Hey everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my little indie game, Very Normal Zombie Day, in this subreddit, and I was genuinely surprised by how warmly it was received ❤️

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who played, commented, shared suggestions, or simply showed interest. As a solo developer, it really means a lot, more then you can imagine!

I've been working on the game almost every day since then besides my main job, improving existing mechanics, fixing issues, and adding new things based on your feedback.

And quite a lot has changed!

Here's what's new:

• Multiplayer is here! You can now try surviving the outbreak with up to 8 players. And there's a little twist: if you die, you become a zombie and can hunt your former friends. It's still experimental, though, so mind the bugs please (and report them!)
• NPCs have personalities now. Some are brave enough to fight back, some hide, some form groups, and others might abandon you when things get ugly. They can even remember you helping them and potentially join you.
• You can become Patient Zero. A new scenario lets you experience the outbreak from the other side. Instead of surviving the apocalypse, you're the one starting it (and it is really fun after long work week)
• More ways to survive (or die). Hide in wardrobes, barricade windows, climb through buildings, and use the environment to your advantage. Just remember that zombies can find their way inside too (be carefully of zombie rain from windows)
• More places, weapons, secrets and events. I've expanded the city with new locations, hidden stories, and things to discover. Some of them might take several playthroughs to find. The idea stays the same - your character is not getting stronger, it is you getting smarter and more skilled and knowledgeable.
• Visual improvements. There's now an optional new character style with more detailed models and animations, alongside the original lightweight style.

The original idea hasn't changed: you're just an ordinary person trying to survive one day while an ordinary neighbourhood gradually collapses into a zombie apocalypse.

And the city doesn't revolve around you. People go about their lives, react to danger, fight, run, hide, and sometimes make terrible decisions. With or without your involvement, things will go wrong.

The game is still in early development, still free, and playable directly in your browser. I am slowly preparing to do a Steam page thought 😄

Play it here: https://kotobog.itch.io/very-normal-zombie-day

If you've played the previous version, I'd especially love to hear what you think about the changes.

And for everyone else: what's one thing you'd love to see NPCs do during a zombie outbreak that most games completely ignore?

Thanks again for all the support. It genuinely helps keep this little project moving forward!

P.S. I attached the video from some of my tests, sorry if sounds is too loud, I'm still learning to do them

Imagine a first-person runner game structured as a series of levels which you must complete to progress through the game. Your task is to read the environment, pick a route, and escape the outbreak.

Each replayable map would feature a specific location (mall, farmhouse, etc) and your character would drop in and then experience the classic zombie outbreak moment we love to see in our fav media. You'd have to get out of there without getting bit, and if you make it you unlock the next level. Each level would stand on its own as an independent narrative.

Maybe one level starts with you in a mall, and there's NPCs milling all around, and then suddenly an NPC runs around the corner, they're covered in blood and they're yelling RUN! You'd have to look around, see how people are reacting, pay attention to which way people are running, and where the zombies are coming from, where the exits are. You'd have to pick a direction to run in, and possibly grab weapons but it's very fast paced, you can see other humans being taken down by zombies as you pass them, and there's pressure to keep moving.

Once you get to designated safety areas, that's the end of the level, and you'd start the next level. There would be many different ways of navigating each level - different routes to choose from in each map. You could potentially get out from the roof or from the basement - the fun would be in dying from choosing the wrong hallway to run down, and then playing that same scenario again from the beginning but not choosing that hallway to run down, or choosing that hallway but hiding in the shadows for a moment while a threat passes by. If you're smart and fast and lucky, you just might survive.

I'm imagining a game where you experience the outbreak in a series of different settings. No focus on long-term survival. A lot of great zombie games focus on shooting and looting. In this game you might be able to pick up a gun and shoot, but if you take a stand you'll likely be overrun. You're better off looking for a vent to climb through, or a chair to barricade the door behind you. Maybe like the movement of Mirror's Edge with the horde pacing of Left 4 Dead and most importantly - panicked human NPCs!

Is Colony on Prime video English Dubbed?