Every road tells a story.

A map that won't wait for you

The world of Zombie Hikers runs on a server, not on your phone. That means it keeps going with the app closed, while you sleep and while you work.

The hordes walk. Items turn up and run out. When you open the game again, what you find isn't where you left it: it's where it ended up.

What's out there

• Roads. The network that ties it all together. Fast, exposed, and they walk them too.
• Houses and warehouses. You search them, it costs no steps and sometimes they're holding something that saves your week.
• Hiding spots. The only truly safe place. Hunger still gets in, though.
• Villages. Alameda, Kilometer 9. Names you learn the hard way.
• The research center. Protected ground: zombies don't get in. It's where you start, where you come back if you die and where all of this ends.

Where to stop, worst to best

Not every place shelters you the same, and that's half of surviving.

• The street is the worst of it. Out in the open, in plain sight, and on their route.
• Getting into a village or a house is already something else. You're better off than outside, but don't get comfortable: zombies get in too.
• Finding a hiding spot inside is the only thing that lets you truly rest. That's where they can't reach you.

Careful: not every place you get into has somewhere to hide. Finding one when you need it isn't a given, so you'd better know where they are before you need one.

The hordes aren't put there for you

A horde isn't an icon waiting for you to walk by. It has its own business: it works the roads, goes in and out of places, and keeps moving whether you're watching or not. Come back the way you saw it and it may well be gone.

And they have two gears: the wandering one and the hunting one. When they pick you up, they quicken and come for you. That difference is the whole game.

When exactly they spot you, how long they keep after you and what makes them change their minds is yours to find out. In the field.

Noise moves them

Sound pulls zombies off course. Let something loud enough reach them and they can change direction and turn up wherever it came from.

Which is why a bat is sometimes worth more than a shotgun: it kills slower, but it's far quieter about it.

Risk taken

When you're about to run into a horde, the game stops you and warns you. If you decide to carry on anyway, that particular horde won't plant itself in front of you again: you took the risk and you won't be asked about it again.

Against any other horde, the stop works exactly the same. And the permission is forgotten once the stretch is over.

Fighting, dying and coming back

You can fight, by your own decision or because they catch up with you. Every attempt checks two things: whether the weapon holds up —firearms jam, melee weapons break— and whether you hit, which is harder on an empty stomach or a dry throat. Missing burns the swing just like landing it does. A hit is one zombie less.

If there are zombies left over when the fight ends, you die. And then:

• Your body stays where it dropped and a grave appears with everything you were carrying.
• If a horde killed you, it takes part of the haul. The rest stays in the grave, for you or for whoever comes past.
• You can walk back in through the research center, with your step bag untouched and the bars full.

If there are more people in your game, whoever is beside you fights alongside you without you having to ask.

How you win

There's one way and one only: find the cure, get to the research center alive and hand it over.

Setting foot in the center with it on you isn't enough: you have to hand it over on purpose. The moment you do, the game is over and everyone gets the word.

But it being over doesn't mean everyone is saved. The ones still alive are saved. Whoever fell along the way stays there.