SmallZ

About

SmallZ is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing shooter game with economy and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by skins.dog and was released on January 10, 2023. It received neutral reviews from players.

SmallZ is a third person zombie survival game built by a solo developer. Form a team or survive solo in a challenging world in order to survive. There are many threats from zombies, boss zombies and other players. Build fortifications on different buildings or build your own base from scratch. There are plenty of build parts available for you to craft! Zombies are more docile during the day, giv…

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54%

Audience ScoreBased on 50 reviews

gameplay5 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game has great potential for an open world zombie survival experience, with a fun art style and enjoyable mechanics.
Developers are actively engaging with the community and consistently releasing updates to improve the game.
The gameplay is fun and challenging, especially when playing with friends, and the crafting system offers a variety of build options.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with saving, inconsistent character behavior, and clunky movement.
Many features are unfinished or poorly implemented, such as AI behavior, vehicle mechanics, and the overall map design.
The game has been criticized for being a rip-off of another title, with many players feeling it lacks originality and polish.

gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
11%
33%
Gameplay reviews are mixed, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. While some players appreciate the fun, challenging mechanics and smooth controls, others criticize issues like lag, janky performance, and subpar combat. Overall, the game offers an engaging experience, particularly in single-player and cooperative modes, but could benefit from improvements in map size and gun mechanics.
- “The gameplay is fun and challenging, and the developers have been constantly updating the game with new content.”
- “The single-player mode offers challenging gameplay with intuitive controls and smooth mechanics.”
- “The cooperative gameplay is a blast and the graphics have taken the game to a whole new level.”
- “The gameplay is janky, obnoxious background sounds, laggy, and the combat is terrible.”
- “The gameplay loop is the same as any other survival game out there, with the difficulty being easy to adapt to for new players.”
- “The mechanics are easy enough to understand but do take a while to get used to.”
graphics
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The graphics in the game are described as simple yet effective, complementing the cooperative gameplay and art style. However, there are notable issues, including glitches during attacks and a poorly executed day-night cycle, which detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are generally acceptable, they may not meet the expectations of all players.
- “The cooperative gameplay is a blast and the graphics have taken the game to a whole new level.”
- “Lovely art style and the game is fun with friends.”
- “The graphics are very simple but work great with the game.”
- “The graphics and game world are fairly basic and only acceptable.”
- “The graphics glitch when you attack anything, and the day-night cycle is implemented poorly.”
- “Movement feels like you are walking in a swamp, and when you jump, it feels like you are in slow motion.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay, such as issues with loading, controls, and performance. While some acknowledge its early access status, the overwhelming presence of technical problems detracts from the overall experience, making it frustrating for users.
- “This game seems like it would be okay for a free game, but man, it is way too buggy for me. I know it's free and in early access, but you should at the very least be able to load a game normally. Trying to figure out the controls, I press 'K' and die?”
- “They almost have something good, but it's a buggy mess.”
- “I get that it's in early access, but when 90% of what you end up doing is managing the bugs and glitches, and the other 10% is dying while trying to fix said bugs and glitches, it makes for a god-awful playing experience.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, particularly criticizing the time-consuming micromanagement required for farming, which yields minimal rewards. Additionally, the lack of weapon variety despite extensive exploration contributes to a sense of monotony and dissatisfaction with the grinding experience.
- “Farming does not respect your time, as it expects you to micromanage adding water every 15 seconds to each plot for 20 minutes, yielding less than a third of a brick per plot.”
- “I didn't find any other weapons than the butcher knife I started with, despite running through a huge farming area, several houses, and that military camp.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with users noting that it heavily relies on resources from another game, Deadpoly, and lacks significant improvements or bug fixes.
- “I tried to give the game the benefit of the doubt, but it feels like a total cash grab. It uses the same resources as Deadpoly, and the developer barely fixed any bugs before releasing it.”
- “The monetization strategy is frustrating. It feels like every feature is locked behind a paywall, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
- “I was really excited about this game, but the aggressive monetization tactics ruined the experience for me. It seems like the developers care more about profits than player satisfaction.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users generally find that the game's replayability enhances its overall enjoyment, leading to more positive recommendations.
- “The game offers so many different paths and choices that I find myself coming back to explore new strategies.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh and engaging, thanks to the variety of characters and storylines.”
- “With multiple endings and unlockable content, there's always a reason to dive back in and experience something new.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to problems such as save corruption during loading. Players have noted that it feels akin to playing a mobile game on PC, resulting in subpar performance.
- “There are optimization issues, and my save got corrupted just trying to load into it like normal, so I quit.”
- “If you ever wanted to play a mobile game on your PC and still get the equivalent of mobile performance, then this is the game for you.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story aspect of the game is criticized for its time management, as players feel burdened by the need to micromanage farming tasks frequently, which detracts from the overall experience and narrative engagement.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely criticized, with users noting that the sound effects are so poorly executed that they detract from the comedic experience rather than enhance it.