Winter Kills

THE COLDEST SEASON

"Winter Kills is an experiment in hostile, unstable environments rich in punishment and reward both. Survivors of Winter Kills will reap the bounty of true suffering."

―Hendrick Joliet Easterman^[1]^noicon

Winter Kills is a limited-time program in The Outlast Trials that serves as the official Christmas event for the game. The program features Trials and MK-Challenges designated to test the Reagents' tenacity through unforgiving cold air in exchange for Winter tokens.

Content[]

Winter Kills consists of Trials and MK-Challenges with variators focused on avoiding deadly cold snaps and collecting presents as an alternative secondary objective.

Updates[]

It was first introduced in December 12th, 2023 as the major holiday event and ran until January 9th, 2024. A new set of variators were introduced, featuring Cold Snap for utilizing hiding spots in order to avoid being exposed to lethal cold while also picking up gifts for some jolly rewards. (Rewards given are double the amount of Winter tokens for all players.)

On December 10th, 2024, The Season 2: Project Breach update was introduced alongside the Winter Kills event featuring two parts, with Trials and MK-Challenges shuffled in a bi-weekly rotation while keeping the variators intact in every difficulty. The event ended on January 7th, 2025. It also featured the new Frost Mines variator that can replace psychosis gas from mines that can slowly kill the Reagent unless they quickly use the hiding spot. A new Trial Environment, Downtown, was released for Franco Barbi alongside its main trial, Pleasure the Prosecutor. Additionally, two new MK-Challenges for Mother Gooseberry, Reunite the Family and Deface the Futtermans, were introduced.

On December 9th, 2025, The Season 5: Project Messiah update has been introduced alongside the Winter Kills event until it ends on January 6th, 2026. It features the Warmth status effect where Reagents must build from staying near the heaters to counter the permafrost temperature, replacing the Cold Snap variator. Notably, this update introduces Liliya Bogomolova as the fifth Prime Asset and a new trial, Despoil the Auction, taking place in a new Trial Environment: the Resort. Additionally, two new MK-Challenges, Seize the Narcotics and Fabricate the Scandal, were introduced.

2023[]

December 12, 2023 - January 9, 2024[]

Programs	Variators
Feed the Children Release the Prisoners Drill the Futterman Escape the Courthouse Destroy the Evidence Sabotage the Lockdown Foster the Orphans Punish the Miscreants		Cold Snap The Trial environment is sporadically filled with piercing cold air. Hide to Survive.
		Find the Gifts Find all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Stronger Enemies Enemies are stronger and more lethal.
Cleanse the Orphans		Cold Snap The Trial environment is sporadically filled with piercing cold air. Hide to Survive.
		Find the Gifts Find all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		More Secret Rooms The Trial has more secret rooms than usual.
		Increased Threat More and stronger enemies.

2024[]

Part I (December 10 - 24, 2024)[]

Therapy
Pleasure the Prosecutor	Reunite the Family	Deface the Futtermans
Kill the Snitch	Eliminate the Past	Teach the Police Officer
Pervert the Futterman	Crush the Sex Toys	Empty the Vault

Part II (December 24, 2024 - January 7, 2025)[]

Therapy
Poison the Medicine	Vindicate the Guilty	Cleanse the Orphans
Poison the Cattle	Fuel the Release	Tilt the Scales of Justice
Incinerate the Sex Toys	Shutdown the Factory	Punish the Miscreants

Difficulty Options

Difficulty	Variators
INTRODUCTORY		Introductory The minimum prescribed dose of pain, to learn basic therapeutic techniques. No other variators are applied.

STANDARD		Collect the Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Cold Snap The Trial environment is sporadically filled with piercing cold air. Hide to Survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines.

INTENSIVE		Collect the Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Cold Snap The Trial environment is sporadically filled with piercing cold air. Hide to Survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines.
		Increased Threat More and stronger enemies.
		Limited Intel Assignment details are limited in the Trial.

PSYCHOSURGERY		Collect the Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Cold Snap The Trial environment is sporadically filled with piercing cold air. Hide to Survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines.
		Increased Threat II Maximum population of brutal enemies.
		Limited Hiding Spots Hiding spots in the Trial reduced.
		Psychosurgery Maximum trauma. Rig cooldown extended. Less inventory space. No player names. No intel.

