Foraging is an extremely useful survivalist skill in Project Zomboid that allows players to search for various items in the wilderness and forests. With the release of the latest Update 41, foraging has been heavily overhauled.

Our guide will provide you with tips on how to forage in Project Zomboid. Foraging doesn't mean searching only for food, it also means searching crafting materials, medicinal plants, dead animals, etc.

How to Forage in Project Zomboid

Investigate Area

The first thing you want to do is investigate the environment you're in. In order to do this you need to select the "Investigate Area" option from the left menu, indicated by the magnifying glass icon.

This simple action will enable a search mode. Search mode shows info about the environment your character stands in, whether it's an urban area or a wilderness, what kinds of inhabitants live there, as well as what kinds of materials and foods you can find.

But that's not it, as the new investigation process requires you to search around for a little bit. Here's what you need to do:

1. Walk around the area with the search mode enabled
2. Stop once an eye icon appears above your head
3. Look around and click your mouse in this area
4. Once you stumble upon an object, it will be indicated by its tag
5. Double-click the item tag to pick it up

The objects of interest are usually obscured, but once you identify them, you will see them clearly and decide whether you want to put them in your backpack or not.

The more items you find, the more XP you earn. The more XP you earn, the better and rarer things you find. Your search radius will increase and this helps immensely when you're looking for specific items.

Improve Your Foraging

As you progress through the game, you will notice that certain actions help you find hidden items, while others prevent it. So how can you improve your foraging?

Choose Correct Occupation

There are several occupations that directly influence the success of foraging, including:

• Park Ranger
• Fisherman
• Chef
• Lumberjack
• Veteran
• Farmer

These occupations increase your radius of investigation, reduce weather effects that may prevent you from finding items, and reduce darkness effects.

Such occupations like Park Ranger and Fisherman even add a point or two to your foraging skill in the skill tree. But being unemployed is also beneficial for foraging skill, so consider it as well.

Choose Correct Traits

If you've already chosen an occupation that is not on the list above, then you can improve your foraging with the help of the following traits:

• Lucky
• Hiker
• Former Scout
• Hunter
• Eagle Eyed
• Gardener
• Outdoorsman
• Cook
• Cat's Eyes
• Nutritionist
• Herbalist

All of these traits increase your radius of investigation, and some even reduce weather and darkness effects, such as Hunter and Outdoorsman.

You also need to avoid some of the traits that will reduce your foraging skills and abilities, such as:

• Unlucky
• Agoraphobic
• Short Sighted

Perform Correct Actions

Lastly, certain actions may strongly influence the success of foraging, either negatively or positively.

The following actions will increase the chance of finding items:

• Aiming
• Sneaking
• Walking

These actions will decrease the chance of foraging:

• Running
• Sprinting

You should also avoid specific types of equipment, which may prevent you from identifying objects on the ground, including:

• Helmets
• Face Masks
• Glasses
• Eyepatches

Project Zomboid Foraging Items List

Here you will find a list of all items that can be foraged in Project Zomboid, including the corresponding foraging levels.

No Foraging Level Required

• Junk
• Berries
• Mushrooms
• Stones
• Branches
• Twigs
• Violets

Foraging Level 2

• Wild Vegetables
• Grape Leaves
• Worms

Foraging Level 3

• Wild Onions
• Logs

Foraging Level 4

• Rosehips
• Crickets
• Cherries
• Recipe Magazines
• Logs
• Rare Junk

Foraging Level 5

• Oranges
• Dead Rats

Foraging Level 6

• Jalapenos
• Jabaneros
• Limes
• Lemons
• Insects

Foraging Level 7

• Grapes
• Dead Birds
• Frogs

Foraging Level 8

• Wild Eggs
• Strawberries
• Pears
• Grapefruits
• Corn
• Dead Squirrels

Foraging Level 10

• Dead Rabbits

Related guides

• How to Lose Weight
• How to Hotwire Cars
• How to Siphon Gas and Get More Gas
• How to Clean Blood
• How to Barricade Doors and Windows

That's all you need to know on how to forage in Project Zomboid. If you need more Project Zomboid tips and tricks articles, then be sure to check out our dedicated hub page.

VHS tapes in Project Zomboid are incredibly useful, allowing players to learn and develop skills by watching them. Things such as hotwiring, metalworking, and first aid are just some of the skills you can gain experience points in from watching these, but where do you get them? In this article, we'll break it down for you.

Where to Find All VHS Tapes in Project Zomboid

There are two types of VHS tapes in Project Zomboid: home VHS tapes and retail VHS tapes.

Home VHS tapes are a lot more unpredictable in their spawning, and each one can only spawn a single time in the world, so seeking out a specific one can be extremely time-consuming.

Retail VHS tapes can have many duplicates and are much more easy to find, spawning in VHS stores throughout the world.

Home VHS Tapes

There is unfortunately no easy way to get home VHS tapes. Be sure to search every wardrobe, table, and desk in every house you scavenge.

Check inside the glove boxes, and on top of seats in vehicles, as these are also potential spawning locations for home VHS tapes. 

Retail VHS Tapes

Retail VHS tapes can be found in VHS stores throughout the world, of which there are six in total. These six locations are in set places, making searching for these sorts of tapes substantially less annoying.

The six locations are detailed below, and are identifiable by the "Hit Vids" signs at the storefronts.

Louisville VHS Tapes

Louisville contains half of all of the VHS stores in the game; three in total. One can be found right next to the Econoroons Motel on the west side, by the Chapelmount Downs Horse Track.

A second store can be found at the far north of Louisville, directly across the street from Eden's Oasis, as part of a strip mall.

The third and final Louisville store is part of a separate strip mall in the northeast corner of the map, between Window and Kegsplosion, across the street from the Grand Ohio Mall.

Riverside VHS Tapes

At the west end of Riverside, in the same general area as the Spiffo's, police station, gas station, you can find the VHS store beside a playground.

Muldraugh VHS Tapes

At the south end of Muldraugh, right next to the police station, you can find this region's one and only VHS store.

March Ridge VHS Tapes

In the center of the town, sharing a parking lot with the doctor's office, you can find the final VHS store.

How to Use VHS Tapes in Project Zomboid

VHS tapes are used with televisions. Right-click on a TV as though you were to use it normally, then drag your tape onto it from your inventory, then click Play to watch it.

Doing so will reduce your character's boredom, and can also provide skill experience points if if happens to be a Skill Tape. 

