Project Zomboid is, without a doubt, one of the best zombie games available, and a top-tier survival experience. It provides immersive gameplay, combining the survival genre with hardcore simulation elements. The game’s hardcore world redefines the phrase “struggle to survive.”
If you’re searching for more games like Project Zomboid, we don’t need to tell you how addictive it is. The game is the love child of DayZ and The Sims. The game also has personality oozing at every corner of its isometric tiles. It’s so tense and atmospheric that it makes for an adrenaline-packed experience.
On top of that, the crafting and sandbox gameplay is hard to beat. It also offers large-scale multiplayer, with plenty of player-hosted servers to jump into! When it comes to finding new games like Project Zomboid, it’s hard to find an experience that comes close.
However, our list has you covered—it’s infested with the best zombie titles that deserve your attention. Here are 8 thrilling games like Project Zomboid.
Dead Estate
Available on PC.
Another pixel-based indie gem, Dead Estate is the perfect place to start for finding games like Project Zomboid. It shares a similar hardcore design, while providing a different and novel take on the zombie theme.
While this game shares the same top-down isometric view, it doesn’t adopt the same survival gameplay. Instead, Dead Estate is a roguelike shooter that draws from popular horror culture. The game is full of gore, and is bleeding with personality.
It’s a change to Zomboid’s darker visuals, but it’s charming all the same. The monster and character designs are great.
Combat in this game is extremely fast-paced, and there is a wide selection of weapons and items to play around with. There are over 70 weapons, and 170 items, making every playthrough unique.
This game will take you through the different floors of a monster-filled mansion known as ‘the Estate’. Where you can select from 8 different characters to tackle on the floors.
To keep you on your toes, the game also offers various challenges, difficulty levels, and other modes! Combat is also all close-quarters, which drives up the intensity.
If you wanted a zombie-themed take on the popular Binding of Isaac gameplay, this game fits the bill. The game also has a colorful-yet-gruesome cast of characters that exude charm.
If you love Zomboid’s challenging difficulty, it’s worth checking out other titles from the roguelike genre. Our list of titles like Risk of Rain 2 is a great place to start for hardcore gameplay!
Back 4 Blood
Available on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
If you’re searching for adrenaline-pumping games like Project Zomboid, it’s worth checking out the Left 4 Dead spiritual successor. Back 4 Blood lives up to its legacy, providing a great co-op experience.
In groups of four (either with friends or AI) you’ll need to work together to survive objective-based missions. The game offers a story-based campaign with great replayability.
There is also a competitive online PvP mode, similar to Left 4 Dead—where you can play as the zombies and fight other survivors. There is also a wide range of weapons available.
The replayability factor in Back 4 Blood comes from the game’s unique ‘rogue-lite’ card system. This also sets itself apart from other co-op zombie shooters, like World War Z. You can craft card decks which allow you to customize every mission, adding in different challenges and difficulty multipliers. It’s a great way to diversify the gameplay, keeping it fresh.
In Back 4 Blood, you get your own hub base that you can upgrade. You’ll also get to choose between 8 different and customizable survivors.
If you want a zombie-infested holiday away from the hardcore resource management seen in Project Zomboid, this game is perfect. It’s the best go-to for mindless zombie killing fun.
Are you a huge fan of the co-op multiplayer shooter style? Our article on Division 2-like games recommends a few titles you might enjoy, sharing gameplay elements with Back 4 Blood.
The Last Stand: Aftermath
Available on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
From the long-running and famous The Last Stand series comes Aftermath. It’s a single-player roguelike shooter set during a zombie apocalypse, with a fresh twist. You’re infected.
This game is a race against time, as you play a survivor who has been infected with the zombie virus. However, your fellow survivors still need help, so you set out to find hope (before you eventually die).
Aftermath is quite different to the usual gameplay we see from The Last Stand titles—which are also worth playing. It also builds on the franchise’s lore well. If you like the narrative and style of games like Project Zomboid, you’ll love this game.
The gameplay of Aftermath consists of your usual, scavenging, crafting, and taking out zombies. The game has a similar perspective to Zomboid’s top-down isometric perspective, but the world is 3D.
What makes this game unique is its use of roguelike elements. Every time you die, you start as a new survivor. However, you get to keep the progress and perks you’ve unlocked.
It’s nothing superhuman, but being infected you’ll also get mutations that act as power-ups! The combat in this game is action-based and just as satisfying as its predecessors.
If you’re searching for more games like Project Zomboid, Aftermath is a good start. The older games in the series are also available as part of ‘The Last Stand Legacy Collection’. The original trilogy of The Last Stand games delivers a variety of gameplay modes. From town-builders to roaming zombie-infected streets in side-scrolling action style.
Organ Trail: Director’s Cut
Available on PC, PS5, PS4, Vita, Android, and iOS.
Old but gold, the retro Organ Trail still delivers a masterfully crafted survival experience. When it comes to games like Project Zomboid, this title is great if you love resource management.
The game parodies the old educational ‘Oregon Trail’ series, adding in an infected spin. The game is mostly played through menus, where you’ll need to buy supplies and resources for your journey.
In Organ Trail, you’ll control a group of four friends on their journey westward. You’ll need to scavenge for supplies, manage your resources, and people can even die of sickness! You can even visit towns, do odd jobs for money, or trade items. The infected aren’t the only hostile enemies to fend off against, as there are others like bandits too.
