VEIN

I jumped into VEIN thinking "another zombie game" and left surprisingly hooked. It blends the scavenging DNA of Project Zomboid with 7 Days to Die’s base chaos, wrapped in a highly interactive world that begs to be explored.

Core gameplay is survival sandbox: scavenge, craft, fortify and make a living in a dynamic, persistent world. The game shines when you can rip open furniture, hotwire cars, rewire generators and turn abandoned buildings into defensible homes — the building takeover mechanic feels fresh. AI senses (sight, sound, smell) make stealth tense and zombies more than just bullet sponges, even if some variants still need polish. Crafting and skills reward exploration: find recipes, tweak loadouts and specialize your survivor. Vehicles are meaningful — you’ll refuel, repair and upgrade to survive long trips. The demo limits you to a smaller region and level cap 50, but the full map and roadmap promise much more. Expect a lot of interactable clutter (in a good way) and a steep-ish learning curve for inventory and menus. Multiplayer adds the best moments: dividing roles with friends, holding a prison or arguing over who stole the generator. Performance and save/load stability can be shaky on some systems, and combat occasionally feels janky, but the devs push frequent updates and are communicative.

VEIN is already a joy for scavengers and sandbox fans: ambitious systems and memorable emergent moments. It's not flawless — expect Early Access bumps — but the foundation is strong and worth supporting if you like long‑term survival builds with friends.