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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Survival Machine is the newest survival multiplayer game that combines cozy gameplay with a zombie infestation. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the demo, and more.
Everything We Know About Survival Machine
Survival Machine Plot
In a world where an apocalypse has doomed humanity, zombies have taken over the land, and the player characters are among the only remaining survivors on the planet. This doesn’t stop them and their ragtag crew from exploring the world in their trusty base, the Machine. Thrive in this post-apocalyptic world and take the land!
Survival Machine Gameplay
In this 4-player co-op, third-person survival-adventure game, players navigate the world aboard a colossal Machine, which doubles as their fortress, homestead, and transport. The base, or the Machine, is at the heart of the adventure, a versatile vehicle that can be upgraded and customized to overcome all sorts of obstacles. To keep the moving base safe, players must secure fuel resources, find blueprints, and fortify the top to resist zombie attacks.
Survival Machine Release Date
Early Access Release on May 7, 2025
Survival Machine was released in Early Access on May 7, 2025. The developers project that the Early Access phase will last for approximately a year before being fully released.
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 Steam |
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| $19.99 |
Survival Machine Review (Early Access)
A Cozy End of the World?
Have you imagined what it would look like if a zombie apocalypse were to happen right now? It would likely end up similar to most media, where resources are scarce and survivors would fight for their lives to survive the ordeal. It’s also doubtful that people would be living in comfort or think that it would be relaxing to live in times like those. Now, what if you can combine the theme of a zombie apocalypse and cozy vibes? Enter Survival Machine, a zombie survival game that puts you in the middle of a zombie apocalypse while having the relaxing and cozy vibes of other simulation games. It’s a fusion that doesn’t work thematically, but it’s not like we haven’t seen this type of thing done before.
Right off the bat, it’s already unique with its use of colorful visuals and cartoony characters. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s a good way to present how the visuals are meant to be a stark contrast to how things are. Overall, it’s a decent-looking game; it does its job well, showing off what the developers were trying to show in an instant with its vibrant, blocky, and not-so-serious vibe and atmosphere.
Simple and Straightforward Survival With a Twist
The gameplay is very much as simple as it gets, and it’s good that the game starts with a tutorial that teaches you the essentials of how you start and progress in it. Like other survival games, you farm resources with your crafted tools and use these to create more and more tools, equipment, and defenses to make your life as comfortable as possible. The progression is similar to most survival games, where you have to progressively upgrade your tools to be able to farm better resources and craft even more things. It’s fairly standard and straightforward, but there is a key difference—the Machine.
The Machine is a moving fortress that automatically moves in one direction; you can set it to stop, but you can’t redirect it elsewhere. What makes it unique from other survival games is that your respawn point and home base
are already set to the Machine. Using the resources you’ve gathered, you build different things on top of the Machine, literally. It takes away one of the pain points new players go through when playing survival games, which is where to set up a base or camp.
Other than building crafting benches and storage units, you can also use the resources to improve and upgrade the Machine itself, so that it uses less fuel, makes your tools more efficient, and more. It’s an interesting concept that gives players a base they’re constantly upgrading while being convenient to its core gameplay design.
Speaking of which, the main thing that drives the gameplay is the exploration. It’s a survival game that relies on the player to find crafting recipes around the world. The moving base solves the big issue of certain survival games where the player might explore way too far, and going home can be a tedious task.
This isn’t to say that the generated world isn’t big either, as there’s a ton of ground to cover and areas to loot. Another thing about it is that you’re not exactly blind in exploring, since the Machine itself has a map that you can use to look for areas of interest and mark them with a flare so that you have a guide going there.
A Cozy Zombie Apocalypse to Look Out For
Other than those key differences, it’s a fairly straightforward and standard survival game. It does help a lot that it has in-game quests to guide players and have objectives to fulfill, but the gameplay loop is a lot like games like The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria and Project Zomboid. It’s certainly a game to look out for, especially when you have a bunch of friends wanting to play a survival game but want to skip the mundane start of building a base and just want to go straight to it. It’s not the most interactive, engaging, or even compelling survival game, but it can definitely win as one of the most relaxing and cozy survival games out now.
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Survival Machine Product Information
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| Title | SURVIVAL MACHINE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | May 7, 2025 (Early Access) |
| Developer | Grapes Pickers |
| Publisher | Games Operators, PlayWay S.A. |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Action, Survival, Indie, Casual |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Survival Machine Official Website |
