Free · No download · Mudflat stranding survival simulation

Stranded on the Mudflat: Can You Survive One Night in the Sea Fog?

▶ PLAY FREE NOWNo download · Phone or PC · 3–4 minutes per run

Stranded on the Mudflat: One Night in the Sea Fog is a free choice-based mudflat survival game you play right in your browser. It is 3:25 p.m. on a Saturday in late October. Seongsu Team 3, on an island trip as a prize for top sales results, rides a tractor cart 2 km out onto the mudflat to dig clams. Mr. Noh Man-bok, who runs the experience site, says, "Tides? I've known this sea for 40 years," and pushes an extension fee. A hazy sea fog hangs on the horizon. The island, the site and the characters are all fictional.

How a run goes

The correct choices come from guidance by the Korea Coast Guard, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the National Fire Agency and the National Disaster and Safety Portal; the wrong ones are mistakes that keep recurring in real mudflat accidents. One run takes 3 to 4 minutes.

1. 15 minutes of warning signs: Check the tide table? Pay 5,000 won to rent a life jacket? Put your phone in a waterproof pouch? Extend your stay? The clock keeps running.
2. The moment the sea fog rolls in: Your foot sinks into the mud. Choose by reflex within 1.7 seconds.
3. The 25 seconds while water fills the tidal channel: The tractor carrying the life jacket box leaves on its own, the new hire Jiwoo sinks to her knees, and Team Lead Park shouts, "Cross the channel and we're there!"
4. Right after you are stranded: Call 122, head for the watchtower, or follow the buoy line and walk to shore? The water rises by the minute.
5. A night in the watchtower: Wet clothes and sea wind, body temperature, battery, the site owner giving false statements, and things that suddenly appear out of the fog (jump scares ahead).
6. The moment of rescue: What do you do when the searchlight draws near?

At the end you see your lowest body temperature compared with other mudflat visitors, the safety actions you followed and the mistakes you made, and each one unfolds to show its source.

The phone in the waterproof pouch: the communicator window

Tap the 📱 button at the bottom right of the screen to turn on the phone. The channels are the Coast Guard operations center (122), the Seongsu Team 3 group chat, the experience-site group chat, and Mom. A message comes through clearly only if the channel you tuned to has signal, and the battery drains while the phone is on. You can report your position again, send an emergency report through the Haerod app, or set straight the site owner's false statements.

Story, random events and perks

The story is exactly that Saturday afternoon of a spring tide (the highest tides of the month). The random events change every run: how strong the tide is, how far the watchtower is, the surprises at night, and the site owner's hush-up phone call. Each run gives you one perk.

• 🩺 Company clinic nurseSpot a coworker's signs of hypothermia and warm the torso first · Treat an injured foot properly
• 🔧 Facilities technicianFix the rusty watchtower ladder so it's safe to climb · Size up at a glance whether the structure will hold
• 🦺 Safety Team Assistant ManagerPre-installed the Haerod app (tide table & emergency report) · Persuasion works well when holding someone back
• 📦 General affairs asst. managerIn charge of workshop supplies — brought waterproof pouches and emergency blankets
• ☕ In-house café baristaBrought a thermos of hot tea · Calms people down
• 🔦 Security guardAlways carries a flashlight · Can signal with light even without a phone
• 💻 IT developerBrought a fully charged power bank · Your phone lasts to the end
• 📢 PR team stafferWhen reporting, lays out location, headcount and situation clearly in one go
• 🛋️ Job-seeker hired as the workshop photographerGrew up near the sea at grandma's, so has a feel for tides · Nothing to lose
• 🚴 Island restaurant delivery part-timerDelivers for an island restaurant, so knows the mudflat's landmarks (watchtower, Bear Rock, lighthouse)
• 🧹 Experience-site tidy-up part-timerPart-time tidy-up at the experience site — rain gear and gloves keep you drier

The villain: Mr. Noh Man-bok

Straw hat, fluorescent vest, gold chain, a radio always in hand. To collect extension fees he ignores the tide, skimps on life jacket rentals, and when the sea fog hits he escapes alone on the tractor carrying the jackets, then tells the Coast Guard, "The customers went in on their own." Gather evidence such as tractor footage or a recorded call and set the facts straight with the Coast Guard, and his fate on the results screen changes.

