Free · No install · Era Series

Pompeii Survival Game: Can You Live to See Dawn After Vesuvius Erupts?

▶ Play free nowNo install · phone or PC · 3–4 minutes a run

The Last Day of Pompeii: 18 Hours is a free, choice-based volcano survival game you play right in your browser. AD 79, Pompeii, a Roman town on the southern slope of Mount Vesuvius. The ground has been shaking for days, and people shrug: “Campania always shakes.” Around 1 p.m., a colossal cloud column rises above the mountain. Back then, nobody knew Vesuvius was a volcano.

How the day unfolds

The course of the eruption follows Pliny the Younger's letters to the historian Tacitus (6.16 and 6.20) and volcanology research (pumice falling at about 15 cm per hour, pyroclastic surges the next morning). The right choices come from today's volcano safety guidance (the US Geological Survey, the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network and Italy's Civil Protection Department). One run takes 3–4 minutes.

1. That morning: rattling storage jars, the household shrine, and one sentence — “Let's leave today.”
2. 1 p.m., the cloud column: a 1.7-second reflex — get low, or run outside to look? Can you tie a pillow to your head before the stones arrive?
3. Pumice rain: white stones pile up about 15 cm an hour. Grab water, a lamp and cloth, call your people, and pick a road: east to Nuceria, the coast road south to Stabiae, a boat at the harbour — or the innermost room of the house.
4. A pitch-black night: walking in a line in the dark, carts sliding on shaking ground, cries that “the gods are gone”, an inn roof heavy with pumice, shaking off ash, and a rumour: “The stones have stopped — let's go home.”
5. Dawn: a dark cloud rolls down from the mountain. How far from Pompeii are you?

The beliefs of the age vs what we know today

The heart of the Era Series is the clash between what people believed then and what we know now. Making offerings at the temple, hiding in the strongest room, packing the silver, waiting for a boat — that was common sense that day. Insist on the right answer (“leave early!”) and people start to see you as a strange person who insults the gods. If suspicion grows, neighbours gather at your door with torches. The result screen shows “Back then they believed… / In fact…” cards.

Two moments you play with your body

Each run has up to two moments where you act instead of tapping a choice: breathing through the ash (tap in rhythm each time the light peaks — panic-tapping means inhaling ash) and shaking off the ash (tap fast for 4 seconds — Pliny wrote that if they hadn't kept getting up to shake it off, they would have been crushed by its weight). Touch, mouse and the space bar all work.

News of the day and the villain Avidius

Instead of a phone you hear the news of the day: street rumours, what the errand boy Publius found out, and notices at the town gate (fictional). Some rumours are true, some are not. Avidius, a mule-cart hirer posing as a soothsayer, sells charms that “make stones swerve” and seats on his cart “to the boats at the harbour” — and at night he goes after the silver in empty houses. Ask “Can a boat really sail?”, remember what you see, and you can expose him.

Story, random scenarios and perks

The story follows the course of the day (cloud column at 1 p.m., pumice from about 1:30 p.m., surges around 6:30 the next morning). The random scenario changes the length of the morning, the night earthquake, the rumours and when the surge arrives. Your character gets a new name and perk each run, and each perk unlocks its own choices.

• 🩺 Midwife's assistantDresses wounds properly with clean cloth · Calms frightened people
• 🔧 Roof tilerCan tell from the beams' creaking whether a roof will hold · Knows how to prop it briefly with a post
• 🦺 Retired sailor of the Misenum fleetReads wind and waves — knows whether a boat can sail · Good with words
• 📦 Granary keeperKnows where the water skins and lamp oil are · Packs fast
• ☕ Bakery workerBrought plenty of bread and water · Calms people with a piece of bread
• 🔦 GatekeeperAlways carries a torch · Knows the gates and roads, and can handle crowds
• 💻 Wax-tablet scribeHas logged the tremors on a wax tablet for days · Persuades people with numbers
• 📢 Election-notice painterPaints notices in big letters on walls · Corrects rumours in writing
• 🛋️ Day labourer looking for workNo property to carry — travels light · Has slept rough many times
• 🚴 Mule driverKnows the country shortcuts · Walks fast
• 🧹 Fullery workerBrought plenty of the workshop's cloth · Covers everyone's nose and mouth

Same faces, a different era

The same faces from the Survive series appear as people of Pompeii in AD 79: old Fortunatus, owner of the fullery, who treasures his strongbox and wax-tablet ledgers; Septima, the timid youngest apprentice; Cornelia, the neighbour midwife with her bag of herbs; and Publius, the bakery errand boy who hears every rumour first. Their clothes follow 1st-century Pompeian frescoes and costume history (tunica and palla — and no glasses).

