One of the best survival games is now on Xbox Game Pass – Who is 7 Days to Die for?
7 Days to Die came to Xbox Game Pass on April 26th and is considered one of the best survival games. It’s about zombies, over-the-top bases, sprawling exploration tours, and the constant fear of the dark. MeinMMO introduces you to the title and shows who is worth getting started with.
What kind of game is this? 7 Days to Die has been in Early Access on Steam for more than 8 years and has since become an insider tip among survival players.
In January 2022, the co-op game reached its temporary peak on Steam with around 40,000 average concurrent players (via steamcharts.com).
But the game is also available on the PlayStation and Xbox consoles (independent version) and recently also in the Xbox Game Pass.
7 Days to Die relies on many typical survival mechanics, lets you get stronger over time and has an exciting trick that is somewhat reminiscent of tower defense: every 7 days a large horde of zombies come by and want to destroy your base .
What makes the title special and who should take a look, we show you here on MeinMMO. We include a brief overview in the video here:
Hardworking zombie apocalypse for megalomaniac builders
What makes it special? 7 Days to Die is based on voxel graphics, similar to Minecraft. This makes the visual look a bit edgy in places, but it allows the engine to display lots of structures and zombies without hogging too much power.
And for the game, that’s spot on. Because after a while your base will be so huge and the zombie herds will be so big that you can understand the developers’ decision to go with voxel graphics. Over the years 7DTD has gotten pretty pretty – or gross if you look at the zombies.
In addition, everything can really be dismantled and you can play in a huge, randomly generated open world.
When it comes to base building, builders should be smart and use every advantage to steer the fast and numerous but dumb zombies through traps and finish them off with a small shot or punch. For example, fall damage is a reliable ally in the fight against the undead:
Over time you will also level up, unlocking new recipes for weapons, armor and base building. On your loot tours through the neighborhood you will find other important recipes, food, water and medicine.
During the day, the zombies are usually just stressful, but not very dangerous. It only really starts at night. That’s where the zombies are running and it’s usually not a good idea not to be at the base.
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If you fight the first zombies with an improvised wooden club from a barely secured shed, over time you breed a specialized anti-zombie soldier who has fought back a piece of normal life in his reinforced concrete bunker.
However, there is a lot of grind in between – wood, stone, metals, resources and killing zombies over and over again.
And nothing is forever: every 7 days the blood moon rises and the undead get a special hatred for your abode. The horde grows with every blood moon and after a few in-game weeks you’ll be fighting countless undead and the wear and tear of your laboriously built base almost all night.
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Players see potential for addiction, but technical weaknesses
What do players say about this? On Steam, the ratings are “Very Positive”. 88% of nearly 150,000 reviews give 7 Days to Die on PC a thumbs up, up from 86% in the last 30 days (via steam.com / As of April 26, 2022).
In the reviews on Steam there are countless players who have pumped over 100 hours into the game. Many write that they still do not have enough. The description “one of the best survival games” appears more often and 7 Days to Die is also in the survival top list on MeinMMO.
One problem, however, are the updates in Early Access when a new build is due. Then the old saves can only be played with restrictions, which can often waste dozens of hours of play.
Ratings and ratings are based on the PC version of 7 Days to Die. The console version has not received any updates since 2017 and offers less than the PC version. With the version on consoles you are currently getting a slimmed down version.
Who is this for? General fans of the survival genre will get their money’s worth if the zombie setting doesn’t put you off.
7 Days to Die blends plenty of exciting survival mechanics with the tower defense aspect of the Blood Moon while staying fair and the grind feeling rewarding.
Only the update policy with the more or less regular wipes speaks against entry for players who are even just slightly interested in survival adventures. If an update comes with major changes, your old world is often lost or can only be played offline.
If you have Xbox Game Pass and are interested in the idea, be sure to check out the game.
Conclusion: When randomly generated worlds invite you to explore
I bought 7 Days to Die at the start of Early Access on Steam in 2013 and saw how a zombie Minecraft knock-off developed into an innovative survival game that regularly pulls me back into its apocalypse.
The indie game has built its entire gameplay loop around the behavior of the zombie enemies in the game, making few compromises – whether it’s graphics or the combat system.
In some places, 7 Days to Die seems a bit bulky, almost old-fashioned. But the mechanics just work so well together.
The base construction is very precise due to the voxel graphics and bases can even be planned in advance to the square meter. A feast for perfectionist builders like me.
The grind for commodities feels rewarding, and the regular mega hordes spawning at the Blood Moon maintain a latent, comfortable pressure that keeps motivating.
And although the base building is really excellent, 7 Dyas to Die still sticks in my mind for other reasons: The loot tours.
If the boxes near the base are empty, you inevitably have to put up with longer routes, preferably find a city that is teeming with loot and zombies
If you don’t have any vehicles at the start, with which you can usually be safe from the zombies even in the dark, only small intermediate camps in which you barricade yourself for a night will help.
I’ve never had such excursions and the oppressive feeling at night in the hastily patched-up shelters in the alcove of a local police shooting range in the form in any other game.
This is how 7 Days to Die manages the feat of making a randomly generated open world exciting for exploration tours.
If you’re into zombies and survival, then don’t waste time and check out 7 Days to Die. The next blood moon is coming up again.
Mike Schneider
Freelance author at MeinMMO
7 Days to Die is an exciting title for zombie and survival fans who like to fight their way through a dangerous world in the first person perspective.
An indie game on Steam takes a completely different approach. Project Zomboid is also a zombie survival game, but plays in iso perspective and combines pixel graphics with deep and realistic mechanics.
For a first impression have a look here: Co-op secret tip on Steam: “Walking Dead Simulator, but only the good seasons”
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