12 hidden missions

Three missions are secretly chosen each run. Examples: check the tide table, wear a life jacket, report your exact location, expose Mr. Noh's lie, keep body temperature at 35°C, don't cross the tidal channel, send Mom a short message.

12 survivor types

Mudflat instructor typeTide table, life jacket, waterproof pouch, watchtower, 122. You followed the Coast Guard's guidance to the letter.

Boss Noh whistleblowerYou turned "the customers wandered off on their own" around with evidence. His tractor was seized.

Master of location reportsEven in the fog, you called out your exact location by the watchtower and lighthouse.

Tide scholarYou knew at 3:25 PM already: a spring-tide flood moves faster than you can walk.

Body heat captainYou wrung out wet clothes, sat back to back, and shared the emergency blanket.

The rookie's guardianYou stayed with Jiwoo, stuck in the mud, all the way through.

Mainstay of the watchtowerOn four rusty legs, you chose high ground over the channel.

Light signalerThree short, three long. A searchlight in the fog found you.

Bear Rock survivorYou shivered and held on atop a rock that sinks at high tide.

Shivering survivorYou came close to hypothermia. Could you get less wet next time?

The cool-headed survivorYou got through the night in the fog without any major mistakes.

The lucky-break survivorFull of mistakes, but survived. Will luck hold next time?

12 ways to die

All of them are mistakes that keep recurring in real mudflat and coastal accidents.

Channel shortcut"Cross it and we're right there." The channel filled first and deepest.

Buoy-line forced march2 km to shore. The flood was faster than your walking.

The one who waited for the water to dropYou thought it would drop soon. High tide was at 7 PM.

The one who believed the boss"Forty years, I tell ya." You paid the extension fee and didn't rent a jacket.

Tractor chaserYou ran after the departing boss. In the fog, you ended up alone.

The one who wrestled the mudYou tried to yank your stuck leg out by force. The mud won.

Evacuated too lateYou could see the watchtower. The channel in front of it was already waist-deep.

The cold of the night seaWet clothes, sea wind, a long night. Your body heat went out first.

The one who dozed offStrangely, you felt less cold. That was the warning sign.

The one who swam for the lightThe light looked close. The night sea was wide.

The one who went down at nightIt seemed the water had gone down. The beckoning in the fog was a pole.

The one who jumped for the rescue boatRescue was right there. If only you'd waited one more minute.

How to survive in the game (and in real life)

1. Check the tide table before you go in. Confirm high and low tide times and get out well before the tide comes in.
2. Always wear a life jacket. Most people who die in mudflat accidents were not wearing one.
3. Keep your phone in a waterproof pouch.
4. Don't go in at night or in sea fog; if it appears, come out right away.
5. If you sink into the mud, lean back to spread your weight. Don't yank your leg out by force.
6. A tidal channel is not a shortcut. It fills first and deepest when the tide comes in.
7. If stranded, climb somewhere high and call 119 or 122. Use landmarks such as a watchtower, rock or lighthouse to tell them where you are.
8. Wring out wet clothes, block the wind, and sit pressed together.
9. At night, even if startled, don't climb down, and don't swim toward distant lights.

The actual rules, with their sources, are in Mudflat safety tips.

The Distress series

This game is the first in the Distress series, where you hold out until rescue arrives. Why do Seongsu Team 3's prize trips end in accidents every time? The next episode is a midwinter New Year hike up Seoraksan.

FAQ

▶ PLAY: STRANDED ON THE MUDFLAT, ONE NIGHT IN THE SEA FOG