Hasn't worked for a long time. You've got maybe a 1/10 chance of actually running this thing on a modern computer.

Damned shame. This was a fun little game.

Excellent zombie-killing strategy game with Tower Defense elements. The core of the gameplay is to rescue as many civilians as possible out of a city being run over by zombies. You have a variety of units at your disposal, and after every round you get another unit. Which unit you get is randomized from playthrough to playthrough making each playthrough feel unique. You also have access to upgrades for your units between missions.

The only caveat is that the game won't run on modern operating systems, so if you are running Windows 10 (some people are reporting issues on 8.1 as well, but I can neither confirm or disprove those claims) you are ♥♥♥♥ out of luck.

If you are still back on Windows 7 and enjoy strategy games or tower defense, definitely give this game a ♥♥♥♥.

First a massive disclaimer: Install and run this immediately, then be prepared to use the steam refund system if it crashes or fails to run.
This game is essentially abandoned by the developer, who has done nothing to update or fix the game. I personally advise you only buy this game if you have windows 7 home, because 7 home is the only version I have been able to get the game to run on.

That being said, I do have a functioning copy, on an older laptop running windows 7 home, with integrated Intel graphics.

Gameplay consists of having zombies enter a destructible city map from multiple locations along city streets. You will have a preparation phase, during which you can put down units, barriers and equipment. Your unit availability will change from month to month, adding to the challenge of planning for the defensive.

Once into the action mode, you will be able to slow down game speed using spacebar, and move units, call in artillery strikes, as well as move helicopter extraction. The zombies and civilians will respond to each other accordingly, with zombies moving towards civilians if within range, or otherwise wandering aimlessly, while civilians will remain in place unless driven away by zombies, or attracted by the extraction helicopter. Manipulating civilian movement will manipulate zombie movement in response.

After each map you will have successfully saved civilians counted towards your score, and infections counted to the zombie score. After this you will receive further points based on areas controlled, and areas infected for zombies, which is followed by selecting the next area to assault.

In the end this game is worth playing, and a value for people who enjoy combat tactics simulators that are somewhat more forgiving. It can be frustrating at times when civilians respond in moronic ways, but then some people are just morons and thus it is an accurate simulation unintentionally. But if you cannot get the game to run on your rig, then do not hesitate to refund, since the developer should have fixed that issue a long time ago, especially if they want to keep getting revenue from sales.

I loved this game back in 2014 when it was just about the only thing my laptop could run. Clocked up a good 20 hours or so back then.

Just trying to get the postive votes up as Blendo Games/Brendon Chung is one of the best indie devs out there.

If you're having trouble running the game in Win10 try going to the Atom Zombie Smasher data folder in program files (the default location is at: c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\atomzombiesmasher\data) and then delete atigktxx.dll

Fix worked for me so I'm putting it out there in the hope that it'll work for someone else as this really is an amazing game. The surf rock and llama bombs got me through some tough times.

never worked for me on any computer

The game is no longer supported. It IS possible to play it, but you have to go through a few hoops and offsite downloads as indicated by multiple forum and discussion posts. Not worth it anymore. Was great, now useless. This should be pulled from the store

This game is pretty fun, if played in short spurts. It's quite simple to grab, and hard to master, since you have to think through your choices before commiting to something, or risk getting zombies overrunning a lot of areas, both in the city and on the zone map.

Saw a lot of people complaining about the game, but it does seem to be a Windows 10 issue, since I'm using 8.1, and all it asked me was to download a file from the dev's website, which a did, installed, and the game booted with no issues.

So, I guess that if you have Win 10, stay away from it, if you got other Windows versions, go for it!

Not sure why anyone would install Win 10 anyway...

Works fine with Window 8

The title is as literal as it comes, perhaps second only to NZA 2 (read my review on -that- for more details) in terms of "It does what it says on the tin". Atom Zombie smasher is a variant on those old-school top down "Zombie outbreak simulator" programs that would show lots of little dots rushing around, some were coloured as civilians, and others as zombies, over time you'd watch the infection spread throughout the city, often leaving a small clump of survivors holed up in a dead end praying to survive just another few moments.

This is the logical conclusion of that program, it's a game and a campaign structured around the outbreak simulator program, with you tasked as the last remaining commander of the available defence forces, attempting to save as many lives (and smash as many zombies) as you can. To this end you're provided with a default escape helicopter, and gradually introduced to the toolbox of mercenaries that accompany you over the course of the campaign.


