Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a post-apocalyptic survival game, where players must lead a group of people out of Texas. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the demo, and more.
Everything We Know About Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Plot
Set in 1980s Texas during the early stages of a zombie outbreak, Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days follows a group of survivors attempting to escape the city of Walton. The government urges citizens to stay put, but as the undead overrun the streets and communication breaks down, it becomes clear that no help is coming.
Players will guide survivors through a collapsing world, searching for safety, supplies, and signs of human life. Along the way, they’ll encounter both the living and the dead, some willing to join their cause, others less welcoming. The ultimate goal is to make it out of Texas alive.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Gameplay
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a side-scrolling survival game with a focus on strategy, resource management, and base building. Players begin with a pair of randomly selected survivors, each with unique traits and skillsets that influence how they interact with the world.
The game revolves around scavenging missions across various urban locations, where players must manage stealth, combat, and time. Survivors can fortify safehouses, craft tools and weapons, grow food, and care for both physical and mental health. Each in-game day presents new challenges, including hunger, exhaustion, emotional breakdowns, and environmental threats.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Release Date
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days entered Early Access on April 9, 2025, and is currently available on PC via Steam. There is no official full release date yet, but the developers have outlined plans for additional content, features, and improvements as development continues.
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| Price | $24.99 | ||||
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Review (Early Access)
Solid Barebones
There was a time—sometime in the 2010s, maybe even a little before—when the zombie apocalypse talk was less of a "what if" and more of a "when." You know what I mean. It was everywhere. In the movies, on TV, in our school lunchroom debates: "What’s your plan when the dead start walking?" Everyone had an answer. Making a beeline to your uncle with a gun, a mall with good sightlines, an escape route to the mountains. It was practically a rite of passage to have a zombie survival strategy by the age of twelve.
So when I say Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is yet another zombie survival game, I know what you’re thinking. Not this again. I hear you. But I need you to trust me for a second because this one’s a little different. Not because it reinvents the genre, or because it’s dripping with triple-A swagger (it’s not). It’s because it understands something that most zombie games forget: survival isn’t about how many zombies you can mow down with a bat wrapped in barbed wire, it’s about who you save, who you lose, and how many pieces of yourself you’re willing to give up before the sun rises on one more day.
Into the Dead isn’t new. It’s been quietly haunting phones since 2012, the kind of mobile game you download on a whim and end up playing while waiting for your laundry to dry. But Our Darkest Days? That’s the evolution. It’s the moody, side-scrolling, soul-heavy older sibling. A PC reimagining that swaps endless runners for slow, deliberate strategy, and fleeting jump-scares for long, creeping dread.
So let’s get into it. What makes Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days worth paying attention to in a graveyard of other zombie games? Let me take you back to 1980s Texas.
A Side-Scroller with Teeth
I don’t usually associate side-scrollers with strategy. To be honest, I went in expecting a mostly linear experience: walk right, avoid undead, find canned beans. Maybe hit a zombie or two with a crowbar and call it a day. But Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days quickly made it clear that this wasn’t that kind of ride. This is a side-scroller, sure, but it’s one where every step forward is a decision. Every resource has weight. Every character has stakes.
You start with a pair of survivors. No names you recognize, no cinematic backstories—just people. One might be better at crafting weapons. Another might be quieter while scavenging. Someone else might know how to reinforce a barricade without wasting half your wood supply. They come with strengths, weaknesses, quirks. Once you’re in, the story wastes no time setting the tone. In Texas, the government is telling everyone to stay put, and you already know that’s a death sentence. Within moments, the cracks show. The promises fall apart. And just like that, it’s on you. Find supplies. Find shelter. Find hope—if there’s any left.
Your main goal is simple on paper: get out. Escape Texas. But that’s the far-off dream. Right now, you’re thinking about your next meal.
People Management
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days doesn't just rely on zombies to create tension. It leans into the emotional fatigue of survival. Hunger? Manageable. Sleep? Doable. But mental fortitude? That’s the real killer. You can scavenge all day and build the sturdiest shelter in the world, but if your survivors start to lose hope, you’re in trouble. They don’t complain—they start spiraling. And if things get bad enough, they don’t wait for the zombies to get them.
That mechanic hit me hard the first time it happened. I thought I was doing okay, had a decent stash of food, patched up the windows, found a new place. But one of my survivors just… unraveled. Grief, exhaustion, loneliness—it snowballed. And one night, they were just gone. No note. No scream. Just gone.
There are ways to push back against the darkness. Finding signs of life in the city that brings a bit of hope. Or, you know, there’s always alcohol. Not exactly healthy coping, but hey—end of the world. We all do what we have to.
Scavenge, Survive, Repeat
Scavenging in most survival games tends to hit that same predictable rhythm: go here, grab stuff, bring it back, repeat until bored. You’ve done it. I’ve done it. We’ve all emptied the same kitchen drawer five times hoping the RNG gods bless us with a can of soup. So I went into Our Darkest Days with a bit of a resigned sigh, thinking I knew what was coming.
But here’s the thing—scavenging in this game works. Not just because of the loot (though yes, I will always get excited about finding more stuff I can carry), but because every location feels distinct. Purpose-built. Some areas are bursting with food but light on tools. Others are weapon-heavy but crawling with the undead.
What really stands out is how much the environment becomes part of your strategy. You can hide behind aisles or cars to avoid detection. I once took out an entire pack of undead just by luring them under a car and crushing them with it. Another time, all my weapons were destroyed and I had to jump from the 2nd floor of the house to run back to base.
Moments like that—they aren’t scripted. They just happen. And that’s what makes it addicting. The game gives you a sandbox full of tense little "what ifs," and then lets you build your own horror story.
