A small indie title is currently skyrocketing on Steam: The hardcore survival game Project Zomboid. The title impresses with deep mechanics and is almost referred to as a “Walking Dead” simulator. MeinMMO presents the zombie adventure to you and shows who should take the trip.
What kind of game is this? Project Zomboid is an indie title on Steam that has been steadily developed and improved for many years. At first glance, this may seem daunting, since the “Early Access” phase has already lasted an unbelievable 9 years.
As a fan of survival adventures, you shouldn’t write off the title right away. Because what has been created over the years now offers you a unique experience with overwhelming gameplay depth, charming pixel graphics, and extremely difficult content.
Compared to previous player numbers, Project Zomboid is currently experiencing a real hype on Steam (via steamcharts.com) and MeinMMO takes the opportunity to introduce you to the hardcore sandbox with zombie population in detail.
If you want to get a direct impression, we embed the new official trailer for Project Zomboid here:
Play the story of your apocalyptic death
What is the appeal of Project Zomboid? The game is a typical indie title that largely forgoes advanced graphics and instead offers you countless action and combination possibilities.
Project Zomboid wants to kill you … and sometimes it only takes forgetting to clean up the glass shards of a window before you climb through the broken glass.
Removing the glass by hand is not much better – if the wound gets infected, just a scratch is enough to slowly but surely initiate your death. Who finds medicine in the first hours of gameplay?
These small aspects and mechanics make the game so great. If you have 2 items and think: “Surely you can combine these,” then that is usually the case. This gives the title a fantastic depth that motivates over many hours and days.
Core mechanics of Project Zomboid:
- Hardcore zombie sandbox with realistic survival aspects
- Online multiplayer and split-screen capable
- Extensive crafting and RPG mechanics
- Hundreds of zombies with swarm behavior
- Base building including electricity, vehicles, and washing machines
- Farming, fishing, cooking, woodworking, collecting
- RPG-like life skill system – improvements through reading books or using skills
- Huge open world that continuously grows
- Seasons and weather influence the gameplay
If you go looting and have to deal with zombies, raw violence rarely helps. Stealth is the key, and if it comes to a fight, you should leave your firearms tucked away. Almost every loud shot will cause a horde of zombies to chase you.
Project Zomboid constantly encourages you to use your imagination. What things can you combine sensibly and how the hell can you loot the gas station without being chased by a mutated football team including reserves?
At first, you loot just to survive. Once you get the hang of it, it’s about building bases, including defense. This is especially fun in co-op, and if you want to go further, you can even find servers with a PvP focus in the current wave of games.
MeinMMO has already dealt with the title some time ago, and here you can find a more detailed introduction to Project Zomboid:
What are the weaknesses? Although Project Zomboid has made progress in terms of graphics and animations, it cannot be described as having advanced optics. The title relies on a charming pixel solution, which, however, is an exclusion criterion for many players.
Furthermore, the entry is a real act due to the deep mechanics. Even with friends who introduce you to the game in co-op, it takes time until everything runs smoothly.
Additionally, advancement is player-driven. While a special story mode is planned, the main part of the game revolves around survival in the open world and the constant development of your skills and bases.
91% of 50,000 reviews are positive
What do players say about Project Zomboid? Those who enjoy browsing through reviews on Steam are familiar with the usual structure of assessments of games with such deep gameplay.
Players tell a short anecdote about how the complex gameplay slapped them in the face and how fascinated they are by the experience. Here is an example:
I woke up in a house. I turned on the TV. I watched a cooking show. I had some baked beans.
Then I went for a walk and got chased into the woods by a horde of undead. I scratched my face and tore my clothes on bushes and trees. It started to rain. So I broke into a house and cut my half-body open on the glass shards.
Breaking the window attracted another horde. I tried to fend off the horde with a spoon. I grabbed a microwave, ran upstairs, and blocked the stairs with the microwave.
All my food and supplies are downstairs … just like the TV. Now I will miss the 12 o’clock show about wooden floors. That really ruined my day.
Just buy the game. It’s great.
User Tophe via Steam
Such small stories can be found in abundance in the reviews and show how complex and mean Project Zomboid can be.
Personal recommendation from the author: My name is Maik Schneider and survival games are a very fascinating genre for me. I have sunk thousands of hours into titles like ARK, Conan, Rust, Raft, or 7 Days to Die.
I got into Project Zomboid through a friend a few years ago and was captivated from the first moment. What depth, what an adventure! And that, even though I’m really not a fan of stealth mechanics.
But even stealth is fun in Project Zomboid. And if you can answer yes to the following three questions, you should definitely give it a shot:
- Do you like survival games?
- Do you enjoy pixel graphics?
- Do you have people for co-op?
In my opinion, Project Zomboid, especially after the latest update to Build 41, is one of the best survival games on the market. And because it is also quite affordable (16.79 € on Steam), I would recommend it to every fan of the survival genre to die in Project Zomboid at least once. Or 100 times.
If you want to read more about strong survival titles, I link you here our list of the 24 best survival games 2022.
