Then, there’s heading out into the larger world. Upgrading and managing that base to make sure everyone is fed, supplied, and safe, is a little like the headquarters in an XCOM game.

I control one survivor at a time, and choose a base for us to settle down in. There are tons of systems that are mixed together in a game of State of Decay. When I first start my run of this game, I choose a lovely young couple, and we’re quickly joined by a doctor, a soldier, and a suspicious survivalist. What makes State of Decay 2 so appealing to me is that we didn’t start with the entrails. In State of Decay 2, I am more worried about the fact that a Juggernaut grabbed my hiker settler and tore him in half and then threw half of the body over the fence so everyone has to look at his entrails all day and it’s upsetting them. In those games, my biggest worry is whether I’ll be able to pay Tom Nook off so I can get a nice basement.

That may seem like a strange comparison, considering those games are about tending to my wonderful, safe little habitat while I befriend everyone around me. Oddly enough, the games that I originally found myself comparing State of Decay 2 to were Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. When I first started out, I played State of Decay 2 every day for like a week straight, both single-player and co-op. State of Decay 2 is wonderful at ramping up difficulty and letting the player opt-in to greater challenges, and I found myself appreciating the lesson in hubris the game taught me during my travels.

This update hasn’t revolutionized the game, and there are still issues with repetition and bugs, but it was enough to convince me to download the game and test it out. State of Decay 2 has been updated since its launch, and the game recently introduced a “Choose Your Own Apocalypse” game mode that shakes up the starting model a little.

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