12 hidden missions

Three missions are secretly chosen each run. They aren't shown on screen; you get a one-line notice the moment you complete one, and all are revealed on the result screen. Examples: Protect your head, Out of the gate before dusk, One line in the dark, People over the strongbox, Expose Avidius, Don't go back and Ahead of your time.

12 survivor types

If you survive, your actions decide your type. Compare results with your friends.

The volcano evacuation textbookEarly, far, head and mouth covered, never under a roof about to fall. The right answer, 2,000 years ahead of time.

The one who left before duskYou walked out of the gate while people called you a coward. Those who left at that hour were the ones most likely to live.

Ahead of your timeYou stuck to the right answer without being cornered. You brought people with you through actions, not words.

The one in the pillowIt looked ridiculous. But it was that pillow that protected your head in the rain of stones.

Master of shaking off ashEvery time you sat, you got up and shook off the ash. Some were buried under its weight.

Lamp-bearer in the darkBelts linked into one line. In the pitch-black, you lost no one.

Exposer of the fake soothsayer“Can a boat really sail?” That one question ended Avidius's racket.

Guardian of the youngestYou pulled frozen Septima inside, and held her hand when she tried to run north.

The one who lent a shoulderYou didn't leave Auntie behind with her sprained ankle. Slow, but together.

Limping survivorBadly hurt, but alive. You reached Nuceria covered in ash.

The cool-headed survivorGot through the last day of Pompeii without any big mistakes.

The lucky-break survivorYou followed a lot of the era's common sense, but survived. Will you be this lucky next time?

12 ways to die

If you die, your type shows which choice did it.

The one who trusted a sturdy house“The deep room is safe.” Above it, the pumice lay more than a man's height deep.

The one who stayed until dawnYou withstood the rain of stones. The black cloud that rolled down at dawn could not be withstood.

The one who waited for a boatThe boat never came. The wind was blowing the wrong way.

The one who went back“The stones have stopped.” After the pumice stopped, something worse came.

The one on the temple stepsThe queue for offerings was long. The time to leave was short.

The one who climbed the roofThe pumice rolled underfoot like marbles.

The one who went out bareheadedA pillow would have been enough.

The one who lay in the ditchToo exhausted, you lay down in a hollow. The heavy gas pooled in the low ground.

The one who didn't shake it offYou only sat down to rest for a moment. The ash never rested.

The one in the darkPitch-black: carts, stones and forks in the road. One light, one hand was missing.

The one who dragged the strongboxA lifetime's savings. The weight slowed every step.

The one who followed AvidiusA “boat at the harbour” for two silver coins. There never was a boat.

10 tips for surviving the game (and real life)

1. Don't shrug off swarms of earthquakes and other warning signs. Today, observatories watch volcanoes and people evacuate when warned.
2. Early and far. You cannot outrun a pyroclastic flow; the only way is to leave before it comes.
3. Protect your head. When stones fall, a pillow — today a helmet.
4. Cover your nose and mouth with cloth or a mask. In ash, breathe slowly and steadily.
5. Don't shelter under a roof heavy with ash. If the beams groan, get out.
6. Get out before the door is buried.
7. In the dark, move as one line. Keep your light and call out names.
8. Avoid valleys and hollows. Pyroclastic flows follow valleys; volcanic gas pools in low places.
9. Don't wait for a boat that isn't coming.
10. Don't go back because someone says “it's over”. Wait until the authorities say it's safe.

The real-world advice is in our volcano eruption evacuation guide with lessons from Pompeii.

Send your result to a friend

When a run ends, enter your name and share the result. Your friend gets a picture-card link and can take the challenge themselves. This game is part of the Era Series — ordinary people dropped into great disasters of the past. Next in chronological order: 1348, City of the Black Death.

FAQ

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