Zafehouse: Diaries

Good: *Survivor interactions are nuanced; they do not automatically all get along. *A large inventory of items that are modifiable. *Ability to add custom characters to the game *It’s a buck 99, It is well worth the price. *Similar to a roguelike Bad: *User interface leaves a lot to be desired it’s not "ergonomic" and cumbersome to manage, especially the inventory. *The game is not forgiving: automatically triggered AI "ambushes" will cut your game short. I.e. The timing and results are artificially unfair since they impose no win situations upon the player. Borderline *Way too easy to become "infected" *Gameplay can be a bit repetitive Conclusion: I wish the player was granted a little bit more control over the actions of the characters and situations. For example, if you assault a location you cannot call off an attack if you realize you are outnumbered, forgot an important item, or just plain changed your mind. It seems reasonable that an assault team would reconsider an assault and not charge headlong into disaster if certain conditions exist. The no win "random" (inevitable) events are just completely unfair. The results are almost always un-survivable, meaning if they occur your game will shortly be over no matter how well you've managed your game up to that point. The game is punishing and can be frustrating, but it can also be fun. I play it not necessarily to win, but to see how long I can survive and come close to victory. If you like easy victories surely you will be disappointed in this game. p.s. I have mostly played the Road Kill scenario & not yet played the Deadline scenario p.s.s. It’s a buck 99! Seriously, it's not gonna make you go broke.

The premise of the game is fantastic - you take control of a group of survivor's actions to coordinate their ongoing survival or rescue. The graphics and menu are incredibly stylish, even though the actual order menu is slightly fiddly and not entirely intuitive. It took me half an hour to find out how to actually order my survivors to actually enter and loot a new location instead of just scouting it. The whole art-style is wonderful. The map with the randomized tokens symbolizing your people is something you'd probably find in a real-life zombie apocalypse situation. Stunning art design. The writing however leaves a lot to be desired - and since reading the written entries are the crux of the game, I can only award 3 stars in total. The writing is very formulaic which breaks immersion. For example, my house has been attacked three times in a row - and every single time the detailed combat descriptions was exactly the same. The fighting took place in the same room within the house. The same amount of zombies. Exactly the same banter in the group (one headed to the basement, the others scattered). Mostly same results. This is a shame. If the writing would be less formulaic, more fluid and build more suspension, the game would be an instant classic.

This game is perhaps the most realistic for zombie games. Because odds are, you’ll have no clue what’s going on and will die within a week. I’ve never played a game quite like this, so I started on easy mode. There’s no goal, just keep going until you die. You get one survivor and look for more, while also making sure your home doesn’t get broken into and you make enough supplies to keep everyone alive. If you think it sounds like a lot for one person, you’re right. If you’re lucky, a survivor will find you, but that won’t always happen. You’ll be stuck by yourself, trying to juggle everything. Even if you find other survivors, don’t expect them to last long. You need to scout out different locations and gather supplies, but you have to leave one person home, otherwise you might not have a home to come to. This makes the game hard, because even with one person securing the house and the other looking for more people to help, they could die along the way, losing anything they might have carried with them. This happens. A lot. Even having more people help doesn’t mean much: I’ve lost multiple survivors in locations that had one or two zombies. And you’re never sure why you lost them. Was it clear? Was it not? Or did they just wander off? As others have pointed out, the zombie hoards can grow big, quick. I did a patrol and found four zombies. Two hours later (in-game), there was 30. And they ate one of my guys. This game is unforgiving. I could have sworn I put more time into this game than I did because of how many new games I’ve started, including one where I did within the first hour because there was an alleged survivor right next door, so my action was to investigate. And I died. I’ve must have done six or seven new games by now, and I’ve only played for a collective 15 minutes at this point. I never live more than a few days. Despite all this, I like the challenge. It’s a little clunky, and it doesn’t hold my attention long, but it’s fun and worth the money.

PROS - Complex Gameplay - Great Atmosphere - High Replayability - You get attached to your team (Like in XCOM) - Developers actively updating game - Winning Feels AWESOME! CONS (for some) - Bad decisions will get you killed (Watch a Let's Play on youtube or read the manual) - No saving and loading, just saving and quitting Curious about Zafehouse? I've always loved strategy games, especially one's with a great deal of complexity. I get so much joy from immersing myself in figuring out how the game works so I can optimize my tactics. Zafehouse has lot's of hidden complexities and I've played through several times now to figure out things like how to optimize my team for combat, how to keep noise down, and how best to scavenge for food. I still haven't gotten it all though! The game art style adds a lot to the atmosphere. The sounds are great and actually serve to let you know how much noise you're making. Balancing relationships adds a great dimension to the game. If you want a game that requires you to think carefully, I highly recommend Zafehouse!

So I played my first game of classic Zafehouse Diaries. 2 people died almost instantly checking out the bar next door... Man I hate that bar... I didn't want to risk the others going in but I had to get them to an area with food so I made them all go to the store. They made refuge easily with little resistance and created a safehouse with strong barricades. one of my guys got injured and infected, another cut off his leg trying to save him but at the same moment the infected member was attacked again and killed. only 2 members left and no ammo :/. luckily I had plenty of blunt objects ready to put the beatdown so I had them go back to the bar to get ammo because there was quite a lot there... man I really hate that bar... they barricaded everything easily and sniped zombies for quite a while until a strange man came by. He was claiming that he's been hunting a super zombie. I accepted him into our stronghold. An hour later we found out that the man was not lying as the super zombie broke through our wall went straight for the strange man tearing his limbs off, and then it proceded to do the same to my crew :/. at least they went out fghting I guess. The game was awesome and I loved it. Although it is mostly based on imagination it is well worth your money, buy this game now