Best zombie driving games on PC: survival, open world, and arcade
The best zombie driving games on PC fall into three styles. In survival games, the car keeps you alive and you must maintain it. In open-world action games, a vehicle is a tool and a weapon. In arcade games, you smash through hordes for points and upgrades. This list gives you eleven games across all three styles.
The three styles of zombie driving games
Before you choose, decide what you want the car to do for you:
- Survival: Fuel, repairs, and parts matter. If the car fails, you are in real danger.
- Open-world action: The vehicle helps you travel and fight, but the game is about more than the car.
- Arcade: Short levels, fast upgrades, and lots of zombies under your wheels.
Each entry below has a Style line, so you can skip to the type that you like.
Route 48 (our game)
Full disclosure: we made Route 48, so we put it first.
Style: Survival.
Route 48 is a first-person driving survival game in Early Access on Steam. You drive into a procedurally generated open world with highways, forests, towns, and abandoned places. You scavenge for fuel and parts, manage your fuel, and repair damaged parts, because a broken vehicle can mean the end of your journey. When you meet zombies or armed survivors, you decide when to fight, when to avoid danger, and when to get back on the road.
State of Decay 2
Developer: Undead Labs. Released: 2018 (Juggernaut Edition on Steam: 2020). Players: Single-player or online co-op for up to 4 players.
Style: Survival.
Cars are how your community moves supplies. Vehicles use fuel and need toolkits for repairs, and the trunk carries loot back to your base. If the fuel runs out, the car stops, and your survivors are exposed to the zombies around them.
Fast cars, heavy armored vehicles, and vans with large trunks each suit different jobs. It is a good pick if you want driving to be one part of a larger survival game.
Project Zomboid
Developer: The Indie Stone. Released: Early Access on Steam since 2013. Players: Single-player, online multiplayer, or local split-screen co-op.
Style: Survival.
Project Zomboid is a deep zombie survival sandbox, seen from an isometric view. Its vehicles have full physics and detailed mechanics. A car that works lets you reach towns that are too far to walk to, but every trip still carries risk.
Choose it if you want driving as one part of a slow and careful survival game.
VEIN
Developer: Ramjet Studios. Released: Early Access since 2025. Players: Single-player or online co-op.
Style: Survival.
VEIN is a first-person zombie survival sandbox where you can drive cars and trucks. You refuel and maintain your vehicle, and you upgrade parts to repair damage and improve performance.
The rest of the game is about long-term survival: you farm, hunt, fortify a safehouse, and fight zombies and bandits. It is in Early Access, so expect changes.
7 Days to Die
Developer: The Fun Pimps. Released: 2024 (version 1.0), after Early Access from 2013. Players: Single-player or online co-op and PvP.
Style: Survival.
In 7 Days to Die, you build your vehicles yourself. You find the parts, learn the recipes, and craft a bicycle, a minibike, a motorcycle, a 4x4, or a gyrocopter. You can then customize it and ride with friends.
A vehicle makes loot trips faster. But with the default settings, a Blood Moon horde attacks every seventh night, so you must get back to your base in time.
Days Gone
Developer: Bend Studio. Released: 2019 (PC: 2021). Players: Single-player.
Style: Open-world action.
You play Deacon St. John, a drifter in post-pandemic Oregon. His motorcycle is your main transport, and it needs fuel and repairs with scrap.
The bike is also your escape tool. Freakers can form huge hordes that chase you, and the bike is a fast way out. This is the best pick if you want a story game where the vehicle really matters. Read our list of games like Days Gone for more.
Dying Light: The Beast
Developer: Techland. Released: 2025. Players: Single-player or online co-op.
Style: Open-world action.
This first-person game is mostly about parkour and melee combat. But you can also take the wheel of an off-road vehicle and drive through hordes of zombies in Castor Woods.
At night, the infected become much more dangerous. Choose it if you want a big action game with some driving.
Dead Rising 3
Developer: Capcom Vancouver. Released: 2013 (PC: 2014). Players: Single-player or two-player co-op.
Style: Open-world action.
You must escape Los Perdidos, an open city full of zombies. Here you can combine vehicles, as you combine weapons. One combo joins a motorcycle and a steamroller.
Each combo vehicle has two seats and a second attack, so a friend can help in co-op. Choose it if you want strange vehicles more than realism.
Earn to Die 2
Developer: Toffee Games. Released: 2016 on Steam. Players: Single-player.
Style: Arcade.
This is a 2D side-scrolling game where you drive through a city full of zombies. You unlock new vehicles and upgrade them with armored frames, roof-mounted guns, and boosters.
There are ten vehicles to unlock, from a sports car to an ice cream van. Your vehicle repairs itself after each drive, so the focus is on progress, not maintenance.
Zombie Driver HD
Developer: Exor Studios. Released: 2012. Players: Single-player.
Style: Arcade.
You see the action from above as you drive through a large open city. The story mode has missions where you rescue survivors, defend targets, and fight large boss zombies.
You can drive 13 vehicles, such as a fire truck, a bulldozer, and a tank. The Blood Race mode adds races with guns, and Slaughter mode gives you waves of zombies in arenas.
Death Road to Canada
Developer: Rocketcat Games and Madgarden. Released: 2016. Players: Single-player or local co-op for up to 4 players.
Style: Arcade road trip.
This is a randomly generated road trip in a car full of survivors. You drive toward Canada, stop to explore towns, and face swarms of up to 500 zombies at a time.
Between stops, you make choices in text events. Every run has new events and characters. For more games like it, read our list of games like Death Road to Canada.
Quick comparison
| Game | Style | What the vehicle does |
|---|---|---|
| Route 48 | Survival | Your car to keep alive |
| State of Decay 2 | Survival | Moves supplies and survivors |
| Project Zomboid | Survival | Extends your loot range |
| VEIN | Survival | Cars and trucks to maintain |
| 7 Days to Die | Survival | Vehicles you craft |
| Days Gone | Open-world action | Motorcycle for escape |
| Dying Light: The Beast | Open-world action | Off-road vehicle through hordes |
| Dead Rising 3 | Open-world action | Combo vehicles |
| Earn to Die 2 | Arcade | Upgrade and smash |
| Zombie Driver HD | Arcade | Missions and races |
| Death Road to Canada | Arcade road trip | Links each stop |
How we picked these games
We chose PC zombie games where you can drive, and where the vehicle changes how you survive or fight. We checked the developer, release date, and player modes on each game's Steam page. We left out games where you can only watch a vehicle in a cutscene.
Which one should you play first?
- Play Route 48 if you want a first-person car survival game with a new world each time.
- Play Days Gone if you want a long story and a motorcycle to maintain.
- Play State of Decay 2 if you want vehicles as part of a community game.
- Play Earn to Die 2 or Zombie Driver HD for short arcade sessions.
- Play Dead Rising 3 if you want strange combo vehicles with a friend.
To learn more about the survival style, read our guide to what a driving survival game is.