While we’re talking zombies

How about a zombie-filled, free MMO that only takes a couple of minutes a day to play?  I’m talking about Urban Dead, the brainchild of web-developer and game designer Kevan Davis.  In Urban Dead, one can play as a survivor, a zombie, or both, all within the sprawling suburb of Malton, which has been under quarantine for five years now following an outbreak.

I first played Urban Dead shortly after it went live five years ago.  At that time, the options for your character were fairly basic, but today there are expanded character roles and possibilities (detailed here).

Those that wish to fight the outbreak can play as humans, barricaded inside buildings, reviving zombies, or just run around mowing them down without mercy.  Zombie players can get a variety of upgrades to help them spread the infection, and break into barricaded buildings to get at the juicy meatbags inside.

The basic progression should be familiar to any RPG veteran, with your in-game accomplishments allowing you to purchase character upgrades.  Weapons and equipment are scavenged from buildings and the environment, with weapons and ammo being quite hard to come by at times.  All actions are made by spending AP, which is regenerated at the rate of one per half-hour.  This means if you check your character once a day, you can make your actions in about 10 minutes.  Alternatively, you can micromanage, checking in every couple hours to make your moves.

Players can also form into groups to coordinate their efforts, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing for survivors.  While it’s great to have a couple friends you can rely on, at times there have been coordinated hordes of hundreds of zombies scouring entire sections of the city of all life.  As of my last login, there had been almost 10,000 players online in the last day, with over 1.7 million having played since the start of the game.

The screenshot below shows my new character holed up in a building with severa other survivors.  The game is free, and easy to get the hang of, so if you are looking for a neat little time waster, I definitely recommend it!