All Skill Tapes, and their associated skills are listed below:

Project Zomboid Skill Tapes

Retail VHS Skill Tapes

• The Cook Show E1 - Cooking + Cake Batter Recipe
• The Cook Show E2 - Cooking
• The Cook Show E3 - Cooking
• The Cook Show E4 - Cooking
• The Cook Show E5 - Cooking
• The Cook Show E6 - Cooking
• The Cook Show E7 - Cooking + Pie Dough Recipe
• Woodcraft E1 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E2 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E3 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E4 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E5 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E6 - Carpentry
• Woodcraft E7 - Carpentry
• Exposure Survival E1 - Fishing + Fishing Rod Recipe
• Exposure Survival E2 - Fishing
• Exposure Survival E3 - Farming
• Exposure Survival E4 - Carpentry
• Exposure Survival E5 - Carpentry and Foraging
• Exposure Survival E6 - Trapping + Trap Crate Recipe
• Exposure Survival E7 - Foraging
• Exposure Survival E8 - Carpentry
• Carzone E1 - Mechanics
• Carzone E2 - Mechanics
• Carzone E3 - Mechanics

Home VHS Skill Tapes

• OSCC '92 - Mechanics
• stock cars - Mechanics
• Granny Nani - Tailoring
• Tailoring 101 - Tailoring
• nof vid - Metalworking + Metal Roof Recipe and Metal Wall Recipe
• no 9 - Metalworking + Metal Fence Recipe
• Muldraugh AV Club - Electrical + Makeshift Radio Recipe
• TV repair - Electrical
• RMFA - First Aid
• Combat Wound Management - First Aid

That's just about everything you need to know about obtaining and using VHS tapes in Project Zomboid. If you're interested in learning anything more about this game, consider checking out our other Project Zomboid guides!

Project Zomboid zombie spawns and more can be adjusted with customizable sandbox settings. This allows players to tailor the game to their own playstyle to optimize their individual experiences. In this guide, we're going to break down all of the available sandbox settings in Project Zomboid.

How to Adjust Zombie Spawns in Project Zomboid

From the main menu, click Solo, then under Playstyle, select Custom Sandbox to be brought to the settings page.

You're going to find 11 pages worth of options, though only the first and last relate to zombie spawns. You can feel free to explore the nine other pages and mess around with loot rarity, gas rarity, time advancement, etc.

Project Zomboid Population Settings

The first page of options, Population, has just two dropdowns: Zombie Count and Zombie Distribution. These two settings are quite intuitive.

Zombie Count will define the number of zombies you have in your game. By default, it is set to Normal, but you can increase of decrease this as you please, ranging from Insane to None.

Zombie Distribution has two options: Urban Focused and Uniform. Urban Focused is the default option, and this just means that you will see more zombies in urban areas, as you would expect in an apocalypse. If you switch this to Uniform, the zombies will become evenly distributed throughout the world.

Project Zomboid Advanced Zombie Options

The final page of settings, Advanced Zombie Options, is where the real magic happens. There are 13 options on this page, and this is where most confusions tend to arise for Project Zomboid players. We'll break them down here.

• Population Multiplier — This option is tethered to the Zombie Count option on the Population page, but can be manually adjusted to more specific values here. The higher the number, the more zombies you will see spawn. Values range from 0 (None) to 4 (Insane), and you can use decimals if you choose. This multiplier works in conjunction with the next two settings, Population Start Multiplier and Population Peak Multiplier.
  
  
• Population Start Multiplier — This is how you set the number of zombies you want to start off with in the early game. Just like the previous setting, the higher the number, the more zombies that will spawn. Whatever number you choose (up to 4), that number will be multiplied by the Population Multiplier to set the actual spawn rate.
  • For example, if your Population Multiplier is 2.0 and your Population Start Multiplier is 0.1, you will begin with a spawning multiplier of 0.2. 
    
    
• Population Peak Multiplier — The spawn multiplier increases from the lower bound (the Start Multiplier) to the upper bound (Peak Multiplier, up to 4) over the course of the game. This value is what you want your end-game spawn multiplier to be, again being multiplied by your Population Multiplier.
  
  
• Population Peak Day — This is the number of days it will take for the spawn multiplier to linearly increase from the Start Multiplier to the Peak Multiplier. By default, this is set to 28 days, but you can decrease or increase it to anywhere between one and 365 days.
  
  
• Respawn Hours — Respawn Hours are the number of hours that need to pass before zombies can respawn in a seen chunk. If you set this to zero, then respawning is disabled, meaning you will be able to clear out an area without needing to worry about zombies respawning in it, though it's still possible for them to wander into it.
  • By default, this is set to three days (72 hours), but it can be increased up to a year (8760 hours). Zombies will respawn in the same cell they died in, but will typically spawn in the outskirts of it.
    
    
• Respawn Unseen Hours — This is similar to the last option, and has the same maximum and minimum, though this applies to respawns only in unseen chunks. Say you set this to 72 hours. This means that you would have to vacate an area for 72 hours before zombies can start respawning there.
  • This value will always override the value of Respawn Hours for unseen chunks. By default, this is set to 16 hours.
    
    
• Respawn Multiplier — This ties in to the Respawn Hours and Respawn Unseen Hours values, and represents the fraction of total zombies that can respawn per set number of hours. If you set this to the maximum, 1.0, then all zombies will respawn every set number of respawn hours. If it is set to 0.1, then it will take ten cycles of the respawn hours for them all to respawn.

There are other settings in the Advanced Zombie Settings page that can be altered, allowing to change the size of hordes that form, group separation distances, how far they will travel and can hear, among other things, though none of these relate to Project Zomboid spawn behavior.

Hopefully, this has answered whatever questions you have about adjusting zombie spawns in Project Zomboid, and now you can adjust your sandbox settings to fit your playstyle. If you're sick of cleaning up blood around your house and want less zombies, then go ahead and make those changes. But if that's your thing, go nuts and ramp up the difficulty.

If you're interested in learning more about Project Zomboid, consider checking out our Project Zomboid guides!

With zombie hordes attacking every night, bodies are going to start piling up quickly outside your home in Project Zomboid. Not only will you have to deal with the hundreds of bloodstains splattered around your home base, but you'll need to rid the ground of those corpses. That's where knowing how to burn corpses comes into play.

This Project Zomboid guide will tell you how to burn corpses. Not only does this help keep your place looking nice, but it will keep your character's mental health up.

How to Burn Corpses in Project Zomboid

There are two different ways to burn corpses in Project Zomboid, so you can pick and choose what method to use, based on the materials you already have. Your two options are to utilize a campfire to dispose of the corpses or to pile up bodies and use a jerry can of gasoline.

How to Burn Corpses With a Campfire

To make a campfire, you will need campfire materials. This is done by combing one of the following ingredients with either two logs or three planks:

• Book
• Dirty Rag
• Magazines
• Newspaper
• Ripped Sheets
• Sheet
• Twigs

Right-click on the ground, somewhere far from any flammable resources, and choose to build a fire. This will create an unlit campfire. You're going to want to wait to light it until you have the corpses piled atop it.

