Nighthold: Number 1

About

Nighthold: Number 1 is a single player role playing game. It was developed by 2 Zombie Games and was released on December 11, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Nighthold: Number 1 places you on the harsh planet Sandrax-66b as part of Cosmos Colonisation Corp™, where the world is fully destructible and ripe for exploration. By day, build and upgrade to face the challenges, but when night falls, survival becomes a fierce test against hostile locals. Tactical freedom lets you follow or defy orders in this dynamic frontier adventure.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 86 reviews

story4 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game has a solid concept with potential for growth, combining survival, crafting, and base defense mechanics.
The atmosphere and graphics are well-received, creating an engaging and immersive experience, especially at night.
As a free game, it offers enjoyable gameplay and a unique twist on the survival genre, leaving players wanting more.

The controls and UI are clunky and unintuitive, leading to frustration during gameplay, especially with inventory management and crafting.
The game lacks clear instructions and tutorials, making it difficult for new players to understand mechanics and objectives.
There are significant issues with combat mechanics and enemy behavior, which can lead to frustrating experiences and a steep difficulty curve.

gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
70%
15%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating the crafting system, atmosphere, and unique survival mechanics, but criticizing issues with base mechanics and item collection. While the core gameplay loop offers an engaging balance of preparation and exploration, it suffers from inconsistencies and a steep learning curve that can frustrate new players. Overall, the game shows promise but requires further refinement and polish to enhance the overall experience.
- “The atmosphere is top tier and the freedom to destroy or build anything you see makes the survival gameplay feel unique.”
- “I especially enjoyed the crafting system and the core gameplay loop: during the day you have to balance base preparation, resource gathering, and exploring the area, because at night an attack is always coming.”
- “I love the crafting mechanics, the atmosphere, the challenge of survival, and the spirit of adventure.”
- “There are some interesting ideas for sure, but massive issues with base mechanics.”
- “Inconsistent pickup mechanic makes it a chore to collect items.”
- “Based on my stream experience, the core gameplay loop is currently hampered by a few issues that make the early game unnecessarily frustrating for new players.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The game's story is praised for its engaging and mysterious narrative, with players appreciating the depth and potential for character backstories. Many find the setting intriguing and hope for further development of the lore as the game progresses. However, some players suggest that clearer guidance on basic progression elements would enhance the overall experience.
- “I also enjoyed the story and narrative — the theme is interesting and engaging.”
- “The story hooked me more than I expected.”
- “It feels like each character could have their own story.”
- “Recommendation: ensure that the immediate needs for basic progression (like how to obtain the rope required for essential tools/structures) are clearly explained through early-game hints, an introductory quest log, or obvious visual cues.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting its uniqueness and immersive qualities, particularly at night. The combination of crafting mechanics and the freedom to manipulate the environment enhances the survival experience, making it a recommended choice for those seeking an atmospheric challenge. Overall, the game's art and design contribute significantly to its engaging ambiance.
- “The atmosphere is top tier and the freedom to destroy or build anything you see makes the survival gameplay feel unique.”
- “I definitely recommend checking this out if you want a fresh and atmospheric survival challenge.”
- “I really enjoyed the game’s atmosphere, art, and overall design.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
Overall, the graphics are praised for their excellence, though some users experienced initial stuttering. There is a suggestion for additional graphics configurations to better accommodate lower-end PCs.
- “The graphics are excellent.”
- “The game visuals stuttered a bit for the first minute or so.”
- “Possibly some more graphics configurations would help lower-end PCs to run this game.”
- “All this with fancy graphics.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players experience a distinct grinding dynamic, where daytime is focused on farming, gathering, and building, while nighttime shifts the emphasis to base defense. This cycle encourages a balance between resource management and strategic defense, making grinding an integral part of gameplay.
- “The day cycle is dedicated to farming, gathering, and building, while the night demands players defend their base.”
- “Grinding feels like an endless chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it hard to stay motivated and enjoy the overall experience.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report significant optimization issues, with some experiencing low frame rates (around 7-8 fps) even on basic hardware. The game's fog effects and washed-out color palette appear to be attempts to conceal these performance problems. Overall, there is a consensus that the game requires further optimization to improve playability.
- “The weird fog and washed out color scheme seems to mask optimization issues.”
- “The game needs more optimization; I use a PC from Walmart and only get about 7-8 FPS.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Exploring Sandrax 66b" is characterized by a blend of corporate wit that enhances the tense sci-fi atmosphere, providing a refreshing contrast to the game's more serious elements.
- “Exploring Sandrax 66b is tense, and the corporate humor from the intro adds a nice touch to the sci-fi setting.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to have some stability issues, with users experiencing bugs that affect gameplay. Additionally, there is a need for clearer instructions on base building and setup.
- “Still a bit buggy and needs more explanations on how to build and set up a base.”