About This Demo

ZOMBIE MOTEL 96 is a roguelike defense tycoon where you run a roadside motel and design your own maze. Look after your survivors and position them in the maze you create to hold off zombie attacks.

Every newcomer can help, but they also need food and a place to rest. Your job is to keep the motel running and its defenses intact for 96 days.

Who gets a room?

Check each survivor’s weapon, profession, and traits before letting them in. You might need another shooter right now, or a worker who can produce materials for later. An empty room isn’t the only thing to consider. Can you afford to feed them?

Put survivors to work, send them out for supplies, or let them rest. Anyone out scavenging cannot defend the motel until they return.

Events between attacks add more choices. Spend food to help tired survivors recover, or work them harder to bring in more food? What you can spare depends on how the motel is doing.

Design your maze. Plan your defenses.

Design the paths zombies will take and decide where your survivors will fight. Plan your maze layout and survivor positions together, shaping your defenses around the upgrades and relics you choose. The same team can fight differently depending on the maze you design.

Equipment takes effect across the entire maze as soon as you acquire it. Pick up equipment that slows enemies, speeds up reloading, or supports your survivors to strengthen your defenses.

When an attack starts, command your survivors in real time. Focus fire on dangerous enemies and move survivors to a position that’s giving way.

Relics come with a cost

Survive an attack and choose one of three reward cards. Improve your shooting, reinforce the gate, or invest in production and recovery. Sometimes food matters more than the upgrade you wanted.

Match your upgrades to your survivor placements. A melee hit can set up a stronger follow-up shot with the right combination.

Relics can push a build further, but you’ll have to deal with their drawbacks. A radio that speeds up reloading can also bring more zombies in later attacks. Reroll your rewards or remove cards from the pool to work toward the build you want.

Make it past day 32. Then day 64.

The goal is 96 days. Days 32 and 64 bring major changes to the enemies you face, the conditions at your motel, and the upgrades on offer. Decide what to keep and what to change as your current defenses face new demands.

Periodic major assaults bring bosses with abilities and changing attack patterns. Spend what you need to survive, while leaving enough to prepare for the next stretch.

Try a new layout and build next run

If the gate falls or you lose every survivor, the run ends. Start again with new recruits and rewards, then design a new layout and build around what you get.

There are no permanent stat bonuses. Unlocks add management policies and special relics to the choices available in future runs. Check your records and collection log, or try the weekly challenge, where everyone starts with the same seed.

The description above refers to the full game. Some content and features may be limited in the demo.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Generative AI was used selectively during development, always under direct human authorship and review:

• Music — Background music tracks were produced
with the assistance of generative AI tools, then
selected, edited, and mixed by the developer.

The game contains no live-generated AI content:
nothing is generated by AI at runtime.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

ZOMBIE MOTEL 96 contains stylized pixel-art violence. Survivors shoot and fight zombies, while zombies can attack and kill survivors. Combat includes visible blood effects, and fallen characters briefly remain on screen. Residents may also get into fistfights, and the player can choose to kill a visitor.

The story includes infection, injury, starvation, death, grief, and psychological distress. Romantic relationships appear through text and simple emotion icons; there is no nudity or depiction of sexual activity. The game does not depict sexual assault or non-consensual sex, drug or alcohol abuse, or self-harm. A brewery can operate as a motel business, but drinking and intoxication are not depicted.