To burn corpses, start dragging the bodies over to the campfire and piling them around it. Closely packed corpses will have the fire spread between them, so make sure they're as tightly packed as you can manage. Once you've got them all gathered, right-click on the fire and choose to add fuel. Fuel can be any of the following items:

• Socks (Five Minutes)
• Ripped Sheets (Five Minutes)
• Shoes (10 Minutes)
• Sheet (10 Minutes)
• Sheet of Paper (Ten Minutes)
• Twigs (15 Minutes)
• Sturdy Stick (15 Minutes)
• Book (15 Minutes)
• Skill Book (15 Minutes)
• Magazine (15 Minutes)
• Skill Magazine (15 Minutes)
• Newspaper (15 Minutes)
• Journal (15 Minutes)
• Comic Book (15 Minutes)
• Empty Notebook (15 Minutes)
• Tree Branch (One Hour)
• Plank (Two Hours)
• Notched Wooden Plank (Two Hours)
• Log (10 Hours)

You can now right-click the campfire and ignite it, using either a lighter or matches to do so. If you used either a sturdy stick or a notched wooden plank for the fuel, then you can use the other fuel option for ignition. 

How to Burn Corpses With a Jerry Can

If you have a gas can and some matches or a lighter, you can quickly burn corpses. This is better for small amounts of corpses and is less material-consuming. Just like the other method, begin by piling up corpses into a single pile for ease.

Equip the gas can as your primary item, then the lighter or matches as your secondary item. Right-click a corpse in the pile and choose to burn the corpse. Repeat this for any other corpses that don't catch, and they'll be quickly disposed of.

That's all you need to know about how to burn zombie corpses in Project Zomboid. There's so much more to this game, so if you're interested in learning more, consider checking out our guides hub for more articles!

Project Zomboid has a complex system of weight control, and knowing how to lose weight is important. Players can't just consume any food in limitless amounts and experience no consequences. If your character becomes overweight, as a result, you will experience the loss of endurance and speed, and your general vulnerability to damage will be increased. 

This Project Zomboid guide will provide you with all the essential tips on how to lose weight. This must be done carefully, as you can't simply starve your character. If you lose too much weight, the consequences will be even harsher than being overweight.

How to Lose Weight in Project Zomboid

Understand Weight Traits

All foods in Project Zomboid have nutritional value, which is determined by calories consumed from the three types of nutrients:

• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Lipids

This means that each item of food you find in the world has these specific qualities, as well as calories, which can be observed only if you have the Nutritionist trait, available to all players who start the game with the Fitness Instructor occupation by default.

Players need to make sure that their weight stays in the range between 70 and 95 kilos. Otherwise, you will be tagged with the following traits in the game:

• Obese: over 105 kilos
• Overweight: over 95 kilos
• Underweight: under 70 kilos
• Very Underweight: under 60 kilos
• Emaciated:  under 50 kilos

Players need to make sure that they eat a whole variety of foods to keep fit, or one of these traits is inevitable. If your weight drops below 35 kilos, you will start receiving automatic damage.

Losing Weight

Your default weight at the start of the game is 80 kilos if you don't choose any weight-related traits. From there on, it starts fluctuating depending on your food consumption. That's why it is important to regularly check your weight at the info panel, which can be toggled with the "J" key.

Below you will find a list of the three main methods of losing weight in Project Zomboid, but if you wish to focus on one simple thing, then try to avoid foods with a high amount of calories. You'll be safe and don't have to worry about getting overweight.

Performing Physical Exercises

If you happened to gain weight and now want to lose it, one of the the best ways to do so is to perform physical exercises, including:

• Climbing over fences
• Climbing through windows
• Sprinting constantly
• Avoiding sleep

The last one can be effectively used along with the Wakeful trait, which allows you to sleep 30% less than usual. This trait not only promotes weight loss, but also increases your productivity.

Choosing Right Foods

If you take your time and learn about the nutritious characteristics of various foods in Project Zomboid, you will never have trouble with weight. But if you happen to become overweight, the following foods are considered the best for losing weight:

• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Onions
• Strawberries
• Berries
• Cherries

These specific fruits and vegetables have almost no calories, but are highly nutritious. They can quickly help you reduce weight and give you enough energy to keep going.

Almost all of them can be farmed in huge quantities with the help of their corresponding seeds. The only vegetable from the list you can't farm is onions, and the only two types of fruits are berries and cherries. But you can always find them in the wilderness and forests.

However, the fruits and veggies alone will not sustain you enough, as they mostly consist of carbohydrates, while you also need proteins and lipids to function properly. Fortunately, there are some protein and lipid-rich foods with low amount of calories as well, such as:

• Bacon Bits
• Sunfish
• Worms
• Insects

You absolutely need to combine these various types of foods for proper functioning of all your traits, so do keep this in mind.

Counting Calories

With all that said, losing weight may take a long time. That's why it is highly recommended to control your weight from the very beginning by knowing the number of calories in the foods you choose to consume.

The easiest way to count calories in regard to your gain weight is the following:

• If you perform general physical exercises and sleep no more than 8 hours per night, then you should gain around 1 kilo per 500 calories and the same amount of proteins and lipids consumed in a day.

For example, if you consumed a variety of foods, including carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids that summed up to about 3000 calories, then you should gain around five to six kilos a day.

You can easily drop off back to your default weight by simply consuming fruits and vegetables the next day or two. After that, you can once again consume more foods with plenty of calories in them. 

If you didn't choose the Nutritionist trait at the start of the game, you will never know how many calories you've consumed. So just use our cheat sheet below for a complete list of all foods in Project Zomboid with their corresponding calories count.

Project Zomboid Calories Cheat Sheet

Carbohydrate Foods

Fruits

• Apple: 95
• Banana: 105
• Berry: 8-23
• Cherry: 5
• Grapes: 62
• Lemon: 17
• Orange: 65
• Peach: 58
• Pineapple: 452
• Strawberries: 4
• Watermelon: 1355
• Watermelon Chunk: 271
• Watermelon Slice: 135.5

Vegetables

• Avocado: 227
• Bell Pepper: 30
• Broccoli: 11
• Cabbage: 178
• Carrots: 25
• Carrots (Canned): 10.5
• Chili (Canned): 260
• Corn: 88
• Corn (Canned): 315
• Eggplant: 114
• Leek: 54
• Lettuce: 54
• Mushroom: 36-38
• Onion: 28
• Peas: 119
• Peas (Canned): 280
• Pickles: 5
• Potato: 70
• Potatoes (Canned): 175
• Radish: 1
• Tomato: 14
• Tomatoes (Canned): 90
• Zucchini: 33

Grains

• Bolognese (Canned): 540
• Bread: 532
• Bread Dough: 532
• Bread Slices: 137
• Cereal: 2306
• Can of Oats: 1500
• Instant Popcorn: 120
• Ramen Noodles: 52
• Pasta: 3360
• Rice: 2880

