Escape Dead Island is a spin-off from the main Dead Island series, outside of the main canon, and it is done by a different developer. Unlike the main series it is played from a third-person perspective. The visuals are changed to a cel shaded look with action words that appear on the screen similar to comic books. In this survival action game the player controls Cliff Calo who travels with two friends to the Banoi archipelago, mainly the Narapela island, to investigate the reports about strange events there. His main goal is to gather evidence by taking pictures with his camera, proving the Geopharm corporation is active on the islands. The game's tutorial is set slightly before the rest of the game where the player controls the operative Kilo Two who infiltrates a Geopharm facility to discover the identity of the mole, two days before the outbreak. Xian Mei, from the main game series, also appears as a character in the game.

It does not have the open world design of the main games in the series, but a linear set of objectives. Many locations are blocked off until a specific point in the story. Many familiar elements return, such as the ravaged tropical setting with infected humans wandering about. Calo's mental state causes him sometimes to quickly move between locations or shows strange events. As an action game Calo is able to attack with melee weapons along with minor gunplay with a pistol and a shotgun because of the scarce ammunition. Groups of enemies cannot be attacked at once, so stealth has to be used regularly to sneak up and stealth kill them. Infected react to movement and sound. For melee attacks a fast and a heavy attack can be used, and these can be combined into combos. Calo is also able to dodge, crouch, sprint, kick, push infected out of the way, and target specific enemies.

Just like the original games you cannot attack endlessly as they drain a stamina meter near the bottom of the screen. After some attacks you regularly need to wait a few seconds until it is filled up again. Unlike the original game weapons cannot be customized and they are provided at certain points of the game. There are also no RPG-elements or an upgradable character system. Calo can use a rope and a grappling hook to move around, and keycards often need to be found to open doors.