GAMEPLAY:

"Zafehouse: Diaries" (ZD) is a unique game about five ordinary people (called "survivors") struggling to escape a city that has been overrun by zombies. Gameplay is turn-based, with each turn representing one hour in the in-game world. In each turn, you can give each of the five survivors one task. A wide variety of tasks is available: moving across the map, inspecting another building, trying to break in, patrolling for zombies, searching the current location, searching and removing killed zombies, standing watch, sniping zombies from inside, cooking food, enhancing the equipment, treating wounded team mates, barricading a location, creating a distraction, etc. Each survivor can move and act individually, but it's also possible to let them work together on the same task. At the beginning of each turn, the results of the previous tasks show up as detailed descriptions in the group's "diary".

The goal of ZD is to obtain information about the arrival time, location, and contact frequency of the evacuation helicopter that's their last chance of escape. This information is contained in small notes dispersed over several locations. You are therefore sending your survivors out to search the buildings of the city. Most of those are houses or shops, but there are also a several special buildings like a police station, hospital, or school. These buildings often offer unique loot, or the ability to perform special tasks not available elsewhere - however, they are also often full of zombies. In general, zombies are scarce in the beginning, but their numbers will grow considerably over time. You can partially avoid them by foregoing tasks that make noise (but that won't always be possible) or by creating a distraction elsewhere (but that might be dangerous for the person who has to do it).

ZD contains a lot of different items: weapons ranging from knives to submachine guns, various types of ammunition, food, and tools of all kinds (which can improve the results when performing a matching task). Most items are multifunctional - a fire axe is useful for breaking in, but also for fighting zombies.

ZD keeps a special focus on the relations between your survivors. How well people get along with each other determines how well they work together, but it can also trigger serious fights. Managing the relations of the group - through planting rumors, letting people work together, or separating them if necessary - is an integral part of ZD, and something which sets it apart from many other games.

ZD also contains several random events, which may require difficult decisions, and can have drastic consequences.

The game doesn't have a real "story" beyond the things already mentioned, but it's nevertheless a tense and gripping experience. It does a great job in capturing the feeling of other "ordinary people in a zombie apocalypse" stories.

GRAPHICS:

ZD plays in a fixed resolution of 1024x768. The graphics are simple and crude, but they do match the setting and the general atmosphere. The entire game takes place on only four screens:

- the diary, which contains a lot of text, and the occasional picture of a house, person, or item

- a very abstract, hand-drawn, blocky, single-color city map on which you move the survivors

- a screen that shows the relations of the survivors to each other, and gives some information about their background, skills, and personality

- a screen that shows all all information about the evacuation that you have collected so far

Altogether, ZD offers just enough visual stimulation to trigger your own imagination.

SOUND:

When a new entry is added to the diary, ZD plays an appropriate sound clip - shattering glass, moaning zombies, gunshots, etc. Since there aren't many different sound clips available, this gets repetitive quickly, though it's nice that ZD isn't completely quiet.

There is no music (apart from a short tune in the main menu) and no voice acting.

INTERFACE:

The interface takes a bit of getting used to, it's not immediately clear which elements are clickable. Inventory management can be a chore even though ZD uses a "group inventory" concept: Instead of having to handle each survivor's inventory individually, they will automatically take any appropriate item for the task that has been assigned to them, so you only have to manage the inventory when your group is relocating. However, this may still happen dozens of times in each playthrough.

The interface also leaves many things unexplained, which then have to be figured out by the player through trial and error. This is not necessarily a bad thing - arguably, the insecurity and the lack of information do contribute to the tight atmosphere. However, sometimes it just makes no sense to have no information. For example, the characters ought to know whether their carrying capacity keeps changing due to fatigue, nutrition levels, or injuries, but the player has no access to that information - he just notices the capacity fluctuating wildly.

ZD is entirely played with the mouse.

Task switching is supported, but you may need to switch your desktop resolution to 1024x768 if you want ZD to fill the screen.

EASE OF USE:

ZD installs without any hassles. Be sure to use the automatic update function, or to check the developer's site for the latest patch, as ZD has been expanded and enhanced considerably over time. The manual is not included in the download, I got mine from the developer's site.

ZD can be saved at any time, but you have only one save slot, and the savegame will be deleted after reloading it. This adds to the tense atmosphere of ZD.

