Call them what you will, Infected, Walkers, The Undead, zombies are an iconic monster that has shuffled their way into our hearts with how much they’ve bled their way back into video games, movies, and pop culture in general over the years.
There are a plethora of great games from studios that are triple-A, indie, and everything in between, with each producing their own take on the classic decaying rotting tide. Some takes are better than others, with a handful even redefining the “zombie survival” genre completely and although there is a little bit of over-saturation with how many of these games have been churned out over the years, there are still quite a few worth checking out. Here are the best zombie games that have come out so far.
Updated May 19th, 2023 By Matthew Mckeown: Shambling moaning monsters from our nightmares, the Zombie genre is just as undying as the reanimating corpses they contain. Their numbers are legion and there’s been some creative takes on zombie slaying over the years.
Because there’s so many it can be pretty hit-and-miss on whether the one you buy and install is good or not. But thankfully there’s been some pretty entertaining ones that have shuffled out of the shadows. To help you spend your cash on the dev teams that deserve it, here are some more of the best Zombie games out now.
43 Dead Island 2
The game everyone thought would never see the light of day, Dead Island 2 finally dropped after an eternity in development hell and released the zombie-filled streets of LA onto our screens in a visceral deluge. Sticking close to the tried and tested formula of the original but with a next-gen facelift, the sequel brought out a colorful cast of new characters as well as a few familiar faces to spice things up and keep the nostalgia train running.
Featuring a large map filled with luxury houses and iconic attractions of the Los Angeles coastline, unlockable skill trees with powerful abilities, and a semi-sufficient weapon customization system, DI2 has a lot going for it despite its late appearance. With colorful set-pieces and a not-too-serious approach to storytelling, it’s entertaining enough to keep you pushing through the main plot and side-quests. Plus there’s the option for multiplayer, so you can bring a couple of friends into the corpse curb-stomping chaos with you
42 Zelter
Zelter by G1 Playground brings all the terror of a Zombie Apocalypse and packages it into a cute pixelated form. Left alone in a ruined city full of ravenous undead, your only options are to scavenge what you can whilst rescuing whatever survivors you can to get a helping hand in the long run.
Going in guns blazing against the hordes is not recommended, instead the emphasis is on survival, hunting and gathering what you can. NPCs can be recruited to your cause and it won’t take long to go from a solitary campsite to a sprawling, busy and well-armed base of operations. With a challenge mode to test your survival skills against a six-day time limit, there’s a lot on offer from this Early Access gem.
41 They Are Coming
Though it has garnered a slightly mixed reception, don’t let its simple mobile game-esque aesthetics fool you, there’s quite the challenge lurking just underneath the surface. Though instead of surviving against the horde, you’re guiding those swarms of undead around yourself. Humanity is on the menu and it’s up to you to ensure your rotting followers are given a full-course meal.
The game itself is split into several stages that stretch from the French Ardennes in World War Two and beyond. But the human race isn’t going down without a fight and they have plenty of powerful weaponry to put your horde down for good before that ball of hungry-hungry zombies can get going. Tactics are required as mistakes are brutally punished, getting the ball rolling on the Zombie Apocalypse is a little harder than it seems, so put yourself to the test and see if your hellish hordes can end it all in They Are Coming.
40 Zed Zone
An Early Access apocalypse survival game that will stress your skills to the max Zed Zone by Leven Liu sets you the task of staying alive in a ruined world filled with Zombies, mutants, and large hostile mechs. Scavenge what you can and try to stay alive in this surprisingly in-depth little indie game.
The world has been ruined by a catastrophe, those that weren’t wiped out either scrape by or were turned into roaming undead and mutants of all shapes and sizes. Build a shelter to keep them at bay, find and upgrade a range of big guns and useful gear, or just jump in an abandoned car and cruise around the ruined cityscape in comfort. There’s a ton to do and it doesn’t take a lot to end up just another statistic, so if you’re in need of a solid survival game, try Zed Zone.
39 Undeadly
If you’ve ever faced off against The Lost in XCOM 2: WOTC, then you’ll feel right at home in Undeadly. This turn-based zombie survival game puts you in control of a team of survivors trying to make their way in an infected-filled world alongside other bizarre and equally deadly phenomena lurking out there in the wilds and abandoned suburbia.
Gameplay is divided into two separate time zones. The Day, when things are relatively safe and your team can scavenge for supplies, and the evening when the undead shuffle out of their hidden holes and lairs to bother the living still wandering around. So balancing prepping with risky missions for big rewards will be your bread and butter game loop. There’s a bucketload of customization options available with everything open to tweaking from clothes to weapon attachments, right down to the type of ammo and traps being brought into the fray. Each Survivor can also be equipped with a number of powerful perks and skills to turn each team member into a Zombie slaying god. If a turn-based survival sim is what you need, then take a swing at Undeadly.
38 Dead Cide Club
Chaos loves company and sessions in Dead Cide Clube are quite chaotic. This free-to-play multiplayer side-scroller from Press A pits you and your pals against zombies and other mutant monstrosities across a variety of levels.