2025[]

Part I (December 9 - 23, 2025)[]

Therapy
Kill the Snitch	Poison the Cattle	Shutdown the Factory
Fabricate the Scandal	Despoil the Auction	Seize the Narcotics
Fuel the Release	Beguile the Children	Pleasure the Prosecutor

Part II (December 23, 2025 - January 6, 2026)[]

Therapy
Cleanse the Orphans	Pervert the Futterman	Liquidate the Union
Investigate the Minotaur	Open the Gates	Kidnap the Mistress
Sentence the Prosecuted	Gather the Children of God	Empty the Vault

Difficulty Options

Difficulty	Variators
INTRODUCTORY		Introductory The minimum prescribed dose of pain, to learn basic therapeutic techniques.
		Permafrost The Trial environment is continuously filled with piercing cold air. Find heat sources to survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines, and the Trial has more mines.
		Collect The Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.

STANDARD		Permafrost The Trial environment is continuously filled with piercing cold air. Find heat sources to survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines, and the Trial has more mines.
		Collect The Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.

INTENSIVE		Permafrost The Trial environment is continuously filled with piercing cold air. Find heat sources to survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines, and the Trial has more mines.
		Collect The Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Increased Threat More and stronger enemies.
		Limited Intel Assignment details are limited in the Trial.

PSYCHOSURGERY		Permafrost The Trial environment is continuously filled with piercing cold air. Find heat sources to survive.
		Frost Mines Gas mines have been replaced with frost mines, and the Trial has more mines.
		Collect The Gifts Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
		Increased Threat II Maximum population of brutal enemies.
		Limited Hidespots Hiding spots in the Trial reduced.
		Psychosurgery Maximum trauma. Rig cooldown extended. Less inventory space. No player names. No intel.

Tasks[]

Part I[]

Task	Rewards
Complete 7 tasks of the Special Therapy.	Poster • 75 • 50 • 2,000

Complete 6 Trials of the Special Therapy.	50 • 20 • 250
Compolete the secondary objective 6 times in the Special Therapy.	20 • 20 • 250 (per task)
Destroy 25 mines in Winter Kills trials.
Collect 30 gifts.
Stay warm for a total of 1,200 seconds.
Complete a trial of the Special Therapy without using any hiding spots.
Drink 10 medicines near a heat source.
Hit 15 enemies while you're near a heat source.

Part II[]

Task	Rewards
Complete 7 Part I tasks to unlock Part II.	Unlocks Part II tasks.
Complete 7 tasks of the Special Therapy.	Medium Item • 75 • 100 • 10,000 • Random Customization item

Complete 9 Trials of the Special Therapy.	50 • 20 • 250
Score A+ in 3 Trials of the Special Therapy.	20 • 20 • 250 (per task)
Complete 6 gifts in a single trial.
Complete a trial of the Special Therapy without taking cold damage.
Complete a trial of the Special Therapy without letting your accumulated warmth run out.
Complete a trial of the Special Therapy without entering a heat zone more than 15 times.
Using the trial maker, complete a trial that has both the Permafrost and No Running variators.

Documents[]

Winter Kills features evidence documents that were released during the event:

Theme	Folder	Documents
Sinyala H.R.	Television	TV is the Future

SISTER LILIYA	Liliya in Sinyala	Guided by Voices • Liliya's Charms • The Ventriloquists • Fructuous Mistakes
SISTER LILIYA	Liliya's History	The Orphanage • Investigate Bogomolova • The Feral Girl • The Orphan • Spiritual Guide • Gifts for Liliya

Rewards[]

Winter Tokens
Completing each MK-Challenges or Trials and its secondary objectives, and Task Challenges from any programs reward varied amount of Winter tokens depending on the difficulty. Players can buy cosmetics from the Winter Catalog that can only be purchased for Winter tokens.

Winter Kills Catalog
Every year, the Winter Kills event features a new limited-time free catalog with exclusive cosmetics for players to customize their Reagent character and Sleep Room cell. When the Catalog expires, it eventually makes a permanent return in the Catalogs Collection and must be purchased with 500 Murkoff Coins.

Winter Kills Cosmetics
Winter Kills cosmetics can only be obtained from the Winter catalog and special tasks during the Winter Kills event.

Winter Kills Posters
Completing special tasks from each part rewards Winter Kills posters from the corresponding year for the player as a customization for their Sleep Room.