Protein and Lipid Foods

Lean Meat

• Bacon: 160
• Bacon Bits: 10
• Bacon Rashers: 40
• Corned Beef (Canned): 720
• Dead Mouse: 30
• Dead Rabbit: 373
• Dead Rat: 50
• Dead Squirrel: 161
• Ham: 1560
• Ham Slice: 260
• Meat Patty: 380
• Mutton Chop: 234
• Pork Chop: 150
• Rabbit Meat: 323
• Small Animal Meat: 161
• Steak: 220

Poultry

• Chicken: 150
• Dead Bird: 161
• Small Bird Meat: 261

Fish and Seafood

• Little Bait Fish: 30
• Bass: 184
• Catfish: 181
• Crappie: 111
• Fish Fillet: 205
• Frog Meat: 66
• Perch: 111
• Pike: 207
• Salmon: 270
• Sardines (Canned): 150
• Sunfish: 11
• Trout: 219
• Tuna (Canned): 270

Eggs

• Egg: 63
• Wild Eggs: 63

Nuts and Seeds

• Peanuts: 161
• Sunflower Seeds: 155

Legumes and Beans

• Beans (Canned): 170
• Tofu: 30

Insects

• Cricket: 20
• Grasshopper: 25
• Cockroach: 30
• Worm: 3

Dairy (mostly lipids)

• Butter: 3200
• Cheese: 113
• Ice Cream: 1680
• Milk: 110
• Processed Cheese: 170
• Yogurt: 30

Confections (mostly carbohydrates and lipids)

• Cake Slice: 70
• Candy Package: 500
• Chips: 720
• Chocolate: 850
• Cookie (Chocolate): 160
• Corndog: 180
• Cupcake: 305
• Fried Chicken: 260
• Fries: 203
• Hotdog: 100
• Juice Box: 60
• Lollipop: 40
• Mint Candy: 60
• Modjeska: 60
• Pancakes: 210
• Pizza: 990
• Orange Soda: 400
• Pie Slice: 404
• Pop Soda: 140
• Raspberry Shortbread: 160
• Sandwich (Peanut Butter): 250
• Sandwich (Cheese): 135
• Waffles: 80

Alcohol

• White Wine: 481
• Red Wine: 510
• Whiskey: 1500

Herbs, Spices, and Sauces

• Grape Leaves: 73
• Honey: 660
• Ketchup: 1480
• Mustard: 510
• Marinara: 350
• Mayonnaise: 3000
• Peanut Butter: 2660
• Rosehips: 81
• Violets: 27

Cooked Foods

• Soup (Canned): 125
• Soup (Pot): 125
• Dogfood (Canned): 498
• Soup (Mushroom) (Canned): 160
• Oatmeal: 300
• Cereal Bowl: 300
• TV Dinner: 670
• Cake Batter: 800
• Pie Dough: 800

Related guides

• How to Hotwire Cars
• How to Siphon Gas and Get More Gas
• How to Clean Blood
• How to Barricade Doors and Windows
• How to Burn Corpses

Now you know exactly how to lose weight in Project Zomboid. If you are looking for more Project Zomboid tips and tricks articles, then be sure to check out our dedicated hub page.

In order to survive the horrors of Project Zomboid, you'll need to make sure you have a well-fortified base, and that includes knowing how to barricade doors and windows. Zombies will attempt to break into your base at night to get the jump on you while you're asleep, leaving you with little time to react or defend yourself.

In this Project Zomboid guide, we'll tell you how to go about barricading your doors and windows to keep zombies from getting inside your base.

How to Barricade Your Base in Project Zomboid

How to Create a Barricade

There are three different kinds of barricades in Project Zomboid:

• Wood
• Sheet metal
• Metal

Sheet metal and metal are identical in strength, with 5,000HP each, but they require different materials. Wooden barricades have 1,000HP per wooden plank. The required materials to make each of these three barricades are:

• Wood Barricade: Hammer, two nails, up to four planks.
• Sheet Metal Barricade: Propane torch, welder mask, metal sheet.
• Metal Barricade: Propane torch, welder mask, three metal bars.

To set up a barricade, right-click a door or window and select "Barricade" from the menu that appears, after which you can select what kind of barricade you'd like to create.

How to Get Barricade Materials

The required materials to create door and wall barricades can all be found in various places throughout the wide world of Project Zomboid. All of the areas where these specific items can be found are listed below:

• Hammer: Hardware stores, in the army base, and in crates and atop metal shelves.
• Nails: Hardware stores, tool sheds, garages, and logging factories. They can also be obtained by dismantling wooden furniture.
• Planks: Warehouse and storage crates, or from dismantling doors. You can also saw logs to create them.
• Propane Torch: Hardware stores, logging factories, sheds or garages, crates, and storage units. You can also occasionally find them in the trunk of a metal welder, in a vehicle that belonged to a construction worker.
• Welder Mask: Can be found in all of the same places as the propane torch, as well as being carried by zombie mechanics.
• Metal Sheet: Hardware stores, logging factories, sheds or garages, on metal shelves or counters, or in crates or bins. It can also spawn in the trunks of metalworkers or construction workers.
• Metal Bar: Like sheet metal, it can be found in the vehicles of metalworkers or construction workers. It can also be found in Hardware stores, logging factories, sheds or garages, crates, and storage units.

As you can tell, the hardware store is probably a good place to start. Luckily, hammers, welder masks, and propane torches are not consumed when used, so you don't need to worry about constantly looking out for more of those to take. Nails, planks, and metal on the other hand, you will need to find more for every barricade you set up.

That's all you should need to know about how to barricade doors and windows in Project Zomboid. If you're interested in learning more about this survival game, consider checking out our other guides in our guides hub.

You'll need to know how to clean blood in Project Zomboid if you want to keep yourself from getting sick. Zombie killing on your home turf can lead to your base of operations getting incredibly messy and bloody fast.

This Project Zomboid guide will tell you everything you need to know about how to clean blood and keep yourself from getting sick, which puts you at a severe handicap against the zombie horde.

How to Clean Blood in Project Zomboid

Find Bleach and a Towel or Mop

In order to clean blood, you're going to need to a few specific items. You'll need bleach and a towel or mop. You can use either a bath towel or a dishtowel, as both will work just as fine.

Bleach can be found in a number of places, and it's likely you'll encounter some when looking for a mop or towel. Bottles of bleach can be found inside medicine cabinets or inside kitchen or bathroom counters. You can identify a bottle's fullness by its weight. A full bottle will weigh 1.6, while an empty bottle of bleach will weigh 0.2.

For each use, between 0.11 and 0.12 of its weight is lost. As bleach has limited durability, you will need to regularly find more to clean blood in large batches. However, it is not a rare item, so finding more isn't difficult. It can even be occasionally dropped by zombies.

