually Happens
The game opens in the Sinyala Facility. You're told to follow the program, and then you're dropped into your first trial. Here's what matters:
- You cannot fight. Your only tools are hiding, running, and throwing objects to distract.
- Objectives are on your tablet — check it constantly, and learn the layout from the map.
- Rig selection happens early. Your Rig is your special ability, and it's the most important decision you make.
Rigs Explained: Which One Should You Pick?
There are five rigs. Each has a charge meter that fills over time, and upgrades you unlock with in-game currency. After the v1.61 balance patch (July 23, 2026), the meta shifted:
| Rig | What it does | Verdict for beginners |
|---|---|---|
| Stun | Shocks enemies in place briefly | Best pick. One stun is a full escape. The post-v1.61 meta ("Stun-X") runs this with fast-recharge upgrades. |
| Heal | Instant self-heal | Nerfed in v1.61. Still useful, but slow charges and a longer cooldown make it a trap pick for new players. |
| Blind | Flashbang-style blind | Good for getaways, but misses on moving targets. |
| X-Ray | See through walls | Great for learning trial layouts, weak once you know maps. |
| Detect | Highlights traps and items | Situational. Fine for scouting, weak in a chase. |
Our advice: take Stun, spend your first upgrade points on charge speed, and save Heal for co-op runs where your teammates can cover you.
Trial Basics: Surviving Your First Runs
Stealth Is Everything
- Sound matters more than sight. Walk don't run; crouch through enemy patrols.
- Enemies detect you by noise — bottles and bricks make great decoys. Throw them to pull guards away from an objective.
- Hide when you can't run. Lockers, under beds, and dark corners all work — but enemies check the obvious spots, so move between hides.
Objectives Come in Waves
Trials typically ask you to collect items, turn valves, or disable equipment while enemies roam. The pattern is always the same:
- Scout the objective area from a hiding spot.
- Clear or distract the nearby enemy.
- Do the objective step, retreat, repeat.
Never sprint to the objective "just once" — that's how you get two ex-pops and a dead run.
The Biter Is the New Guy
Season 7 introduced The Biter, a shambling enemy that doesn't chase you — it corners you. It moves slowly but blocks corridors and shuts doors.
Rule of thumb: never fight a Biter. Throw something to lure it away, then slip past.
Co-op: Playing With Randoms vs Friends
The Outlast Trials is a completely different game with a team. Here's how to make it work:
- Stick together. Splitting up looks efficient and ends with someone bleeding out alone.
- Revive etiquette: if you go down, ping your location and stay calm. Your teammate has seconds, not minutes.
- One person watches the door while another does the objective. It sounds silly; it wins trials.
- Escalation Therapy (S7's 2.0 version) is the endless mode — three objectives per tier, infinite scaling. It's the best way to grind currency once you know the basics.
Solo play is possible but brutal — expect trial and error, and rely on Stun and hiding spots. Most players run 2–3 players.
Best Builds and Upgrades for 2026 (Post-v1.61)
After the patch, here's what's working:
- Stun-X build: Stun rig + charge-speed upgrades + the "X-tra Charge" amp. Stun, run, repeat.
- Loadout presets (added in Season 7) let you save one rig + upgrade set and swap mid-lobby — set up a "solo" and a "co-op" preset.
- Rig and Knife customization is now cosmetic + functional: the Season 7 catalog adds stat-modifying knife skins. The free variants are fine; don't overspend early.
- Spend currency on amps, not cosmetics until you've unlocked the full rig tree.
Season 7 "Project Boneyard": What's New (July 14, 2026)
The current season is the biggest content drop yet:
- New environment: The Prison Farm — a derelict prison with long sightlines and very few hiding spots.
- New trial: "Locksock the Warden" — Sergeant Coyle patrols the farm, and the trial mixes objective waves with constant pressure.
- New MK-Challenges: "Bribe the Judges" and "Cancel the Broadcast" — shorter, score-based challenges for quick grinding.
- Escalation Therapy 2.0 and Invasion 2.0 (the PvP mode, now expanded).
- The Blood Drive community event — seasonal rewards, still running this month.
- Quality of life: Mastery Tasks, a hint system, and the v1.61 hotfix (July 22–23) that fixed disconnect issues.
Solo vs Co-op: Which Should You Play?
Solo is the purest Outlast experience — genuinely scary, and teaches you the game properly. It's also the hardest way to start.
Co-op is where the game lives long-term. The horror becomes social (friends screaming at each other is the point), and trials are far more forgiving.
Our recommendation: do your first trial solo, then switch to co-op for everything else.
Price, Platforms and Cross-Play FAQ
How much does The Outlast Trials cost?
$39.99 on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation. It's routinely 30–40% off in sales, and Season 7's catalog pass is optional — the base game includes all trials.
Is The Outlast Trials cross-play?
Yes — PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players can queue together. There's no cross-progression between platforms though.
Can you play The Outlast Trials solo?
Yes. All trials are playable solo, but difficulty scales for 1–4 players and solo is noticeably harder.
Is The Outlast Trials on PS Plus or Game Pass?
It has appeared in PlayStation Plus monthly lineups in the past — check your current subscription tier before buying.
Is The Outlast Trials connected to Outlast 1 and 2?
Yes — it's a prequel. Murkoff, Mount Massive, and the Walrider lore all connect. Our Outlast explained post covers the full timeline.
Is The Outlast Trials scary alone?
Yes — arguably scarier than Outlast 1. The jump scares are relentless and the sound design is brutal. With friends, it's scary-funny instead.
Related Reading
- The Best Horror Games of 2026: 15 That Actually Scared Us — where Trials sits this year
- The 15 Scariest Horror Games of All Time, Ranked — Outlast history on the all-time list
- The 12 Best Co-Op Horror Games to Play With Friends (coming next on this blog)
- Outlast Explained (Massive Spoilers) — the full Murkoff timeline
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