Is Project Zomboid Still Worth It in 2025? Here’s the Honest Breakdown

Good sandbox survival games with zombies and complex gameplay mechanics are a rare breed indeed, which makes Project Zomboid a worthy alternative even today.

What is Project Zomboid?

Project Zomboid is an indie zombie survival game developed by The Indie Stone. The game was released in 2013 as an early access title and remains in that state to this day. However, even though the game is still being worked on, it’s already full of cool features that allow players to sink hundreds of hours into it as they immerse themselves in this one-of-a-kind zombie survival experience.

What makes the game special is a combination of simple visuals and complex gameplay features. Don’t let the game’s graphics fool you – simple visual style was a deliberate choice, allowing a small, independent studio, such as The Indie Stone, to put more emphasis on developing an addictive gameplay loop where players feel like they’re actually fighting for their lives in the unforgiving post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies.

Should I Buy Project Zomboid in 2025?

Project Zomboid is absolutely worth buying in 2025. Even though the game is over a decade old at this point, you’re not too late to the party. Good games don’t age, especially games with stylized visuals like Project Zomboid; more often than not, the visual component is the one that’s most prone to getting outdated quickly, so if the game doesn’t strive for realistic graphics, it won’t get dated easily.

Developers are passionate about the game and are dedicated to making it better; each year brings more meaningful updates and more content to the base game, ensuring that there’s always something to do. The community is as welcoming to the new players as ever, and the game itself already feels like a finished product, despite still being in the state of early access.

With that being said, even though the game is totally worth buying, it’s also important to note that it’s not a game that everyone will be able to fully enjoy and appreciate. Before you make a choice whether it’s worth buying or not for you, specifically, read on to learn more about the game’s most important features. This way, you’ll be able to make an informed purchase decision that you won’t regret later.

Hardcore Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse Setting

Project Zomboid gives players an opportunity to immerse themselves in a hostile world overrun by zombies. There’s no one to hear your cries for help; everyone’s turned into mindless creatures, roaming the streets and craving brains. Wherever you go, you’ll have to keep your guard up. There’s no safe place in Project Zomboid; every time you open the door, go into the woods, or return from a looting trip, there’s always a chance that you’ll run into a lone lost zombie that will rush at you at the most opportune moment and end your adventure.

A scratch after a zombie encounter? You’ll probably live. A laceration? Your chances are lower but still fairly high. But get bitten and you’re done; one bite is all it takes to finish your character and turn them into part of the horde, no matter how strong they are. There is no cure for a zombie bite in Project Zomboid, and death is permanent, which creates constant tension and anxiety. Each zombie appearance on the screen can cause you – the real you – a small heart attack.

You can never be one hundred percent safe in Project Zomboid, even if you’re wearing the best gear and clear the neighborhood out of zombies regularly – there’s always a chance that you’ll end up dead. You will eventually slip up. You will make a mistake. And one of these mistakes will cost your life.

There’s a reason why the game welcomes players with the words “this is how you died”.

Project Zomboid is a story of you, the lone survivor, and your struggles to the bitter end. There’s no happy ending. A fleeting sense of hope is all you have.

Open-World Sandbox Environment

In Project Zomboid, you are the creator of your own story. There is no set goal in the game; you’re absolutely free to do whatever you want and go wherever you want. Naturally, you want to stay alive as long as possible so you can experience all the things the game has to offer. As such, you’ll quickly realize that this leads to one main goal: survive. Don’t die, so you can keep playing, exploring, and improving your character’s skills.

Other than that? Just have fun and explore all the possibilities – there is a lot to discover. You can play for hundreds of hours and still learn about new things you had no idea about.

Such a gameplay formula encourages players to try different approaches and create self-imposed challenges. Build a farm. Catch fish. Make a base. Collect plushies. Clear a horde. Learn mechanics and upgrade a car with the best parts. Master some skills. Bake a cake.

Do you think you’re good at the game? Start over, but avoid using electricity. Try living in the woods. Or living in a car, always on the move. Get some negative perks, such as claustrophobia. Start a character with no points in stamina or strength.

The possibilities are endless and make for incredible replayability.

Very Difficult – But in a Fair Way

Project Zomboid is not an easy game. In a sense, it could remind you of old-school titles that didn’t hold your hand. In this modern era of games that tell you exactly what to do and keep bombarding you with notifications, indicators, arrows, and other navigation clues, and basically prevent you from experimenting and making mistakes, it’s very refreshing to see a game that leaves you on your own from the very first second and allows you to feel lost and overwhelmed.

The game doesn’t explain how things work; you’re thrown right into the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and you have to figure out for yourself how to stay alive. It tries to follow real-world logic to a certain degree, which makes discovering various interactions natural and intuitive. For example, you’re expected to stay hydrated, but you can’t just drink rainwater; it must be heated before it’s safe to drink. If you get a deep wound, it would be smart to find a needle and patch it so it heals faster. Need to scribble something on your map? You need to find a pencil first.

The learning curve is steep, but it feels rewarding when you start connecting the dots and learn about various gameplay mechanics. Staying alive for a week for the first time feels like a true accomplishment. Then you’ll be aiming for staying alive for a month. Then, perhaps, until winter, when things get really difficult.

You’re expected to die a lot when you’re in your newbie phase, but with each death will come real knowledge that will help you survive for longer.

Building and Crafting

One of the main features of Project Zomboid is building and crafting. As a player, you’re given an option to craft all kinds of items to help you survive the apocalypse, from simple improvised weapons and tools to tasty dishes and useful gadgets. If you’re knowledgeable enough, you could probably live far from human settlements and find all you need to survive in the woods.

But the building part is even more interesting. In Project Zomboid, you are allowed to build your own base from scratch. Build the walls, lay the floor, choose furniture, build a garage for your collection of cars – you can design your home the way you want and make it feel truly yours.

Addictive Multiplayer

If you prefer playing with other people, that’s also a possibility in Project Zomboid. You can either join one of the existing servers or create your own with your own rules and invite your friends to have fun the exact way you like it.

Playing online is a drastically different experience from playing alone. When you’re playing in a group, you can make everyone in the group focus on a different profession and be responsible for different things, creating a friendly environment where everyone feels needed and has to play their part to benefit the group. It’s especially true when you consider that skills in Project Zomboid take quite a lot of time to learn, even more so in multiplayer, where you can’t speed up time to quicken the grind.

Rather than being a jack of all trades, decide who will be a chef responsible for cooking meals for the group. Make someone else a mechanic who’ll be responsible for car maintenance. Make someone else specialized in farming or fishing to bring home food. And so on and so forth.

Very Active Modding Community

The vanilla version of the game is already impressive with the sheer number of possibilities it offers, but if you ever feel like you’ve run out of things to do, the modders will have your back.

Mods can add certain quality-of-life elements. They can tweak the UI to show you more things that could be of interest to you. Some mods can change the general balance to make the game feel more realistic, more challenging, or fairer. They can also add new items to the base game, from new clothing options and weapons to new vehicles. They can even add new features to the base game, unlocking more interactions within the game’s world.

One thing’s for certain: with mods and official workshop support on the Steam platform, you won’t run out of things to do anytime soon.

Conclusion – Is Project Zomboid Worth It in 2025?

Project Zomboid is absolutely worth getting in 2025, and you won’t regret buying it, unless you’re not a fan of open-world sandbox games focused on immersion and zombie apocalypse settings. If you value open-ended gameplay with lots of possibilities and unforgiving but fair gameplay that rewards experience that naturally comes with time as you keep playing the game and discover new things, you will love Project Zomboid.