Towels are quite easy to find, and can often be located in bathroom or kitchen cabinets throughout the world. Mops can occasionally be found inside kitchen counters, though they are less likely to spawn. Either way, none of these items have durability; you can endlessly reuse them to clean blood.

How to Clean Blood

Now that you've got your items, you can clean blood. Approach any surface that has bloodstains on it and right-click to bring up some options. One of these options will read "Clean Blood". 

Choose the Clean Blood option, and you will have to select the specific tile you would like to clean. After you have finished cleaning, right-click a second time to close the tile menu. Repeat this for each surface that is covered in blood.

That's all you need to know about cleaning up blood in the new build of Project Zomboid. If you are interested in learning more about this game, consider checking out some of our other guides in the guides hub!

You need gas for a myriad of things in Project Zomboid, from starting cars and fuel generators to crafting a handful of items. But you've got to know how to get it first, which can be troublesome when you're new to the game.

Our guide will provide you with all the info you need on how to siphon gas and how to get more gas in Project Zomboid. You will also learn what is the best way to store gas, since you'll be getting more than you need at a time.

How to Siphon Gas in Project Zomboid

Siphoning gas from vehicles and gas pumps is one of the most widespread methods of getting gas in Project Zomboid.

In order to siphon gas you need to obtain gas cans, and plenty of them. You can then store them at your base, but finding gas cans and siphoning gas will always be on your agenda in the game.

You can usually find gas cans inside the following locations:

• Tool sheds
• Warehouses
• Car trunks
• Garages
• Trash cans

These are only the main places, but they can pop up almost anywhere. Just keep looking for them regardless of your position.

Sometimes you will find gas cans full of fuel, which is great, because you can simply fill your gas tank without having to siphon gas from anywhere else. But if you found an empty gas can, then here's what you need to do in order to siphon gas:

1. Approach a car or gas pump
2. Press "V" key to open radial menu
3. Select "Siphon Gas" option

Note that a gas pump needs to be connected to a source of power, otherwise you will not be able to siphon gas. A vehicle also must not have an empty gas tank, or you will not be able to siphon gas.

Once you have a full gas can, you can repeat the same steps as above to refuel your car or generator. Instead of "Siphon Gas", choose "Refuel" on the radial menu.

How to Get More Gas in Project Zomboid

Scouting Filling Stations

While siphoning gas from vehicles is a viable option for getting more fuel, there are other more sustainable alternatives in Project Zomboid.

Players will find out that filling stations containing gas pumps have a lot more fuel. For example, just one such gas pump can contain somewhere between 500 and 700 fuel units.

Currently, there are three companies that have many filling stations in the game:

• Fossoil
• Gas 2 Go
• Thunder Gas

Although, the biggest of them all is the Fossoil company, any filling station you find will have at least one gas pump. You can find these filling stations at the following locations with exact coordinates:

• Muldraugh
  
  • 10625, 9762
  • 10663, 10625
  • 10661, 10625
• Riverside
  • 5418, 5869
  • 6083, 5309
• Rosewood
  • 8164, 11266
  • 8297, 12224
• West Point
  • 11824, 6870
  • 12078, 7142
  • 11824, 6870
• Dixie
  • 11603, 8309
  • 11508, 8831
  • 5467, 9709
• March Ridge
  
  • 10144, 12791
• Valley Station
  • 13737, 5654

You can refuel your vehicle directly by parking it next to gas pump, if it has power. Otherwise, you need to bring generator in order for gas pump to work.

In case you have no time for flirting with gas pumps, gas cans, generators or vehicles, then you can use the Necroforge mod. It allows you to simply spawn any desirable items in the game, including items that are full of gas.

Crafting Biodiesel

With the help of another mod called Hydrocraft, players can craft their own biodiesel, which functions the same as gas.

Once you install the mod, you will get the Biodiesel textbook containing the blueprint for building Wooden Washtub with Raw Biodiesel.

The recipe for crafting biodiesel involves the following ingredients available in the game:

• Latex/Rubber Gloves
• Pot of Cooked Vegetable Oil
• Safety Glasses
• Wooden Spatula
• Wooden Washtub with Methoxide

Storing Gas

You can fill up many gas cans with extra fuel from gas pumps, but you may find out that this will require you to store a lot of gas cans, which can be quite inconvenient.

The best way to store extra gas is by using the Fuel API mod, which is available in Steam for free. This simple mod will allow you to store gas inside large barrels instead of small gas cans.

Now you know how to siphon gas and how to get more gas in Project Zomboid. If you were looking for a way to hotwire a car in Project Zomboid, then simply follow the link.

Being able to hotwire cars in Project Zomboid is one of the most important things you can learn how to do. While it may not be as vital to your survival as other tasks (you can certainly stay alive without it), hotwiring vehicles allows you to drive them without keys, meaning you won't have to spend time looking for car keys — and put yourself at risk of getting munched.

This Project Zomboid guide will provide you with all the tips you need for how to hotwire cars. You will have to learn two essential skills before being able to hotwire vehicles, but once you get these skills, everything else is straightforward. Click the links below to jump to specific sections: 

• How to Increase Your Electrical Skill Level
• How to Increase Your Mechanics Skill Level
• How to Hotwire Cars

Project Zomboid Vehicle Hotwiring 101

How to Increase the Electrical Skill in Project Zomboid

Before you can hotwire cars or vehicles in Project Zomboid, you must have two crafting skills: Electrical Level 1 and Mechanics Level 2. 

You can also choose to start the game with the Burglar occupation, which has hotwiring already available. But since you start the game as a Burglar with -6 points, it's not the best occupation to pick from the beginning. 

Here's how to level the Electrical skill, with steps for leveling the Mechanics skill in the next section.

Dismantle Electronics

The best way to level up your Electrical skill is to dismantle electronics with the screwdriver tool, which can be found inside:

• Hardware stores
• Tool sheds
• Garages
• Warehouses and storage facilities that contain storage crates
• Various vehicles

Try to pick up as many screwdrivers as you can, since this tool cannot be repaired; once it breaks, all you can do is find another one.

You can dismantle a number of electronic items found in the world, but not all of them. Here is a list of electronic devices you can dismantle to increase your Electrical skill:

• CD Player
• Cordless Phone
• Digital Watch
• Earbuds
• Headphones
• Video Game
• Speaker
• Home Alarm
• ValuTech Radio
• Premium Technologies Radio
• Toys-R-Mine Walkie Talkie
• ValuTech Walkie Talkie
• Premium Tech Walkie Talkie
• Tactical Walkie Talkie
• US Army Walkie Talkie
• Premium Technologies Ham Radio
• US ARMY COMM Ham Radio
• Antique Television
• ValuTech Television
• Premium Technologies Television

Once you've discovered one of these items, you can dismantle it by following these steps:

1. Pick up an Electronics item.
2. Open your inventory.
3. Right-click on the item you wish to dismantle.
4. Select the "Dismantle" option.