OTHER THINGS OF NOTE:

A single playthrough might take about 2 hours, but it hugely depends on your playing style and speed. ZD has a lot of replay value due to the randomization of the locations and the items found there, as well as the survivors and their skills, personalities, and relations. You can never rely on a certain skill to be present in your group, or on a certain building to be present in a city, so you have to adapt your strategy in each game. There is also an alternative game mode available, in which the goal is to repair a car and escape in that. However, after about a dozen playthroughs, ZD feels a bit schematic (especially in the way how the relations between the survivors are managed), and the feeling of guiding actual people through a zombie apocalypse is replaced by a feeling of juggling certain variables in order to win ZD. Also, the descriptions in the diary do become repetitive. More and varied descriptions of actual, meaningful interactions between the survivors would have been great.

ZD is pretty hard to win, but that's not a problem for a rather short game with a high replayability factor. One important hint about a non-obvious gameplay peculiarity: _If_ a location contains a note about the evacuation, then you will find it within the first hour of searching, so there's no reason to keep searching there unless you're interested in the items you may find.

ZD is DRM free, which is always nice.

ZD is quite open to modding. It even includes an editor in which you can create your own survivors (complete with pictures, skills, and personal background) as well as your own buildings. You can easily mod ZD to be about yourself and 4 friends, in your home city.

CONCLUSION:

ZD is original, tense, and gripping - definitely recommended unless you insist on snazzy graphics.

Review Date: 2013/Apr/28 -- Program version: 1.1.82 -- Progress: about 10 games, one won

Zafehouse: Diaries is a game unlike any other. In spite of simple graphics it manages to create a grim zombie movie atmosphere of conflict, fear and tragedy. The game is a form of roguelike - i.e. it is turn based, has permadeath and randomized content.

In Zafehouse: Diaries you control five survivors and need to use them to complete some objectives (depending on the game mode you need to either repair a vehicle or gather enough information to be able to board a rescue chopper). The survivors are randomly generated, and on top of the having different strengths and weaknesses they also have opinions, creating conflicts within the group: Some might be racist, others dislike rich people and so on. As things evolve, these hostilities will often escalate, though sometimes survivors who initially hate each other will become friendly.

The graphics of the game are very simple, sticking to a hand-drawn map of the city (also generated randomly), a few photos and text (they're serious about the "diaries" part of the title). Music is good but underused. The mood of the game hits classic zombie movies spot-on though - it starts out as all fun and games; gathering supplies, creating a safe house and the like. It mostly ends in horrible tragedy, tough decisions on amputating infected limbs and characters hating and even trying to kill each other. Classic "... of the dead" movie stuff.

The game lets you add your own survivors too, which add to the fun. Taking on the living dead with a bunch of friends and see yourself get eaten during the first day adds to the fun as well.

If you like this kind of games (or if you're simply a fan of the zombie circus) it's definitely worth a buy.

Zafehouse Diaries tells a story of a group of survivors trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. It's not really about winning or losing, it's about the stories that unfold with the characters. Think Walking Dead only on a strategic sim level. The story is all up to you and how you want it to unfold - do you barricade up in the bank or scavenge the town house by house.

Good: + zombie survival simulation

+ The way the story unfolds

+ Still more updates to come

+ your own portraits!

+ relationship system

Bad: - simple graphics (use your imagination to tell a story)

- survival is hard (it is the zombie apocalypse)

- effects of each action not documented (had to search for a wiki)

The concept is very interesting, but of course the game is not (yet) Worth the price. The gameplay is interesting and challenging, reminding the text based adventures of the early age of gaming. It still appears that the variety is not very large, both in viable tactics and in possible events. The main weakness is that sometimes the outcome of attacking zombies is completely unpredictable: any strategy game must contain calculated risk, not absolute randomness. I hope the authors will capitalize on the trust of the community, and use the money to support a full fledged developement.

For a simple story telling and action game this game satisfies my need for a break. Its simple actions and mild point and click feel makes me really enjoy this game, but don't let its fun side fool you. This game takes no prisoners and when your crew are dead there dead game over. since you only give the characters basic commands (go here) (search this) they can be overrun or hurt easily and injuries in this game cost lives very quickly. Not to mention for each member you lose it hurts each character mentally and cost you 2 hands for doing things. Make a wrong choice and in one fell swoop 2 or 3 of your 5 characters is dead and zombies are making there way to your hidy hole. If you want a change of scenery from your everyday shooters and world of war crack this is it, its easy to pick up for a little bit and unless your dedicated and down right lucky you wont be in one game for very long, plus theres a function for adding your own scenarios and for downloading new ones from other people so its kind of like the old school pick your path books in a game, a little more fleshed out but hey soon enough thatll all get eaten by zombies right.

