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- Screwfly Studios
- Screwfly Studios
- Screwfly Studios
- Screwfly Studios
Zafehouse: Diaries
Released On: Oct 5, 2012
Metascore
Available after 4 critic reviews
5.8
All Platforms
A tense, demanding strategic survival game that always tells a different, unique tale, which you are encouraged to rewrite and share with friends.
One city. Five people. Thousands of zombies. One diary from which you'll learn everything about survival turn-based hell. Seven out of ten zombies recommend this.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 User Ratings
5.8
35% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
30% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
35% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 User Ratings
5.8
35% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
30% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
35% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
I was actually VERY impressed with the game. It is worth noting that this is a text based tactical game so it won't be to everyone's standards but in itself it is exceptionally gripping. The ability it design your own survivors and locations that are used in game is a wonderful idea that is executed perfectly. More and more content is constantly being added and the designers seem to be well in touch with the community. Overall if you are into these types of games you will love it.
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I'm really surprised to see user score this low for Zafehouse. [5,5 right now] The fan base if it exists, should really move their bottoms, and spread the word of how good the game is.
If you like micromanagement games, this title could really entertain you. It can be unforgiving at times, randomness is as much frustrating as it is rewarding. And of course you can die very fast if you don't know the game mechanics, but you will be using very simple interface so you'll learn fast. With newest update you can,, change the level of difficulty and the game rules. So, for people looking for more casual "zombie apocalypse survival adventure-strategy" experience, there's something too. Plus, you can choose from three game modes (quite different from each other), customize your survivors, and play the game a few times because of high replay value.
Well worth ten bucks if you like atmospheric turn-based strategy games. (a little bit like "Rebuild" game on Android).
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Addictive, but not necessarily rewarding. [December 2013, p.86]
I have been following this game since it first appeared on the steam green light. and in the end, I like what I got. This is not a game I'd recommend to everyone, but the simple fact that I like text based adventures, is perfect, since this is one of the best ones I have every played. All the people complaining that the randomness ****. Shut the hell up, random events happen, GET OVER IT. or would you rather the same thing happen over and over again? I understand there are problems, but most things people complain about other than the random events, are all things that can be fixed with updates and patches. So, for 10 dollars, I personally believe your getting your moneys worth. A fun indie text adventure. There is fun to be had here, but only if you have interest in the genre.
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PC
'Zafehouse. Diaries' is a hard game to rate, as it's a very mixed bag. It's zombie survival with an old school, heavily text based interface. If that concept doesn't scare you away immediately, then it could be worth a try. It's also very difficult by modern standards, though that's mostly a good thing in my book (though an easier setting for learning the ropes might have been nice). What really kept me from rating this higher was the rather clunky interface. It kinda reminded of an Elder Scrolls game with its clutter of (almost) useless garbage, which often makes things like finding that flashlight you wanted to take with you on some task very cumbersome.
I also personally aren't quite sure what to make of the fact the game gives you very little numerical "gamey" information, so the only way you'll know whether it's a good idea to assault a group of 10 zombies with a pair of baseball bat wielding survivors is by learning via trial and error. I can see how it might make the game more immersive not to have success percentages etc. visible, but it also makes learning things harder when you have no idea whether you did something genuinely stupid or simply got unlucky.
In the end I did genuinely enjoy 'Zafehouse: Diaries', despite the issues. If they had spent more time polishing the UI, the game could have been an absolute joy, and my score might easily have been even a few points higher.
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PC
Roll a dice, throw a six and you die.
(Note: i changed my review because I made an error regarding Kari and I found the savegame location.)
Previous reviews capture my disappointment with this game: too much randomness.
Let me first say that it took some pondering before I decided to buy the game because the approach intrigued me even though it was yet another zombie game. The idea of having a kind of diary that follows your (groups) exploits with snapshots and text is a new take that could go a long way, provided there's enough in the game to keep the diary interesting.
In fact the game has a kind of fitting tune at the start. And on the whole the sparse art makes it interesting for me.
For a while I actually started to enjoy the game. At first I did the 'no survivor version', but then I moved to 'the road kill' version in which you have to escape town by finding car parts and repairing a vehicle. After some misadventures I managed to setup a core group of three skilled people that had splendid relations and I proceeded to establish secure houses around town. I actually saw myself getting within reach of my goal even though I had not found one single part of the car. None of the locations suggested actually gave me the required parts. We will get back to that later on.
And then.. wham.. one of my key persons died. It turned out she was wounded and infected and well: tough luck.
The first thing I tried to do is to go back to a previous save. This can be found on a pc under Libraries-Documents-Zafehouse diaries as ****.
The game suggests that it is about decisions that you make while facing the rising zombie threat. About your handling of tensions within your group, about your efforts to live through events and overcome obstacles. And while it is okay to throw in a random challenge once in a while, a challenge you can’t do anything about is not a challenge at all, but an ordeal.
For instance when you start out with a group this group is randomly put together. You might start with a group lacking key skills or having already bad relations. Since there is no option to learn or upgrade skills, as far as I know and the handling of relations is limited, your only option is to restart the game.
In addition you have only a limited control over upgrading items. You can order items of a certain category to be upgraded what item it actually will be and what the result will be is unknown. I actually found that one item degraded in a key area: the basic flashlight when upgraded sometimes gets worse in spotting.
Next to this are the random events that are thrown at you. For instance after carefully scouting a small house that had only a few zombies I decided to occupy it and had my entire party wiped out. I was amazed at that, but then live ****, until I read that this was a random triggered event.
This random system breaks the game. For instance barricading your house might even see a skilled barricader fail in succession because the result is random generated.
Attacks by zombies are relentless and seemingly made to wear you out. They also seem randomly generated and the only way to influence them is that you get attacked more when you make more noise. I tried the trick to draw them away with a bonfire, this worked once for a long time, the second time around it seem not to do much.
And then finally the car quest. The game gives you a clue where to start, but after that everything is a random event. The car or car part(s) might be at the place where the clue points you **** might find another clue at a random location that gives you the location where you might find another car part. Might. Might. Might.
The game basically becomes a series of dice throws and if six makes a party member die and a one makes you find one of the seven items that you need to find to get out alive, you can do the math. And that is not even calculating the fact that a three gives you an event that severely sets you back. It is like Russian roulette: roll a dice, throw a six and you die.
It is a small game, with some neat features, perhaps after some patching adding more control and less random death events might make it a good game.
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PC
I'm deeply sorry to downplay and criticise a very inspired and very interesting indie game like this one. But from playing version 1.51, my excitement from the early hours of play transformed into a great frustration upon realising it was so overly and hurtfully difficult, perhaps plainly impossible, hence making it a very depressing waste of my time and disposition and whatnot. You have 5 characters, it's likely you won't find more for I certainly didn't, you can't change difficulty and I picked this game from imagining it was difficult for that's what makes a game engaging and rewarding in many cases and you will die. I won't spoil the details, but whatever efforts you may make, they'll be met with relentless failure probably from the beginning to the end. That's it, the end, you all die.....
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Its very fun at the begining but after 2 hours of playing it you get frustated with this game. Randomly generated stuff ruins the game,after you got screwed by this randomness a big number of times you get bored with the game, and having your save file deleted after you lose doesnt make it any better since you cant improve on a little mistake. I dont recommend this game I have played for 10 hours and I havent managed to win or get very close. This game is very based on luck I dont recommend it at all.
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