If your screwdriver breaks during the dismantling process, you will need to equip a new one and repeat the process.

Watch VHS Tapes

Another way you can quickly gain Electrical Skill Level 1 is to watch VHS tapes. There are two types of VHS tapes in the game: Retail VHS and Home VHS. Only watching Home VHS tapes will provide you with Electrical skill XP, and only the following two:

• Muldraugh AV Club
• TV repair

These tapes can be found inside houses (wardrobes, side tables, desks), Fossil buildings, gift stores, storage units (shelves, counters), and vehicles (glove boxes, seats).

Use Skill Books

You can also increase the speed at which you gain XP for the Electrical skill by choosing either the Electrician or Engineer occupation, and by reading Electricity skill books and Electronics magazines, which can be found inside mailboxes and on the bookshelves inside houses and libraries.

Here is the list of skill books that grant Electrical skill XP:

• Electricity for Beginners
• Electricity for Intermediates
• Advanced Electrical
• Expert Electricity
• Master Electricity

You can also use the following magazines:

• Electronics Magazine Vol. 1-4
• Engineer Magazine Vol. 1-2
• How to Use Generators
• Guerilla Radio Vol. 1-3

How to Increase the Mechanics Skill in Project Zomboid

Re-Install Vehicle Parts

The best way to get the Mechanics Level 2 skill is to start the game with the Mechanic occupation. But if you have already started Project Zomboid with a different occupation, then you need to learn how to uninstall and re-install various vehicle parts before you can hotwire a car.

This can be a daunting task and may take a lot of time, but in the beginning, you don't have many other options. To gain Level 1 in Mechanics, you need to collect as many light bulbs as possible.

You can find light bulbs in the following places:

• Lamps
• Wall-mounted lights
• Vehicle headlights
• Vehicle taillights

Light Bulbs also become available after dismantling electronics with a screwdriver. Some of the electronic items, such as TVs, radios, and walkie-talkies give you more than one light bulb per item.

To remove the light bulbs from a lamp, you only need to right-click on the lamp and select the "Remove Light Bulb" option. If you try to do the same on the vehicles, you will also need a screwdriver with the same option being available.

Once you collect between 20-30 light bulbs in your backpack, you need to approach your vehicle and do the following:

1. Open up the hood.
2. Right-click on a headlight.
3. Select the "Uninstall" option.
4. Select "Install", choosing the bottom light bulb in your backpack.
5. Repeat steps 4-5 until all of your light bulbs are used.

You can do this with all your other cars to make it to Mechanics Level 1.

You can also use the same process with the car radio, the battery, brakes, or suspension, but finding these items is a lot harder than light bulbs, which are abundant in the world.

In any case, when you have reached Mechanics Level 1, you will now have the option to re-install the car seats by doing the following:

1. Right-click on the "Driver's Seat".
2. Select the "Uninstall" option.
3. Select the "Install" option.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for "Front Right Seat", "Rear Left Seat", and "Rear Right Seat".

When all four seats have been re-installed, you can move on to another car and repeat the same procedure to quickly gain Mechanics Level 2.

If you decide to re-install suspensions, then you will also have to uninstall and re-install wheels, and in the case of brakes, you must also remove tires, which takes a lot more time.

Watch VHS Tapes

As is the case with the Electrical skill, you can more quickly increase Mechanics leveling with the help of VHS Tapes. But unlike the Electrical skill, you can learn Mechanics by also watching Retail VHS, such as:

• Carzone E1
• Carzone E2
• Carzone E3

As for the Home VHS options, you have the following tapes to consider:

• OSCC '92
• Stock Cars

Read Profile Magazines

There is also a set of magazines that can help you level up the Mechanics skill, including:

• Laines Auto Manual - Standard Models
• Laines Auto Manual - Commercial Models
• Laines Auto Manual - Performance Models

How to Hotwire a Car in Project Zomboid

After gaining Electrical Level 1 and Mechanics Level 2 skills, you can finally start hotwiring cars. The dedicated option will appear in your radial menu, so you need to do the following:

1. Take a seat behind the wheel of a car.
2. Press the "V" key to open the radial menu.
3. Select the "Hotwire Engine" option.
4. Wait for the gauge to fill up.

This may not work every time, so you just need to repeat steps 3-4 until it works. Once it does, you will see two cables sticking out of the keyhole in the vehicle menu. If you hover your mouse over the keyhole, it should say "Hotwired", which means that your hotwiring was successful.

Now all you need to do is start the engine by pressing the "Engine Status" button. If the vehicle has some gas in the tank, it will start the engine, and you can safely drive it away.

That's all you need to know on how to hotwire a car in Project Zomboid. Also, be sure to read our Project Zomboid review right here.

If your group of friends is anything like mine, getting them all to both agree to and pay for a particular game is harder than herding feral cats. Maybe you're in a similar situation or maybe you're just on the prowl for some good multiplayer games to play in Steam Remote Play. Whatever the case, we've compiled a sizable list to help you out.

The good thing about Remote Play is that only one player in the group needs to own the game; the rest can try it out for free — at least in its current beta period. 

Let's choo choo on through, and hopefully, find you and your friend(s) a game you can play.

Terraria

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

You'll see this game mentioned on just about every list of co-op games. This co-op sandbox-adventure has loads of content for any group of friends to go to town on. Terraria has stayed on the top played Steam games for 7 years for good reason.

Grim Dawn

Price: $24.99
Steam Store link

If you're looking to scratch your ARPG itch, you could do a lot worse than Grim Dawn. Even without the expansion, you can find dozens of hours of whackin' and lootin' in Grim Dawn. If you're not too keen on its darker aesthetic but do want an ARPG, the next option may be more down your alley.

Torchlight 2

Price: $19.99
Steam Store link

It may be older than Grim Dawn, but Torchlight 2 still has a lot of staying power if you've never given the game a chance. There is more content to be found in Grim Dawn but Torchlight 2 has a robust array of mods available, including content, quality of life, and classes. This is still a solid buy today in 2018, and it can be modded for up to 8-player multiplayer.

Castle Crashers

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

Another staple co-op game sure to be on pretty much every co-op list, Castle Crashers is the poster boy for co-op beat'em ups. This is an easy one for all ages and kill levels to get into and have fun with.

BattleBlock Theater

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

Another game from The Behemoth, the same studio behind Castle Crashers. BattleBlock Theater's campaign is completely co-op and it also features a healthy selection of hectic PvP modes, for when you want to prove your better than your friends once and for all.

Rocket League

Price: $19.99
Steam Store link

Before you say, "Ugh, no. Too mainstream," take a breath and consider Rocket League as a co-op game with a low barrier of entry and a whole lot of speed. Rocket League may not be your first choice, but it's an easy game to get a group of people to agree to hop onto for a quick round.