It's an interesting and fun game, but not as hard as many have said. I actually found that disappointing. Although I did die my first couple of expeditions, once I had a handle on the rules (reading the manual helped a great deal) I never really felt as if I was in very much danger again. For practically being a text adventure with a gui, the game manages to be quite atmospheric. For example, in one playthrough I had a rich uneducated 'musician' type named Jermaine that made it hard for everyone in the group to get along (also, he was useless at everything). Man I hated him. So did everyone else. When he tragically died on a supply run, everything started going much better and I couldn't help but feel almost bad that I was glad he was dead. I probably wouldn't buy it at full price, but I would consider it a good purchase for around $5. I bought it at 50% off ($8ish in this case) and felt I had mildly overpaid as once the ruleset is mastered replayability is low.

This game is extremely difficult and fun. Although not have graphics, narrative in diary form and certainly compensates scares, is basically a management game in a zombie apocalypse. With a dense narrative and a different focus, their role is not to run away or kill zombies left and right, but ensure the operation of a small community of five people.

The only flaw is that they can not guarantee an expansion, it would be interesting to manage a larger community.

A great game, must-have for any fan of Zombie games. Even though it is text-based, it manages to build a great atmosphere and you always feel in danger.

To be completely honest, I love the game. It is very simple, but entertaining enough to have had me glued to it for a few days. The breadth of the game is a bit limited, but I believe with the mod community and the devs all doing their jobs/hobbies the game will get much better with time. The game is mostly text based with only a few "animations" thrown in for fun. The music and feel of the game are rather amazing and have a way of pulling you into the game more than many others I have played over the years. If you intend to purchase it, I would wait for it to go on sale. The full price is a bit steep for what you get here. That being said, I would buy it again and again as both modes offer different play types and will keep you busy for quite some time. At least for those of us that can read.

Zafehouse is a solid game of slow turn based strategy where you must lead five survivors through not only the zombie apocalypse but social challenges as well. Scavenging and careful planning to meet both the needs of your survivors and the ultimate goal provide a unique challenge. On top of that there is a custom character generator where you can make yourself or friends the surviving team. Randomization offers a lot of replayability!

Zafehouse Diaries is a great game, though I do not recommend you purchase it at $14.95. In the beginning, you are offered two game modes, the classic mode and the new one, roadkill. I will be focusing on the Classic one. In the classic mode, you control 5 survivors that you must manage. You can send them on patrols, watch duty etc. As you press the watch, time passes and a new diary entry is made. It summarizes what has happened during the hour. The whole game is text, so don't expect any epic cutscenes. It does use a good mixture of sounds to immerse you however. The entire game will be based on how you manage your survivors and one wrong move can get your group killed. The game exercises strategy. so you must use your head. Throughout the game, relationships can grow sour between the survivors, so you need to sort that out too. Aside from an occasional bug or two, this is a very feature rich title, not worth the $15 price tag, but perhaps $5.

A big fan of the zombie-genre I had high hopes for this game, however it's no more complex than free browser-based games out there and as such I cannot defend the relatively high price, nor the game itself. The one upshot I've found so far is the option of creating your own character and inserting them as part of the groups, however that doesn't do much for the game in the end.

The devs are ultra-responsive and update this game really often, and the mod community is growing. Zafehouse does a really great job of balancing realistic or "hardcore" gameplay with the classic lore of zombie films.

The mix of social interaction and zombie killing gameplay helps make Zafehouse one of those rare gems of indie gaming.

The game has a fairly interesting idea at its core, and the fundamental gameplay is more or less solid. There are a lot of minor issues and interface hiccups that simply have no business being in a released product, however. For instance, if you lose the game, you MUST export the diary and then load it from the menu before you can even see what happened to cause you to lose. It's not gamebreaking, but it makes the whole experience feel a little less polished.

Zafehouse Diaries is fun but tough. The atmosphere is very nice, simple graphics, a dirty map and a few tokens really convey the minimalist survivalist approach. You have to deal with what you get and can't over-optimize as you'd wish. It's a nice twist but it can end up being frustrating so have so little control, and losing or winning feels a bit too much about luck. If you're okay with a narrative game where the point is more about generating a story than winning a victory you could give it one more star.

Definetly a unique game.

The entire interface is contained within your diary which records events and lets you give out orders and organise your fellow survivors.

It's a difficult game to explain and while maybe not worth the full price, is a game you will play again and again to see what happens next time.

After a play through there is a diary editor letting you personalise your story further which you can then upload to the devs website and share with your friends.

If you like zombies and post apocalypse and don't care about sparkly graphics then definetly pick it up when it's on sale.