A surprising Early Acess gem, Dead Cide Club is a little rough but it has a lot of charm in its arcadey gameplay and customization options for your character. There’s tons of weapons and ways to put your personal flair on your monster killer of choice. There are also multiple modes of mayhem in a number of different flavors from Battle Royale to your standard Horde Mode, co-op, and even options to customize your own map with its own rewards and rules.
37 Survival Nation
Put your survival skills to the test in this open-world VR survival game by Wenkly Studi. Explore a massive map by yourself or with friends as you take on wandering hordes of Zombies and get to know a unique cast of characters around the zone.
There’s plenty of quests and activities to keep you busy in this wild landscape. As well as a healthy roster of equipment and weapons to craft, there are secret treasures to dig up and riddles to solve. Similar to State Of Decay, but in first-person, the post-apocalyptic world is your oyster. Just watch out for the biters.
36 Zombie Admin
The world has ended, and the Zombies have overrun the streets, but you still need to clock into that office job. In Zombie Admin by Hastily Assembled, your goal is to survive the corporate ladder as you try to get to the roof of the building and escape via a rescue helicopter.
It’s Hotline Miami meets the Belko Experiment as you have to tear through your old work colleagues in a grisly fashion. There’s co-op and multiple weapons, so you and a friend can work through that office stress together and wall-wall hordes of Undead office workers to plow through. It’s a simple little shooter that’s a great time-killer.
35 Gross
The best part of any Zombie game is blasting apart huge hordes of shuffling Undead. It’s always cathartic to take out the stress of your day on an ungodly amount of rotting Ghouls in a grizzly and gory fashion. With Gross you can do just that.
This unique Tower Defense by Hangry Owl Games puts you in charge of a Safe Havens protection against the hungry-hungry hordes. There’s a good number of strong and weird-looking towers to use, special Zombies to keep you on your toes, and the ability to jump into the action yourself with your weapon of choice. There’s a solid selection of upgrades to keep things fresh whilst allowing you to scale your base with each threat level and a number of different levels to test your skills on. If you enjoy an action-packed Tower Defence session then put Gross on your list.
34 Zombie Cure Lab
Zombie hordes are never-ending, so why not use this seemingly infinite source of shamblers for something more constructive. With Zombie Cure Lab by Thera Bytes GmbH, you’re able to take those rotting visitors to your camp and turn them into an untiring workforce.
You’re in charge of a group of scientists that are trying to create the perfect lab and safe haven from the undead. Use experimental splicing to create Zombie hybrids that can perform all sorts of complicated tasks from building defenses to grinding up resources and much more. With a huge map to explore, a diverse research tree to unlock, and the constant waves of Ghouls banging at your walls, there are plenty of things to keep you and your team of researchers busy. It is Early Access, but there’s a lot of potential and regular updates keeping it fresh.
33 The Unliving
A slick Indie that’s been gaining a lot of ground recently, The Unliving by RocketBrush Studio is a pixel artist’s paradise. This slick action game has you take the role of a fearsome Necromancer who’s off to change the current world order and erect his own Undead kingdom using the bodies of the living.
Combat comes with a twist in this fast-paced RPG roguelike. Whilst you can do a lot of damage on your own, the core idea is that the foes you kill can be resurrected and turned against their former friends. There are a lot of unique monsters and ghouls you can create from fallen heroes and there’s some great upgrade trees and enhancements to make them much stronger. With battles that can fill the screen with utterly gigantic hordes, The Unliving is an Early Access gem that’s definitely going places. Which is probably the most densely populated town.
32 Requisition VR
If you’re looking for some virtual reality anarchy with your friends then take a look at Requisition VR. This Early Access game by Arcadia has been making waves as it’s similar to The Walking Dead: Saints And Sinners, but with multiplayer and a lot more space to explore.
You’re stuck in Nevermont, a rundown town that’s crawling with Undead. There are tons of locations to explore and with a crafting system that has over 500 unique items to build including customized weapons, there are plenty of reasons to get out there. Though it’s a little rough around the edges, there’s a story campaign and a lot of interesting uses for the virtual reality headset during gameplay. With multiple modes of play available including PVP and the ability to bring along friends through VR co-op, Requisition is a great time with a good group.
31 Darktide
Whilst it’s not strictly a completely zombie-focused game, there are enough rotting hordes of Nurgle around for it to count. Another absolute banger by FatShark, Darktide took the things it refined and worked out in the Vermintide games, gave them a coating of futuristic and grimdark 40K paint, and sent it out the door.
This multiplayer shooter sets you and a group of three other prisoners turned conscripts in the Astra Militarum (Earths army) with the task of clearing out Chaos worshipper cults that include hordes of Nurgle zombies, big armored behemoths, mutants, and more warp-spawned horrors. There are multiple classes to choose from, including the option to play as a massive Ogryn, and all of the weaponry is right out of the 40K handbook so purists will love the attention to gear detail. There’s a threadbare plot, but the gameplay is what really sells it as it’s a solid Warhammer shooter that’s been long overdue.