Risk of Rain

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

Risk of Rain is a co-op game with an unquenchable bloodlust. Though not for everyone due to its extreme difficulty, Risk of Rain is an easy buy for roguelite fans or groups of friends who hate life. It's a hard game and it will knock you down a peg with ease, whether you've got 1 hour or 300 hours worth of gameplay logged.

Risk of Rain 2 is pretty good, too. It's currently $19.99 on Steam. 

Beat Hazard

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

This one always seems to slip through the cracks since it's been blessing Steam with its presence for eight years now, but despite its age, Beat Hazard continues to be a recommended purchase for co-op play, providing you and your friend(s) are good at shmups. Beat Hazard lets you use your own music or one of many radio stations to generate enemies, which is what makes this one so unique.

Ultimate Chicken Horse

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

Playing this game with a group of friends is an exercise in sadism. You and up to three other friends will be tasked with creating and completing the stages in Ultimate Chicken Horse, and you can bet at least one (or even all) of you will make them nearly impossible to beat, in the name of being the better platformer player. Ridiculously fun and honestly not as enraging as it sounds.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

An outlier among the other games in this collection, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes only requires one person to buy the game. There's a reason for that: Only one player is allowed to see the screen at a time, so only one can directly defuse the bomb. The other players must tell the defuser what to do based on the instructions in the manual.

If it sounds a little convoluted, that's because it is by design. Can you and your friends defuse a bomb? Maybe, maybe not. But you can certainly yell at each other trying.

Don't Starve Together

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

Don't Starve has stood as one of the more accessible survival games over the years, and the multiplayer expansion Don't Starve Together may be an even more enjoyable game than the base with the Reign of Giants expansion. Together contains both, plus the ability to die in the forest with your friends. If — as in my case — you tried the original game but didn't enjoy it much, you may still find this fun.

Left 4 Dead 2

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

You may be dissuaded from picking Left 4 Dead 2 up based on its age. It's been out for 11 years now, it seems like everyone's been through the game. Why bother? If you haven't played it yet, this is your reminder to pick up L4D2 to play with your friends. It's still fun to this day, but it's best played with friends. Any community for a decade-old game is bound to be elitist and this game is no exception.

PAYDAY 2

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

If you don't play PAYDAY 2, it's possible the only thing you've heard about it was the hubbub about microtransactions a few years back. It's been a long time since then though, and the game is a solid heister. You don't need to play the first game to dive right into this one and, provided your group can cooperate, there are hours upon hours of heists for you to tackle.

Dungeon of The Endless

Price: $11.99
Steam Store link

How about something a little different? Amplitude's Endless universe has expanded this way and that, with "that" being Dungeon of the Endless, a pseudo-tower defense roguelike. In this, players must hoard resources and expand based on the ever-increasing threats of the depth of the dungeon. A single round in this game can take several hours and it is very hard, but if your group's into roguelikes you could do a lot worse.

Borderlands 2

Price: $19.99
Steam Store link

Borderlands 2 is another old staple that still holds up today, especially multiplayer. Pushing through this game with friends is satisfying as firefights are intense and the weapon system is a ARPG-style lootfest. Not many games age as well as this one -- you can come back years later and still have a ton of fun.

Golf With Your Friends

Price: $7.99
Steam Store link

If you just want a game to pay a little attention to while chatting, this is an easy choice. Golf With Your Friends isn't exactly rolling in content variety and only contains 7 levels with 18 holes, but things are kept fresh through golf ball shapes and game modes. A very easy game to just sit back and play while having a couple beers and a laugh.

Human: Fall Flat

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

How about something a little less-in-your-face about its silliness? We've got some pretty quirky games listed here, but they're all a bit more obvious about it than the cooperative physics-based puzzle solving found in Human: Fall Flat. The one downside here is that there are not a lot of stages, but it's a good deal at this price. 

Project Zomboid

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

Don't let this game's graphics and the year it entered Steam Early Access fool you: Project Zomboid is a fleshed-out survival sandbox with hundreds of potential hours of gameplay, with continued support from its developer as it slowly shambles toward full release. If you and your group can accept the high learning curve, you can have a great time with this game.

Portal 2

Price: $9.99
Steam Store link

The Portal games are famous for a lot of reasons and one of those reasons is (Spoilers!) the stellar co-op campaign. If you haven't played Portal 2 and you want a game to play with a friend, you may as well throw the $2 at Valve and see what all the hubbub is about.

Barony

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

An other roguelike to add to the pile, Barony is the closest to a traditional roguelike of any of the games listed here. It looks old, it feels old, and it plays like an old game. That's perfectly fine: You'll be hard-pressed to find another game that takes the classic roguelike formula, turns it 3D and realtime, and allows for online co-op. This one's pretty niche but you're in for a good time if you're comfortable with classic roguelikes.

Endless Legend

Price: $29.99
Steam Store link

Though Endless Space is currently also on sale, I would recommend Endless Legend over it for its similarities to the Civilization series and its overall fun factor. This is a more traditional-style 4X game. Expand, form alliances, wage wars -- it's up to you. A worthy strategy addition to most gaming groups on a budget.

Resident Evil 5

Price: $19.99
Steam Store link

You don't hear much about Resident Evil 5 or 6 for a few reasons, but none of those reasons equate to them not being fun with friends. Resident Evil 5 is often overlooked in favor of 6 for co-op play because it retains the semi-tank controls found in its predecessor, but if you and a friend can adjust to that control style this is an intense and worthwhile co-op action game.

Resident Evil 6

Price: $29.99
Steam Store link

Like its predecessor, Resident Evil 6 is best played with a friend. Unlike its predecessor, it's got more modern, fluid controls and a whole lot of QTEs. This one is over-the-top in about every regard, to the extent I can't help but find it silly each playthrough. If you like classic Resi games, go with 5. If you can't deal with the antiquated controls, go with 6. The decision is as simple as that.

7 Days to Die

Price: $24.99
Steam Store link

One of the first titles in the survival game wave that paved the way for games such as Rust and ARK: Survival Evolved, 7 Days to Die still stands as one of the most played games on Steam and is just as fun now as when it came out. As with the two mentioned, 7 Days to Die allows you a great deal of freedom in your efforts to survive. Break, use, and do whatever you want to ensure your survival in a world overrun by over 50 types of zombies.

Orcs Must Die! 2

Price: $14.99
Steam Store link

The original Orcs Must Die! set off a chain reaction of action-tower defense clones, some good and some bad, but none really hold up to the sequel. Orcs Must Die! 2 is an improvement over the first game in almost every way, and has the added bonus of online multiplayer. It's easy to get into, easy to wrap your head around, and easy to spend too many hours in.

Tabletop Simulator

Price: $19.99
Steam Store link

This is a bit of a strange one since Tabletop Simulator itself isn't a game, but a mini-platform for tabletop gaming. The amount of games available via Tabletop Simulator are nearly endless, making this a fantastic purchase for any static group of friends who have trouble deciding on what to play or want to play board games without having to pick up after themselves.