The game runs two distinct "beats", the first is the strategic map, a somewhat procedurally generated vision of a large city with lots of sub districts. This map operates on something of a turn based mode, so at the beginning of a given month, the zombie AI places outbreak counters on various districts, you then select a district to fight in, and depending on the outcome the district is either still infested, cleared out, or reclaimed and made safe for humanity. So far so normal, it's important to note however that whilst you only get ONE district to fight each month, the outbreak AI gets two, and eventually three counters to use, you're fighting a losing battle overall.

However, on the upside, you -do- get some tools at various points, in the strategic map the two major events are access to a prototype cannon (Elephantbird) that allows you to utterly eradicate a district in the tactical mode (more on this shortly), and llama bombs, which essentially decontaminate a bunch of districts in one pass, buying you much needed breathing room. Outside of this, you'll be assigned a squad of mercenaries (randomly selected from the available pool), and you'll get to choose a district to "go tactical" on.


This is where the outbreak simulator program is most visible, in the tactical mode you're presented with a moderately simple top down view, with civilians represented in a sortof beige yellow, zeds in purple, and your forces taking up various other colours. Left unchecked, the map will play out much like the software in question, and eventually all the survivors will be gobbled up, but you've tools to prevent this!

Before the tactical map kicks off, you designate your initial landing point for your rescue chopper (equipped with foghorn that automatically attracts nearby civilians), and you set up your various mercenaries. These range from single shot items like minefields, to ongoing and mobile defences such as infantry and snipers. Effective use and the setting up of choke-points can, if done right, result in you demolishing all the zombies before nightfall and scoring a hefty bonus (indeed, these bonuses, and saving lots of survivors is your path to victory).


The game really livens up once you've got explosives, with the map turning from an often pristine cityscape into a big brown muddy pit. Zombies exploding in clouds of green as your artillery rains down, remote dynamite detonations at key junctions reducing swarms of zombies into kibble, and your infantry protecting choke points and keeping the zeds away from the ever dwindling number of survivors. Once there are no more survivors to rescue, the scores are tallied up and you're returned to the strategic map. Learning how to adapt your tactics to an ever growing outbreak, and racing to the victory of humanity before the zeds inevitably take over forms the core of the campaign.


For a simple pick up and play title, it offers an excellent level of depth, combined with an offbeat and catchy soundtrack. The graphics are not much to look at, but they do the job functionally well (think of a 3D version of that outbreak simulator and you're pretty much there). It's very easy on the system requirements and provided you don't suffer any hiccups at launch, you'll have little complaint from the game. As a cheap impulse buy, it's hard to find fault and as such, comes very much recommended.

Verdict : Essential

Atom Zombie Smasher is a super little indie strategy game. The basic premise is that you take on the guise of a commander holding back the zombie hordes from overruning your city.

It works on two levels; first is the strategy where a map of the city districts is where you see the progress of zombie infestations and plan your next mission. You can choose which military assets you take with you from: infantry, snipers, mines, demolitions, barricades, gas attracting teams or artillery. Once you initiate the mission, the game changes to a tactical sub-game where you place your units on the map to best protect the civilians you are trying to extract from the map, while avoiding collateral damage. To many dead civilians and you fail.

There are a number of tactical elements that affect each mission type such as: map layout, dangerous area which can explode if you are not careful, more or less time-limit & available/unavailable units.

You win if you extract a minimum number of civilians or your units are able to destroy the encroaching zed hordes. However if you do not clear the map of zeds before nightfall more zeds arrive to swarm the map. Successful missions reward you with points that go towards an overall victory target. Units also receive XP to increase their unique zed destroying abilities and they can level up to increase those abilites to make them more clincial.

The zeds then receive strategic points allocated to some city district (1-4) which determines the strength of the zombie hordes and the difficulty of initiating a mission there. This continues until you reach the campaign victory target.

Though gameplay is fairly repetitive the addition of custom campaign options make the strategy and tactical aspects that much more varied. Scientists can be found wondering the city area and can be rescued. Each one can then be "spent" to acquire research upgrades towards 8 specific areas of interest including: faster xp gains for units, faster strategic weapons, resilient scientist, more destructive weapons etc). You can have access to strategic and tactical weapons that can clear zeds from an entire district thus reseting the danger level there. Just be aware of the monster-zeds! lol

For me this was a surprise gem of a game. While graphics are just basic sprites, it really can grab you if you let it. It one of the most intelligently designed games Ive ever played and almost perfectly balanced. While the musical score and audio is fairly basic, they do a wonderful job of immersing you in unfolding events. Best of all its a very polished game. Even if some Mac users are having problems with playing it.

If you are after a basic but enjoyable zombie apocalypse survival simulator then you should pick up a copy when the price is right for you!