30 Mutant Meltdown
If you like your zombie hordes a little slower paced then Mutant Meltdown by GoldenGod Games might be shambling up your alley. This survival RPG is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and your mission is to manage a group of survivors through this ravaged world.
Plaguing the surface are wandering mutants and undead of all shapes and sizes along with bandits and other irradiated threats. Gameplay is turn-based and movement is bound to a 4X grid system, so it’ll hit that button for Civ fans. Tiles have various threats like radiation pockets and obstacles in them so there’s a fair amount of tactical planning required, but your survivors have unlockable skills to make them stronger and all sorts of gear to grab to keep them safe.
29 Undead Horde 2: Necropolis
Another Necromancer-themed Indie that’s sure to bring out your sinister side, Undead Horde 2: Necropolis is a cutesy action RPG by 10tons Ltd is worth rising from your crypt for. Taking the role of a powerful Necromantic Lord, your task is to ravage the kingdom, raise powerful undead armies and complete a range of quests to make yourself and your necrotic hordes stronger.
At your beck and call is an army of undead souls and at any time you can command over 100 of them to swarm all over the towns and villages in your way. There’s a number of unique minions to summon and it can be pretty satisfying to send them rumbling over a target base in a big ball of zombie fury. As you progress through the game you can level up your Necropolis at home enhance yourself and your armies and there are powerful items to find and lands to burn. So plenty of things for a new Necromancer Ruler to do.
28 Biters & Bullets
Zombie wave defense games are a dime a dozen, but occasionally you’ll find a little simple gem within the pile. Biters & Bullets by Night Owls is one of those as this slick little roguelike is a super casual zombie shooter that’s surprisingly got quite a bit of entertaining depth to it.
There are some Vampire Survivor-Esque style mechanics of using dropped energy from the undead to level yourself and your weapons up. Hordes of zombies of all shapes and sizes come at you in absolutely massive waves, and there are a lot of weird and creative powerups to send those rotting corpses back where they belong. Throw on some unique boss fights and you’ve got a solid little indie zombie game that’s off to a good start. The prologue is currently available and it’s free to play. So if you’re looking for a simple little arcade indy with hordes of undead and plenty of weird and powerful power-ups, then Biters & Bullets is a fun timesink.
27 Necro Smith
Dubbed a Necromancer Simulator by the team at Alawar Premium, who also worked on the thrilling Beholder and the challenging space Bounty Hunter game They Always Run. Necro Smith is a simple and cutesy slow-burn strategy game that provides hordes of monsters to slay.
Your goal, to cleanse the land of the “Chosen Ones”, powerful entities that rule a land that’s overrun with monsters. At your disposal are your necromantic abilities which allow you to assemble undead minions and shambling towering zombified monstrosities with unique strengths, weaknesses, and powers. These units are then sent forth from your tower to help you expand your influence, collect stronger body parts and allow you to upgrade your base to become the necromantic ruler of the land.
26 SurrounDead
A simple little open-world zombie survival game that has a lot of charm. SurrounDead takes place five years after the world has been ravaged by an undead-creating virus that decimated the population of the planet. With the remnants of humanity barely clinging to life in ramshackle survivor camps, your goal is to survive in this infested landscape for as long as you can.
Though it’s in Early Access, SurrounDead is off to a pretty strong start. Gameplay is reminiscent of Day Z, the map is fairly sprawling and the abandoned cityscapes and foreboding fields of wandering zombies in this desolate wasteland provide plenty of opportunities for scavenging. It’s routinely updated, and though only single-player, the wastelands feel relatively vibrant enough that you won’t feel too lonely for long.
25 Barricadez
Barricadez by Fly Penguin inc can best be described as Terraria meets Tower Defense. This massively open-world 2D game pits you as a tiny bot defending its base from innumerable hordes of undead that besiege it when the sun goes down.
But all is not lost, as beneath our robotic friend is an entire planet’s worth of resources that can be mined and crafted through intricate supply chains into sturdy defenses and bulwarks. Turrets, traps, and all sorts of barricades can be erected, and with the terrain being randomly generated no adventure into the dark depths below is the same. It’s a challenging and surprisingly dense indie that’s definitely worth your time if you like some mechanically heavy zombie survival games.
24 Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever
You very rarely find a videogame based on a movie that isn’t a soulless cash-in, but there are exceptions to that rule, and Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever is one of them. This fast-paced VR FPS puts an arcadey spin on what’s already a pretty cartoonish setting and it’s a violence-filled frenzy that will keep you coming back for more.
The goal of the game is to blast through the undead as fast as you can to set the highest score. Challenge friends to top your name on the board, deploy a massive arsenal of ass-kicking weaponry and rack up combos with slow-mo powers that trigger from skillfully aimed headshots. The undead come at you in a variety of flavors and there are plenty of maps to stretch your zombie-killing skills on.