The dead come up the highway every night. You have a fenced-off gas station lot, a campfire and whatever you can scavenge.

Defend. Place your survivors on a three-lane grid and aim your own shots: headshots kill, leg shots cripple, and every shot makes noise that draws more of them tomorrow. Spitters, bloaters, climbers, screamers, swarms, and every fifth night The Butcher.

Scavenge. Pick a place on the map and work your way through a branching route of supplies, locked cages, tripwires and survivors. Each move deeper finds better loot but raises the danger. Hordes and guarded bus parts are short fights you play.

Keep your people. Ten survivors with their own skills, quirks and perks. Trust decides whether they fight harder, steal from the stash or walk out with their gear. A bite has to be cured within two days, or you make the hard call.

Get out. On day 10 the radio picks up a convoy leaving on day 30. Find an engine, a battery, fuel and tires, repair the bus, then survive a three-night siege to escape. Escaping unlocks Endless mode and New Game+.

Make it yours. Weapons that survive 50 kills earn a nickname, and the ones that reach 150 become Veterans. Merge duplicate finds at the workbench into rarer gear, and trade scrap and spare parts with a caravan that rolls through every few days.

Expect the worst. Some nights go wrong halfway through: the camp lights die, a supply crate falls off a passing truck, someone pounds on the gate, a car alarm drags the whole horde in, or a corpse playing dead bites someone on the line.

Also: gear with rarity and condition, crafting and repairs, camp facilities that run themselves, a daily challenge, badges, cosmetics, a recorded soundtrack and sound effects, and colour-blind and reduced-flash options.