Cozy Games Featuring Zombies

There will always be an appeal to cozy games. In a medium that is constantly giving players missions, quests, goals or quotas, cozy games stand out as a way for players to make their own fun and set their own pace, uninhibited by the breakneck speed of something like a main quest or central enemy to defeat.

If there’s one thing that players think of when it comes to cozy titles… it’s probably not zombies. Sometimes though, when something as frightening as the walking dead is right outside the door, that can only make moments of safety feel that much safer. For players looking to throw some un-living into their life sims, here are some great cozy games that feature zombies.

5 Zubo

Zombos Are Ever-Present In This Cozy Rhythm Game

Zubo stands today as a relatively obscure title, but is also one of the best rhythm games on the DS to date. This team-building RPG-meets-rhythm-game is incredibly cozy, with its stylized voxel graphics and the idyllic little settlements of the titular Zubos, whose world is under attack from Big Head. A game aimed at children, but with enough wit and gameplay to keep adults going as well, Zubo was a sleeper hit of the DS era.

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Big Head has made zombified clones of the Zubos, known as Zombos, who are the main threat in Zubo. Zombos walk around the various world maps with arms outstretched, zombie style, and are crude, evil parallels to the player’s own cadre of characters.

4 Minecraft

Slow Paced Survival… Just Be Indoors By Night

The monolithic Minecraft continues to expand today, not just with new games and an upcoming movie, but with continual updates to the game itself that constantly — if incrementally — bring new features and content to the millions of players immersed in this blocky wonderland. With plenty of quiet moments underscored by slow, wistful music and lots of time spent just working on building, Minecraft is doubtlessly a cozy game.

However, by nighttime, the game becomes decidedly less cozy, as all manner of undead and monsters begin to spawn. Along with creepers, zombies might be the most iconic Minecraft mob to date, providing the first hurdle players must overcome as they build up a stable place to call home.

3 Project Zomboid

This Survival Game Offers Cozy Moments Of Reprieve

Systems

Released

November 8, 2013

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Developer(s)

The Indie Stone

Publisher(s)

The Indie Stone

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Project Zomboid is a fantastic title that showcases the many burdens that come with trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The game is open-ended, letting players set their own goals and strive to build a base that can house them against apocalyptic perils. While that all sounds very doom and gloom, there’s also a great deal of coziness to be found in this game once players have gotten the hang of it.

In those quiet, peaceful moments where the wood-fuel is burning away and players are just relaxing in their base, the outside world all but disappears. It’s very easy to begin seeing the cozier side of the zombie apocalypse that Project Zomboid puts forth in these moments.

2 Terraria

A 2D Explorer With Zombies And Cuteness In Equal Measure

Terraria never ceases to amaze players with its incredible depth and wide variety of playstyles. Whether players are looking to wield colossal weapons as warriors, or let their minions do the fighting as summoners, there’s always a class and a host of items for players to experiment with. While players are able to take their time building up a settlement not just for themselves but for a whole host of NPCs that will come to join them over time, nighttime brings with it a host of dangerous enemies.

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Among these enemies is the zombie, a simple but deadly foe if underestimated, especially when they start attacking in numbers. Players need to be especially careful of the blood moon, which sends out zombies in droves to disrupt what can otherwise be a cozy survival experience.

1 Graveyard Keeper

The Buried Don’t Always Stay That Way

Graveyard Keeper is a humorous spin on farming simulators like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, advocating for a cozy, slow-paced game that players can gradually build upon as they like. Unlike the aforementioned farming sims, however, this game takes some of the emphasis off the farming and puts it on… corpses. Corpses that, most of the time, stay down. Players will need the Breaking Dead DLC if they want their cozy corpse caretaker simulator to become a bit more animated.

This is an often overlooked title by those trying to scratch that same itch that Stardew Valley manages to satisfy. Graveyard Keeper is a great and in-depth game that’s a little on the darker side (obviously) compared Stardew Valley, and manages to make the most of that with some DLC that gives players a zombie-managing, grave-tending, farm-simulating experience like no other.

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