Project Zomboid
- Platforms: PC
- Developer: The Indie Stone
- Year: 2013
- Genres: Indie, RPG, Simulation, Early Access
- Tags: Single-player, Multi-player, PvP, Online PvP, Co-op, Online Co-op
- Operating systems: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price comparison
Prices as listed by the stores, updated 2026-10-25. The store price is final.
A hard zombie survival sandbox set in Kentucky, where every bite matters and every day is a fight to loot, build, and last longer.
Overview
Project Zomboid drops you into a zombie-infested slice of Kentucky with one blunt goal: stay alive a little longer. You loot houses, scrape together tools, build defences, and keep moving because the world keeps getting meaner. Hunger, thirst, boredom, illness, depression, and the dead all want a piece of you. The game does not soften the blow. It simply asks, with admirable cruelty, how you will die.
It is built as an open-ended sandbox with realistic survival systems, online multiplayer, and local split-screen co-op. You can fish, farm, craft, barricade, and drive vehicles while managing sight, sound, lighting, and weather. The map is huge and still growing, loosely based on real-world Kentucky, with towns, wilderness, and the Knox Exclusion Zone all waiting to turn familiar places into bad ideas.
The pace shifts with the world around you. Day turns to night, power and water fail, winter rolls in, and hordes migrate as your options shrink. On top of that, you can tackle preset difficulty modes or jump into challenge scenarios with their own nasty twists. There is plenty of room to shape the experience, but the zombies remain the same: hungry, patient, and very rude.
Why play it
- Loot, build, craft, and fight for every extra day.
- Massive sandbox with realistic survival systems.
- Solo, co-op, and multiplayer support.
- Weather, power loss, and hordes keep the pressure on.
Quick facts
| Developer | The Indie Stone |
|---|---|
| Publisher | The Indie Stone |
| Release year | 2013 |
| Steam release date | 8 Nov, 2013 |
| Genres | Indie, RPG, Simulation, Early Access |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Steam categories | Single-player, Multi-player, PvP, Online PvP, Co-op, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Shared/Split Screen, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Steam Trading Cards |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese - Brazil, Finnish, Kor |
| Minimum requirements | Windows 10 / 11 - 64 Bit; Intel 2.77GHz Quad-core; 8Gb Ram; 10Gb Hard Disk Space; Dedicated graphics card with 4 GB of VRAM minimum; OpenGL 2.1 and GLSL 1.2 support; FMOD compatible sound card |
Beginner walkthrough
Start by choosing your rules
Project Zomboid offers preset difficulty modes and a sandbox mode. In sandbox, you can customize settings such as zombie population, virus transmissibility, and loot rarity. That means you can shape the pressure before the first hungry corpse even notices you. Challenge scenarios are also available, including some set on smaller maps or built around special conditions like an endless winter storm.
Survive day by day
Your routine is simple to describe and brutal to maintain: loot houses, gather supplies, build defences, and try to avoid the horde. You also need to manage hunger, thirst, stress, fatigue, boredom, and illness. Skills improve through use, and you can also learn from books, magazines, and VHS tapes. Farming, fishing, carpentry, cooking, and trapping all feed into survival.
Use the world carefully
The game’s systems reward caution. Zombies react to sight and sound, and guns can put you in serious trouble. Lighting, visibility, weather, and time of day all matter, while the map grows more ruined as power and water go out and the seasons change. Vehicles, barricades, and crafted gear give you more options, but none of them make the undead politely go away.
Key characters
- Kate story character
Kate returns as one of the original story-driven stars mentioned for the game’s planned features.
- Baldspot story character
Baldspot returns alongside Kate among the original story-driven stars mentioned for the game’s planned features.
- John McGrew Army general
John McGrew oversees containment measures within the Knox Exclusion Zone and issues a public statement.
Our take
Pros
- Deep survival systems with hunger, illness, and morale pressure.
- Large, growing map with towns and wilderness to work through.
- Flexible play options: solo, co-op, and multiplayer.
- Sandbox settings and challenge modes offer strong variety.
Cons
- The game is listed as Early Access.
- Minimum PC requirements are specific and fairly demanding.
- No help is coming in the setting, which is great for drama and terrible for comfort.
Project Zomboid is a survival sandbox that stays committed to its own bleak logic. It gives you tools, systems, and plenty of ways to customize the struggle, then watches the lights fail and the horde close in. If you like survival games that make planning matter and panic feel earned, this has a lot to sink into.
Quick check
This check compares memory and disk space only. Compare your CPU and graphics card with the requirements above manually.Minimum requirements
OS: Windows 10 / 11 - 64 Bit 64bit OS required Processor: Intel 2.77GHz Quad-core Memory: 8Gb Ram Hard Disk Space: 10Gb Video Card: Dedicated graphics card with 4 GB of VRAM minimum, OpenGL 2.1 and GLSL 1.2 support (generally 2012 or newer) Sound: FMOD compatible sound card
FAQ
What kind of game is Project Zomboid?
It is an indie RPG and simulation game built around zombie survival. The store description calls it an open-ended, zombie-infested sandbox focused on realistic survival, with looting, building, crafting, fighting, farming, and fishing all feeding into the struggle to stay alive.
Does Project Zomboid support multiplayer?
Yes. Steam lists Multi-player, Online PvP, Co-op, Online Co-op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, Shared/Split Screen, and Cross-Platform Multiplayer. The store description also mentions online multiplayer survival with persistent player-run servers, plus local split-screen co-op.
What platforms is it on?
Project Zomboid is listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The Steam version released on 8 Nov, 2013.
What are the basic survival systems?
You manage more than zombies. The game includes hunger, thirst, stress, fatigue, boredom, depression, and illness. It also features farming, fishing, carpentry, cooking, trapping, skill development, weather changes, and the loss of electricity and water over time.
Can you customise the experience?
Yes. The game includes preset difficulty modes, sandbox settings for things like zombie population and loot rarity, and fixed challenge scenarios. The store description also mentions full, open, and powerful Lua modding support, along with Steam Workshop mod support in the encyclopedia article.
What are the minimum PC requirements?
The minimum requirements call for Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit, an Intel 2.77GHz quad-core processor, 8Gb RAM, 10Gb of hard disk space, a dedicated graphics card with 4 GB of VRAM minimum, OpenGL 2.1 and GLSL 1.2 support, and an FMOD-compatible sound card.
Updated: 2026-09-21 · More in the catalog · PC · P