Project Zomboid offers an in-depth roleplaying scenario featuring looting, exploration, and hordes of flesh-eating monsters. With this depth comes a lot of hidden or uncommon gaming mechanics that take some getting used to and often opening a wiki or two.
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Most of these mechanics involve specific items that are required to perform simple yet crucial tasks, which can be the difference between dying on day seven and dying on month seven. As long as you have the backpack space for it, there are a handful of items you will find yourself always having on-hand while rifling through drawers and crates.
8
Water Bottle
Water is a precious resource in Project Zomboid, especially until the point when the water is shut off and you no longer have easy access to something clean and drinkable. By having a water bottle in your main inventory, not stowed away, your character will automatically drink from it when thirsty.
By having at least two bottles of water on you at all times, you don’t have to worry about becoming thirsty for significantly long periods. You can also use any empty container as a water bottle, meaning you won’t have to dig in the dumpster for trash when a wine bottle works perfectly fine.
Even after the water shuts off, you can get clean water from sinks and toilets inside houses, which will become empty as you fill up.
7
Suture Needle And Suture Needle Holder
The depth of injuries and wound statuses in Zomboid means you will have to be prepared for dozens of scenarios, each with the potential to be fatal should you forget to bring an important tool. Two of these tools are the suture needle and the suture needle holder, which are both necessary for closing deep wounds.
The suture needle holder is especially important as it can also be used to pick shards of glass out of your hands and feet or be used to pull bullets out of wounds when playing on a multiplayer server. In a pinch, you can replace these with a needle and thread, but your character will feel a lot more pain using these items.
Suture needles are a one-time-use item, meaning you should probably carry at least two to be safe.
6
Screwdriver
One item that gets used more and more the longer your character survives is the simple screwdriver. The main focus of this tool is to be used in many different crafting recipes, some of which you will do while exploring the world, away from your base and abundant supplies.
Any time you see a spare radio, speaker, remote, or any electrical device, you can use the screwdriver to dismantle it for parts, which also is the fastest way to grind your Electrical skill. For mechanics, the screwdriver is essential for removing small parts like radios, windows, and car batteries.
5
Bourbon
Much more than a way to forget your troubles in an apocalypse, bourbon is perhaps one of the best survival tools in Project Zomboid. Combining the effects of many different first aid items, bourbon is also one of the only two main ingredients required to make Molotov cocktails, one of the strongest horde-clearing weapons in the early game.
Bourbon is also a way to sterilize bandages and wounds without disinfectant or boiling water and combines the effects of beta blockers, sleeping tablets, and painkillers into a less potent version. Even after you have used up all the bourbon in the glass, you can save it for use as a water bottle.
4
Pencil And Eraser
Something you might not have noticed without the help of a wiki is that you can draw on your main map, adding symbols and waypoints for reference. The tool you need for this is a pen or pencil, which corresponds to the colors available to you when marking symbols.
However, the only way to erase these symbols is with an eraser, whether from a pen or a pencil. This can also be used to erase markings on annotated maps, should you want to reduce the amount of unnecessary information or remove details from a building you have already cleared.
3
Scissors
More of an early-game tool than a late-game one, scissors are an important tool for many different recipes, much like the screwdriver. The main function of scissors is to unlock the ability to cut denim and leather from clothing into strips, which cannot be done by hand.
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These strips are essential for tailoring as they can be used to reinforce clothing into stronger versions while also acting as an emergency bandage that can’t be sterilized. This is also a way to get thread, which has a chance to be obtained each time you cut clothing, and as a last resort, scissors make a better weapon than your fists.
2
Can Opener
Like thirst, your character needs to constantly combat hunger from weakening you too much to fight, which can feed a fatal loop. Since canned food is as abundant, if not more so, than fresh food, it will be important to keep a tool that allows you to open it.
This is much more efficient than carrying multiple open cans of food in your inventory, which increases your encumbrance. Even on long drives across Kansas, keeping a few cans of food and a can opener in your glove box will keep you from having to stop and loot for food in every building you pass.
By carrying a bowl, you can combine any two or more canned foods into a “salad,” which also boosts happiness and reduces boredom with increased hunger reduction.
1
Saw And Hammer
There are plenty of larger items in Project Zomboid, such as crates, which cannot be picked up or moved, and must be dismantled first using saws and hammers combined. If you want to pick up and move these crates, which cannot be crafted until Carpentry level seven, you will need some heavy-duty tools.
The saw is also used in most recipes outside Electrical, including traps and snares, pipe bombs, sawing logs and shotguns, crafting spears, and even slicing watermelon. While you might not be carrying around these tools on every adventure, make sure you have them nearby.
- Released
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November 8, 2013
- Developer(s)
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The Indie Stone
- Publisher(s)
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The Indie Stone
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer
- Engine
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LWJGL
- ESRB
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m
- How Long To Beat
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60 Hours
- Steam User Rating
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94% (November 2, 2023)