SILENT BREATH Controls

SILENT BREATH uses a short first-person kit: look, walk, sprint, flashlight, interact, and — after dark — survive whatever your microphone reports. There is no gun, no crafting wheel, and no map overlay you can pin. The bindings still matter because Sister encounters punish the wrong input at the wrong time. Armless Sister fails if you keep WASD down. Big Sister fails if you look away while you try to steer. This page lists the controls players actually use, including 1.0 extras that did not exist on launch day.

Default PC movement is WASD with mouse look. Sprint is typically Left Shift. Interact is E for posters, keys, phones, and tape recorders. Flashlight is F. Community achievement hunters still recommend rebinding sprint onto W so you auto-sprint and spare your pinky on long landmark routes. That rebind is a comfort choice, not a requirement. If you rebind, remember Armless Sister wants zero movement keys, not “only W.”

Camera, flashlight, and why F is a resource

The found-footage stack includes fisheye, VHS treatment, and a 1.0 dynamic camera tilt. Accessibility now lets you toggle fisheye (patch 1.01A) and hide the HUD. If motion sickness hits, drop tilt and fisheye before you blame the forest. Flashlight range grew in 1.0 and a bug that left the beam dim was fixed. You still should not leave it off in pitch black unless you are hiding from a light-hating threat added in 1.0 — that entity is called out in the 1.0 notes and wiki.

There is an achievement for toggling the flashlight one hundred times in a single playthrough. Farm it in a safe building after you know the layout, not during a Blind Sister countdown.

Microphone, menus, and the scream meter

Open Settings and find audio before Play Tape. Microphone level can be lowered; setting it to zero is a documented achievement and a legitimate accessibility choice if you only want visual horror. The rebuilt mic filter from the multiplayer era reduced some false positives, but a mechanical keyboard, a pet, or commentary still counts. Full practice steps are in Stay Silent and the microphone tool.

Pause does not make the world safe. Steam guides repeatedly warn that the clock keeps moving. If you must read this wiki mid-run, screenshot the Sister line and keep moving, or accept that a threat may kill you while you scroll.

Compass, coordinates, and 1.0 navigation chrome

Version 1.0 added an active compass assist that can hint at undiscovered locations within about 45 meters, plus the name of your current area beside coordinates. Singleplayer and multiplayer coordinates were aligned so callouts match. This is not a mini-map. It will not draw the carnival. It will not save you if a Sister is close — official notes say you probably should not rely on it then. How to use the chrome without getting lost is on the compass page. Landmark grit still lives in Landmarks.

Controller and Steam Deck

Steam lists full controller support. Expect look sensitivity to decide whether Big Sister tracking feels possible; bump it until you can backpedal while keeping her in frame. Flashlight and interact need to sit on buttons you can hit without taking thumbs off look. Steam Deck is playable with caveats: microphone routing, performance, and small UI. Test Deck mic input before a serious night. More hardware notes sit in the review and system requirements.

Co-op-only keys

Multiplayer adds VOIP (including an Open Mic option from later EA patches), a default Q emote menu, and pair animations. 1.0 raised the lobby cap to five and fixed cases where the emote menu failed to render. Hardcore changes revive rules; do not assume a downed friend can be picked up the same way in every mode. Bindings for talk and emotes should be agreed in lobby so nobody screams into a hot mic. See Multiplayer.

If a control feels wrong, fix it in daylight at spawn. The forest will not wait while you hunt a menu.