The design encourages risk too. You start off close to your shelter, venturing into nearby motels, bars, gas stations. But as days pass, and supplies dwindle, you’re forced to push further out. The map opens up in layers. The promise of better loot lies just past the danger zone. And sometimes, if you’re really lucky (or really desperate), you’ll find a place worth claiming—a new base.
Claiming new shelters is one of those rare little victories that make the apocalypse feel manageable. It’s not just a cosmetic change—it opens up new parts of the map. It gives your survivors a morale boost. And every shelter comes with its own quirks. Some have gardens for sustainable food while some have more beds.
Now, the base-building is a bit limited. You can’t really customize your shelter—at least not in the early access version. You can build stations (crafting, cooking, etc.) and they get placed automatically. Functional, sure, but it lacks that sense of ownership. I wanted to make it mine, you know? Rearrange a bit. Decorate. Maybe even name the damn thing. But that’s a nitpick— and one I hope gets fleshed out later.
The Combat of Our Darkest Days
The first time I crept up behind a zombie and buried a crowbar into the back of its head, I think I actually exhaled. Not because I was relieved to be safe, but because the animation was just that smooth. That crunchy, final thunk. The way the body slumps just a little too human. It’s gross, yeah, but in that deeply satisfying "I’m surviving out here" way.
And that’s the thing—stealth in Our Darkest Days feels good. Really good. Every movement matters. Every breath you hold before making a move. There’s a weight to it. You’re not mowing down waves of zombies with an assault rifle. You’re tiptoeing past them. It’s not about brute force. It’s about cleverness. And honestly? I love that.
That said, when stealth does fail, and it often will, things can spiral fast. Suddenly you’re in a scuffle, and that’s when the cracks in the combat system start to show.
Hand-to-hand feels okay—serviceable, but clunky. If you’ve got a weapon, you’re golden… for about thirty seconds. Because here’s the rub: weapon durability in this game is absolutely brutal. That makeshift knife you made? Can probably kill one zombie. Maybe two if you’re lucky. It doesn’t help that actual weapons like guns are extremely rare in the game.
There’s a tension to that, and I respect it. The scarcity, the fragility—it adds weight to every fight. But after a few hours, it started feeling more frustrating than immersive. Like, yes, I understand we’re scrounging, but if I can build a workstation out of scrap wood and nails, I should be able to duct tape a baseball bat back together, right? Still, when it clicks, it really clicks. Fights are best avoided, but when you’re cornered and have no choice, it becomes this desperate, clumsy ballet.
Still, the core loop holds. The stealth is satisfying. The tension is real. And when you finally clear a building without alerting the horde, there’s a kind of relief that makes the whole thing worth it.
What’s Missing in the End of the World
Let’s be honest: we’ve been spoiled by modern survival sims. Dynamic world events, evolving NPCs, shifting allegiances, a thousand branching consequences from one little mistake. Our Darkest Days doesn’t quite reach that level yet—and that’s okay. But it does mean you start to feel the boundaries after a while.
For one, there’s a real lack of dynamic choice. Most of your major decisions revolve around resource management and exploration paths. Do you go to the hospital and risk the horde for potential meds? Or the hardware store for tools and wood? But once you’re there, the events play out pretty much the same. There’s no branching dialogue. No "what if I did this instead?" sort of moments. You meet survivors, and they either want in or they don’t. You encounter hostile communities, and they tell you to scram. That’s it.
And that’s such a missed opportunity! Imagine running into another group and having options—do we barter with them? Try to merge communities? Ambush them and steal supplies? Right now, it’s all pretty binary.
Then there’s character progression—or the lack of it. The initial character diversity is great. Everyone feels distinct: the sneaky ones, the builders, the strong silent types who can carry a couch on their back without breaking a sweat. But after that first pick, the growth stops. There’s no leveling system, no stat improvements, no personal arcs. They don’t change, no matter how many buildings they clear.
That really stings in a game about endurance. I want my survivors to reflect the journey. I want the scared scavenger to become hardened. I want the reckless kid to learn restraint. But right now, everyone stays more or less static—until they die, that is. (Which they will. A lot.)
Weapon durability, too, needs some serious tweaking. We touched on this before, but it bears repeating: these things break way too fast. Especially for melee weapons. I get that scarcity is part of the design, but when I spend fifteen minutes carefully sneaking through a school only to have my wrench explode after one swing… that’s not tension. That’s just bad luck. And it leads to this weird, frustrating rhythm where you’re constantly scrambling for replacements, not because you used your tools poorly but because the system expects them to snap like twigs.
And lastly, the base system, while functional, lacks depth. You can build stations, sure, and each shelter has its own quirks (some have gardens, others more beds). But there’s no customization. No sense of personalization. You can’t upgrade areas or decorate or really shape it into your safe zone. Everything sort of slots into place and just… is.
Again, early access. We get it. These systems can evolve. But what’s there now feels more like a placeholder than a true foundation. You’re not building a home, you’re setting up temporary camps over and over.
Still, despite all these gaps, the bones are strong. And that’s what gives me hope. Because if they flesh out these systems—if they add character growth, deeper choices, richer world events—Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days could be something special.
So here’s the bottom line: Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is already worth your attention— and with time, it might be worth your devotion. If the developers lean into its best ideas, polish the rough bits, and expand the systems that are begging for more depth, they’re sitting on something really special.
And me? I’ll be there. Ready to restart with a new pair of survivors. Ready to make different calls. Ready to chase that slim, flickering hope that maybe this time, we’ll make it out of Texas.
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Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Product Information
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| Title | INTO THE DEAD: OUR DARKEST DAYS |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 9, 2025 |
| Developer | PikPok |
| Publisher | PikPok, Boltray Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Survival, Zombie, Side-Scroller |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Official Website |
