Project Zomboid is an ever-evolving survival horror game where you do your best to live for as long as possible until you, inevitably, perish in the midst of its post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested environment. It’s an open-world game with a whole lot to do, so many players that first jump in may feel daunted, and current players might be looking for something more to dig into.

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That’s where these tips can help! From finding the best base for farming to grabbing truly essential items, these tricks will get you on the road to victory — or at least surviving for a lot longer.

Updated February 6 2022 by Jerrad Wyche: Not only did Project Zomboid release a new build of the game titled Build 41 in late 2021, but they recently posted on their blog that they have big plans for the isometric zombie survival game in 2022. With a new patch set to release in the coming weeks for the game, it's clear that the developers at The Indie Stone want to deliver the chaotic zombie apocalypse experience they envision Project Zomboid to become.

13 Store Water Nearby

Project Zomboid Water

Hoarding is an unfortunate eventuality when it comes to any sort of apocalypse, and you want to make sure to be on the right side of it. Water is a basic need when looking at human survival and you need to store some away whenever you can. Whether it's in a bottle, bowl, or mug you need to gather any water you come across. Sure you won't be able to have an infinite supply of it, but the last thing you need to be worrying about is if you have water for tomorrow.

12 Watch Some TV

Project Zomboid TV

Watching television may sound like a useless task in a zombie apocalypse, but in Project Zomboid, it happens to be required viewing. Depending on the television program you indulge in, you can improve specific skills in the game.

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This mechanic is only available during the first nine days, and afterward, you'll have to resort to reading books. In order to survive, you must include television watching in your daily routine in order to operate with maximum efficiency.

11 Crouching Is Essential

Project Zomboid Crouch

There is no habit in Project Zomboid you should develop that is more important than the act of crouch-walking wherever you go. By default, you can do this by pressing the C key and moving in any direction. Zombies can hear noises caused by movement and by crouch walking you greatly reduce your noise output. It may look and feel awkward at first, but you'll quickly grow comfortable with the safety and lack of risk it provides.

10 Where’s The Best Base?

Project Zomboid Twiggy's

Everyone has their favorite stomping grounds in Project Zomboid, but sometimes it can be intimidating to find a definitive home base. We have three suggestions for those still confused about where to ride out the zombie apocalypse.

Twiggy’s is tried and true. Located right between a gunshop, a mart, and trees, you’ll never run out of supplies as long as you’re here. If safety's your style, the farmhouse on the eastern edge of Muldraugh is a great spot. For those who play with groups, any of the well-sized churches scattered across the map work well. Just be careful -- boarding them up right away can be tricky!

9 Farming Is A Lot Harder Than It Looks

Project Zomboid Farming

Every good open-world survival game has a farming system, and Project Zomboid is no different. What isn’t always apparent is how easily your crops can suffer from zombie influence. If a zombie dies near your crops, the blood can actually seep into the plants and sicken them. Zombies can also walk across your crops, which can damage the plants themselves.

To make sure zombies don’t destroy all of your plants, practice some space management. Keeping small groups of crops about two or more spaces apart is a great way to ensure that if one group gets sick, the rest won’t get infected.

8 The Most Important Item In The Game

Project Zomboid Searching a Field

You might be thinking it’s a weapon, or bandages, or even food. But it’s actually nails! They’re a crafting item used in most every carpentry recipe. They can mainly be used to create barricades, which are essential to ensuring zombies don’t come smashing up your base.

Nails can also be used to improve weapons. If you have a plank or a baseball bat ready to go, you can combine them with nails to do more damage to those pesky zombies. So make sure to pick up all the nails you see. You never know when you might run out in the middle of an attack!

7 The OTHER Most Important Item

Project Zomboid Horde Attacks Ruined Base

Nails aren’t the only essential object. They can be used to do one other very important thing: hang sheets. Sheets are crucial purely for their versatility. Though they can’t do as much as those trusty nails, they can be used to cover windows. While this isn’t exactly an obstacle for zombies, it will make sure that they don’t spot you.

This is especially important while you’re sleeping, as zombies can walk by at any time and lock eyes on your vulnerable form! Sheets can also be used to make bandages, which are pretty important when you’ve just sustained damage during a zombie onslaught.

6 Don’t Pick Up Everything

Project Zomboid Inventory

Despite the importance of nails and sheets, what’s maybe even more important is making sure you don’t pick up every single last little thing. Like any survival game, you have a limited inventory, though this one is based on weight. Bags and backpacks are your friends here, but sometimes you might not run across any handy bags for a while in-game.

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Staying on top of inventory management is thus an essential aspect of survival. Grabbing all those cool weapons might seem like a good idea at the time, but later when you desperately need supplies or bandages, you might regret it.

5 The Best Places to Forage

Project Zomboid Foraging Zone Map

Finding places to forage on the expansive map can sometimes be hard to do, especially when you’re being chased down by hordes of zombies. It doesn’t help either that these areas can be limited, and you can wander for a while without seeing hide nor hair of supplies.

Never fear! The above map made by a motivated Project Zomboid player highlights all of the possible foraging areas on the in-game map in red. The map is also scaled 1:1, so it matches up perfectly with the coordinates on the game's map. Happy foraging!

4 Getting A Second Base

Project Zomboid Zoomed Out Map of Buildings

But wait — didn’t we talk about snagging a singular base earlier? That base is important, but what’s just as crucial is making sure you have a back-up. Surviving means preparing Plan Bs or even Plan Cs, and the same is true of Project Zomboid.

Even though you may get attached to your original base, zombies can run you out of town at any time. The last thing you want is to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with no place to hide out. Finding a second base will make certain that you always have somewhere to go if your first base is overrun.

3 Loot As Much As You Can

Project Zomboid Wandering Zombies

Though this may seem self-explanatory, looting all of the zombies can quickly become overwhelming when you get attacked by a particularly large horde. Looting can be a hassle, and moving on can seem easier when you need to escape a situation quickly.

But it’s still important to make sure you loot all of the bodies that you can — you never know what you might find! Supplies can be hard to come by, and as we said earlier, nails and sheets are important. Bodies are places where you can find those crucial items, especially when you’re stuck in a tight spot!

2 Get Ready To Read

Project Zomboid Bookcase

But isn’t this a zombie game? Well, in Project Zomboid, books are how you upgrade your experience in a given skill, including Carpentry or Foraging. Each skill book has a different level out of five.

What isn’t as well-known is that reading a certain skill book will score you a multiplier for actions done with that skill. If you read a Beginner’s book for Carpentry and you saw wood afterward, you would earn 3 times the normal amount of XP! Intermediate will get you 5 times as much XP, Advanced 8 times, Expert 12 times, and Mastery 16 times. Get out there and read!

1 Embrace Death

Project Zomboid Giant Horde

The most important lesson of Project Zomboid is learning to embrace the inevitable. Even though the game emphasizes dying, it’s still a hard thing to handle when you’re first starting out or when you’ve invested a lot of time. Dying after you’ve put effort into a base, or crops, or just sheer survival can be frustrating.

But that’s the fun challenge of Project Zomboid: knowing that you can pick up the pieces and start a whole new adventure all over again. And every time you restart, you get better at surviving for longer and longer. Good luck out there, and keep your spirits up!

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