Yes, you can save in Casualties: Unknown, but only between layers: when you reach the bottom of a layer, the game lets you save and exit before you start the next one. There is no manual save in the middle of a layer, and quitting partway through a layer does not keep your progress, so the run only stops cleanly at those layer breaks.
Casualties: Unknown is built around losing runs, so its save system is there to give you a break, not a safety net. This guide covers exactly when the game saves, what happens if you quit early or die, the console command some people use as an emergency exit, where the save file sits on your PC, and the mods that add more save options.
When the Game Lets You Save
A run is split into layers, and each layer ends at the bottom of its cave system. Reach that bottom and the game stops you at a layer screen before it generates the next one. That screen is your save point. From there you can either keep going into the next layer or save and exit to the main menu.
Here is what to do, step by step:
- Work your way to the bottom of the current layer.
- When the layer screen appears, pick the save and exit option instead of carrying on.
- You return to the main menu with the run stored.
- Next time, open the game and choose Continue from the main menu to pick the run back up at the start of the next layer.
The save holds your character’s whole state, not just the layer number. Your injuries, blood, mood, skills, inventory and the run settings you picked all come back with you. Items you are carrying travel with you between layers too: the developer’s 6.0 patch notes fixed a bug where items failed to carry over when you saved and quit while unconscious, which tells you carrying them over is how it is meant to work.
What Happens If You Quit in the Middle of a Layer
Quitting mid-layer is not a save. Your experiment has a chip in their head, and giving up on a run early sets it off, which ends the run on the spot. There are mods whose whole job is letting you exit without watching your experiment self-destruct, which tells you how final the base game is about it.
So if you need to stop, the honest options are:
- Push on to the bottom of the layer and save there.
- Accept the loss and start a fresh run later.
Death works the same way. When your experiment dies, the run is over and its save goes with it. There is no loading an earlier point, because the game only ever keeps the one save for the run you are on.
The Continue Button and Crashes
Loading a run uses up its save. Once you press Continue, the stored run is in play, and the next save only exists after you reach the bottom of another layer. If the game closes in between, from a crash, a power cut or you closing the window, there is no file waiting for you, and that run is lost.
That makes the first few minutes after you load the riskiest time to have something go wrong outside the game. If your PC is unstable, save at layer breaks often rather than pushing through three or four layers in one sitting.
The Console Save Command
The game has a developer console, and it includes a saveandquit command. It saves your character’s status and drops you back at the main menu, but it does not keep the layer itself, so when you return, the layer you were in starts over from scratch.
Two warnings before you lean on it. First, it is a console command, not a menu feature, so it can change or vanish in a patch. Second, the 1.0 patch notes say that using certain console commands outside the sandbox now disables achievements, and they do not list which ones. If achievements matter to you, save the normal way at the bottom of a layer.
Where the Save File Is on PC
On Windows, Casualties: Unknown keeps its save in your user folder:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Orsoniks\CasualtiesUnknown
Paste that into File Explorer’s address bar to jump straight there. The run is stored as a .sv file. The Steam store page lists no Steam Cloud support for the game, so that file stays on the PC you played on. If you switch computers or reinstall Windows, copy the folder yourself first.
Copying the .sv file somewhere safe after each layer, then putting it back after a death, gets around the one-save rule. It works because the game reads whatever file is in that folder, but it is outside how the game is meant to be played, and a copied file from an older version may not load after a big update.
Mods That Add More Save Options
If you want saves in the middle of a layer, that only comes from mods, not the base game. QoL Unknown, a popular quality-of-life mod, adds mid-layer saves, a background autosave every three minutes while you are alive, and unlimited save slots, and its v1.1.1 update on November 9 added support for the full release. Cu-SaveManager is another mod that adds multiple save slots and a save and exit option that keeps you on the same layer.
Both run through the BepInEx mod loader, so you need that set up first. Back up the save folder above before installing any mod, because a mod that writes its own data into your save can make it unreadable without the mod.
Tips for Not Losing a Run
- Treat each layer as a commitment. Before you drop into a new layer, make sure you have time to finish it, because you cannot stop halfway.
- Patch yourself up before saving. Your wounds come back exactly as they were, so a slow bleed you ignore at the layer screen is still bleeding when you load. Our guide to treating internal bleeding covers the one you cannot see.
- Rest before a long layer. Energy carries over too, and our guide to sleeping in Casualties: Unknown covers where to do it safely.
- Use the demo for practice. The free demo stays on Steam with the first five layers, so it is a lower-stakes place to learn the early game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you save anywhere in Casualties: Unknown? No. The base game only saves at the bottom of a layer, when the layer screen offers save and exit. Saving anywhere takes a mod such as QoL Unknown.
What happens if you quit without saving? Your experiment’s chip goes off and the run ends. Quitting in the middle of a layer is treated as giving up, not as pausing.
Does dying delete your save? Yes. Death ends the run, and the game does not keep an older save to fall back on.
Does Casualties: Unknown have Steam Cloud saves? The Steam store page does not list Steam Cloud. Back up the save folder in AppData\LocalLow\Orsoniks\CasualtiesUnknown yourself if you move to another PC.
Does the saveandquit console command keep the layer? No. It keeps your character’s status, but the layer starts over when you load, and some console commands now switch off achievements outside the sandbox.