Organ Trail has heaps of old-school pixel charm, with its faithfully recreated 16-bit style. The road trip itself offers choose-your-own-adventure-like gameplay.
The game also simulates a proper day/night cycle, and you can even upgrade your car. When it comes to replayability, Organ Trail offers plenty. Every road trip is different.
For achievement hunters, there are over 25 to collect! The game has a strong fan base, and there is community-created content featured in-game. The director’s cut of this game is one of the best zombie games on Steam.
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD
Available on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
This game lives up to the title of Yet Another Zombie Defense. It sets out to be an apocalyptic-themed tower defense, and executes the goal perfectly, providing fun and mindless zombie killing.
The gameplay loop is incredibly simple. By day, you’ll be building up fortifications like traps and turrets, and at night—you’ll be defending it against hordes. Yet Another Zombie Defense is a top-down shooter that goes all-in on the arcade style. Its gameplay is addicting, with the goal being to see how long you can last before being overrun.
You can also team up with friends and slay zombies together. This game supports groups of up to 4 players co-op, through either local or online play.
The game offers a diverse range of guns to defend yourself with, from rocket launchers to flamethrowers. If you’re a huge fan of community content, this game has a massive fan base behind it.
On the PC Platform, this game supports Steam Workshop integration, which allows for creating your own levels and characters to share with others. It gives it endless replayability.
Every new night, the waves of zombie hordes get stronger and stronger. Despite the seemingly mindless gameplay—there is thought and strategy to designing barricades and defense points.
If you want more games like Project Zomboid, this is a perfect pick. Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is great for groups of friends looking for an easy-to-jump-in title, and it’s one of the best party games on Steam for tower defense fans.
State of Decay 2
Available on PC, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
Looking for a new co-op game to jump in with your Project Zomboid buddies? State of Decay 2 delivers on a great, open-world multiplayer experience filled with great combat and building systems.
What makes State of Decay special is its community and settlement systems. You’ll gather survivors, set them their own tasks and jobs, manage resources, and fortify your base.
Each survivor is unique, with their own skills and abilities. Gameplay-wise, State of Decay is comparable to a zombie-themed Grand Theft Auto. The action combat handles similarly.
The visuals in State of Decay 2 are some of the best for the genre, and even overall industry. The graphic fidelity is incredible, and the blood splatter when busting zombie’s heads is satisfying.
In every way, the game is a huge improvement over its predecessor. If you’re a huge fan of the original State of Decay title, you’ll fall in love with all the upgrades made here.
It’s rare for the survival genre, but this game also provides a full-fledged campaign to play through. Along with the main story, there’s also a smaller story-driven mode, too. The game also offers a heart-racing time-critical wave-based survival mode as well. Which unlocks items for use in the main campaign.
This game supports up to 4 player co-op, and the best part? You can also unlock rewards that help grow your own survivor community back in single-player. This is one of the best open-world games on Steam, and fans of games like Project Zomboid will love it.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Available on SteamVR, Oculus Quest, and PSVR.
When it comes to atmospheric zombie games, nothing compares to Skydance’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. When it comes to games like Project Zomboid, this is a shining standout.
This game is as immersive as it gets. It’s a virtual reality title, and places you in the midst of the apocalypse. It translates the popular comic and TV show perfectly into a videogame format.
The combat in Saints & Sinners is the best the VR market has to offer, and dominates any other title on this list. The game even simulates the weight and impact of any weapons you’re using.
It’s an amazing feat for a VR title, and nothing comes close to the satisfaction of beating down zombies in this game. The walkers literally being right in front of your eyes and up close? It’s terrifying.
Nothing can quite describe the sense of fear this game evokes. It feels like you’re in another world, exploring the zombie-infested streets of New Orlean.
Alongside the amazing combat, this game also offers an incredible story and quests. The writing is easily on par with the best of the TV show’s arcs. Your story choices will also impact the world around you.
The game offers a variety of diverse modes, there isn’t just the story mode available. For example, the game also has a wave-based survival mode, where you’ll take down horde after horde.
The sheer scale of the world through the VR eyes is a novelty that never wears off. The developers even took full use of VR for movement, you’ll have to climb, crawl, and sneak around.
Dead Frontier 2
Available on PC.
Open to MMO games like Project Zomboid? If so, Dead Frontier 2 is a hidden gem that’s worth checking out. It doubles down on the horror aspect of the survival genre.
If you took Project Zomboid’s apocalyptic setting and towns and mixed it in with a shade of Resident Evil’s atmosphere, this would be the outcome. Dead Frontier 2 is a master at nailing down the fear and tone of the apocalypse. Ammo is hard to come by, and the open world is packed with tight, claustrophobia-inducing halls.
The game is also great on the character building side. It goes in-depth like an RPG, allowing you to build up your own avatar with a huge variety of skills, equipment, and perks to choose from. Whether you want to specialize in melee, or go ham with shotgun, this game has you covered.
As you can expect from an MMO, it’s also packed with events and a market.There is a full-fledged market system to trade rare gear with fellow survivors. The game also accommodates people who prefer to lone-wolf the apocalypse.
Dead Frontier 2 is full of different quests and hard dungeons. It’s also alive with a range of NPCs that you might come across, who you can choose to help for rewards.
The writing may not be stellar, but it’s serviceable, and the game is easy to drop in/out with friends. The server system is easy to navigate and there is a range of maps to explore.