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These are definitely not all of the co-op games you can get for relatively cheap on Steam, but these are some I can personally recommend. I hope you've found at least one game you find worthy of your Steam library.

The objective of the survival genre is quite simple. Survive. Though, this is much easier said than done. Survival games plop players right into the direst of situations with very little instruction and absolutely no resources. More often than not your enemies aren't bloodthirsty demons or gun-toting commando agents. Instead, players fight against their natural environment, where hunger, thirst, and the cold are your adversaries. And trust me, mother nature is a tough lady who pulls no punches.

Unfortunately, fantastically inventive games are often passed by as they do not receive the same amount of funding or notoriety as AAA console games. Sure, Day Z and ARK: Survival Evolved have a huge fan base, but there are tons of other games who reinvent the experience of traditional survival games. Below, we've put together a list of the most underrated survival games you may have missed while mesmerized by flashy AAA titles. Have fun dodging gentlemanly murder-machines and celebrating the discovery of half-eaten granola bars.

5. Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid originally released on Steam as an Early Access title way back in 2013. While still receiving steady improvements in its Early Access phase today, the zombie-survival game provides one of the most realistic and addictive post-apocalyptic zombie games to date. Fans of Day Z will feel right at home while still discovering plenty of elements completely unique to Project Zomboid. Simply scavenging your environment for supplies brings with it tons of moments filled with gut-wrenching anticipation. Best of all, the sandbox world can be shared with friends who can either help you survive, or bring about your early demise. Whether you want to lead a quiet life from a fortified country-side home or stay on the move as a zombie-hunting squatter, how you survive is entirely up to you.

4. Shelter 2

Do you have a burning desire to take to the wilderness on all fours while providing sustenance and shelter for your adorable cubs? If so, you may need a psychiatrist. In the meantime, the developers at Might and Delight have just the game to satisfy your extremely strange fantasy. Shelter 2 has players assuming the role of a mother lynx who just gave birth to a litter of cubs. As the momma lynx, it is your job to nurture your cubs by hunting prey, finding water sources, and keeping the defenseless little guys out of harm's way. The family of lynxes will experience spring blooms and harsh winters as the dynamic environment changes with the seasons.

The art direction reminds me of Ico's simplistic, yet beautiful environment that creates a mysteriously solemn atmosphere around the player. I realize comparing Shelter 2 to a masterpiece like Ico is saying a lot, but the game's presentation truly speaks for itself. Unfortunately, I'll never be able to play this because the mere thought of losing one of the adorable cubs already fills me with tear-jerking anxiety.

3. Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Sir, You Are Being Hunted delivers one of the most bizarre combinations of humor and horror I've ever seen in a survival game. And it's done with dignified style and class. Players spawn on a procedurally-generated British island where the protagonist must find Mysterious Artifacts in order to escape the blood-thirsty gentleman-robot infested archipelago. Sir, You Are Being Hunted is just as silly as it is brutally difficult. Flee, fight, and sneak your way past countless aristocratic robots who have as much of an affinity for killing humans as they do for villainous mustaches.

2. The Long Dark

The Long Dark delivers survival in its purest form. The game's protagonist becomes stranded in the expansive North Canadian wilderness following a plane crash. The game pins you versus mother nature, as The Long Dark is not a post-apocalyptic setting filled with zombies and mutants. Instead, you will be tasked with finding warmth, staying fed, and overcoming the wildlife lurking in the frozen tundra. These are no easy tasks, considering there are many factors that go into successfully creating fires and fishing the frozen lakes. Something as simple as failing to start a fire has serious repercussions and could even mean death. As lootable supplies dwindle, players are forced to eventually take to the forests and become the predator to face-off with wolves and bears alike. Never has stumbling across a wood stove been so satisfying. Plus, the game is still in Early Access on Steam, meaning improvements and updates that foster an even better experience are still on the way.

1. Stranded Deep

Start thinking of a good name for your red-faced volleyball companion, because you'll find more things that want to eat you rather than discuss the weather in the Stranded Deep. The game drops you right into the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nothing but a raft and an endless tropical world to explore, both inside and outside the water. Procedurally-generated islands appear in the distance, offering chances to discover more resources that improve your chance of survival. It is up to you whether to pillage islands for resources or manage an island's growth to make it your home. Risk an attack from the ocean's bite-friendly inhabitants each time you dive into the ocean to hunt fish and scavenge the reefs. The ocean begs to be explored, but each trip is filled with an atmosphere of horrifying uneasiness as predators could be lurking all around you.

The dynamic weather and day-night cycles create unique situations. For instance, a storm might call for a day to hang close to the shelter rather than risk taking your raft to the seas. While a sunny afternoon might offer the perfect day of hunting you've been waiting for. Developer Beam Team Games has created an experience deeply rooted in the survival genre that  not only tests your inventiveness but your ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment.

In Project Zomboid, the question isn’t can you survive. It is simply how long can you survive? The game’s opening text clearly lets you in on this game’s most innovative feature, ‘you,’ Mr. Lead Character, Mr. Protagonist are going to die. How and when is what playing this zombie survival game is all about.

Project Zomboid is a survival horror sandbox.  The game takes place in a massive urban area full of buildings that the player can loot in his search for weapons and supplies. Wood nails and tools will be your best friends early on. Stealth tactics will only get you so far, you will need a safe place to lay your head. This means fortifying one of the games many buildings. Even after this is done, don’t get too comfortable. Players will have to contend with the issues of starvation, illness and mental stability.  No matter how secure your dwelling may be, eventually food, water, and medicine will be in short supply. You will have to venture out into the streets.  The horde of undead in true zombie movie style provide a difficult obstacle to getting the necessities of life.  The longer you survive, the more the world around you starts to degrade as power plants and municipal services begin to fail.  Fresh foods go rotten and canned food become more of a commodity.  Even a simple cold or fever can become a life threatening situation when getting the necessary medicines means heading out into horde infested streets.

Looting and salvaging are rewarding experiences in Project Zomboid as they lead the player straight into the games crafting system. Gas cans and rags are used to make powerful Molotov cocktails. Baseball bats and nails can be combined into a lethal version of the Louisville slugger. Bed sheets can be torn and used to bandage bleeding wounds.  The in-game food can be prepared and consumed to keep you properly nourished.

You aren’t alone in this gruesome modern day apocalypse outside of the flesh hungry horde pounding at your barricaded doors. NPC survivors are also roaming the streets.  Developer theindiestone.com has made mention of an eventual multiplayer experience, which really seems like a natural progression for this game.

The developers at theindiestone.com have packed a lot of depth into this top down 2D sandbox RPG. If you want to explore all that Project Zomboid has to offer, go to projectzomboid.com.