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The Walking Trade Game Cover

About

The Walking Trade is a single player survival shooter game with horror, economy and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by Microwave Games and was released on March 5, 2026. It received positive reviews from players.

Run a shop in the zombie apocalypse! Trade batteries, craft stock, manage your staff, and fend off undead hordes. Will you be a hero, or profit at any cost? Your choices shape your store - and your fate.

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88%
Audience ScoreBased on 654 reviews
gameplay40 positive mentions
stability42 negative mentions

  • Engaging and addictive gameplay loop mixing shop management, scavenging, crafting, and zombie defense.
  • Active developer support with frequent updates, bug fixes, and community engagement.
  • Unique blend of survival elements and store simulation with a challenging but balanced progression system.
  • Game has numerous bugs including AI pathfinding issues, cleaners and security NPC malfunctions, and item physics causing frequent frustration.
  • Limited content and map exploration leading to repetitive endgame with lack of meaningful goals or unlocks.
  • Inventory and storage systems need improvement for better quality of life; lack of save system flexibility and early save points.
  • gameplay
    102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay offers a compelling and addictive loop combining shop management, survival mechanics, and resource gathering, which many players find engaging and fun. However, it can become repetitive and limited over time, with some bugs, AI issues, and lack of content reducing long-term appeal. The developer’s active updates and community responsiveness have helped improve mechanics, but the gameplay still feels somewhat unfinished and in need of polish and expanded features.

    • “The staffing system is interesting as you can assign your workers tasks that pretty much automates most of the mechanics for you such as protecting the area from the undead, hiding and looting dead bodies, restocking items, and even selling the items to customers for you, but you have to manually assign these tasks every single day, again and again which ruins the staffing experience.”
    • “The combination of shop management, resource gathering, and survival mechanics forms a loop that feels different from more traditional simulators.”
    • “The core gameplay is strong, it is easy to get hooked, and it has that dangerous “I’ll just keep playing for a little longer” energy that simulator fans know all too well.”
    • “The gameplay loop is incredibly mundane and boring, employee AI works about as well as a housefly trying to control a fighter jet.”
    • “No way to block parking lot accesses to control influx, slow NPC movement, and no control mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay is very hectic and unintuitive.”
  • stability
    43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is notably buggy, with frequent glitches affecting AI behavior, inventory, staff management, and performance, sometimes causing crashes or freezes. While these issues can hinder late-game enjoyment, the developer is highly active in addressing bugs and releasing frequent updates, showing commitment to improvement. Despite its current instability, many players find the gameplay fun and promising for the future.

    • “The developer is either dishonest or more focused on adding buggy content rather than fixing the frequently reported bugs with system mechanics and the promised controller support.”
    • “My issue is the endgame is really buggy, meaning I feel the premise of the game is to have an autonomous shop, yet storage bugs and employee bugs take away all the fun in late game and make it impossible to craft or do other stuff because the store is too hands on.”
    • “The game is really buggy: sometimes the screen completely turns brown, cleaners get stuck in random places almost 50% of the time, and the auto minigun turrets did not work for me at all.”
  • story
    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game lacks a strong or overarching story, with many reviewers noting the absence of a substantial plot or clear narrative progression beyond basic mission objectives and map clearing. While some appreciate the unique gameplay mechanics and potential for story development, most find the current story elements minimal, with limited motivation or depth once main missions are completed. Overall, the experience leans more toward simulation and exploration than a traditional story-driven game.

    • “There's plenty to unlock, and a story to keep you entertained, as well as the standard annoyances any retail worker has to deal with on a day to day basis.”
    • “There is actually a story, skill progression, and quite easy to get someone to run the counter for you while you handle fighting zombies.”
    • “Story progression - I like the objectives of crafting 20 items, or opening the first gate.”
    • “There's no real story to speak of or overarching objective other than clearing the map.”
    • “No story, no clear instructions, no end, just too suck. When I have too many items NPCs don't even clean it anymore; it becomes a big big mess. Also the gameplay is so boring, too easy and nothing special, plus some bugs like zombies or items stuck in the wall.”
    • “My main criticism is that once you’ve completed the available missions and explored the current locations on the map, the game can start to feel like there’s not much left to work towards.”
  • graphics
    23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics feature a charming, clean low-poly art style that emphasizes clarity and suits the gameplay, though some users find it reminiscent of older or simpler games and wish for more polish or a distinct art style. Performance can be demanding on lower-end GPUs but is generally manageable with settings adjustments. Minor graphical glitches and occasional visual bugs were reported, but overall the visuals contribute positively to the game's appeal.

    • “✔️ Clean low-poly visuals that deliver graphically.”
    • “Art style is charming.”
    • “The graphics have a bit of jankiness and remind me of games I used to play as a teenager some thirty years ago.”
    • “The visuals follow a simple, low-poly style that prioritizes clarity over detail, which suits the gameplay but does little to elevate the presentation beyond functional.”
    • “There is a graphical glitch where a brown 'water' almost covers the area, which seemed unfixable during play.”
  • optimization
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs smoothly with strong performance and good stability, even at 4K resolution. However, late-game optimization issues emerge, causing significant lag, stuttering, and occasional freezes, especially when upgrading or managing inventory. While players appreciate the current performance, further polishing and bug fixes are needed to improve stability in extended gameplay.

    • “⬜ [9/10] performance”
    • “✔️ Strong performance stability at 4k.”
    • “Easy to play and great optimization.”
    • “Was having tons of fun but when I bought all the upgrades for expanding the store the performance went to crap.”
    • “Now the real issue is late game optimization becomes a nightmare... extremely laggy.”
    • “But it definitely needs a little polish and AI and bugs pop up from time to time as well as a late game performance issue where the game freezes whenever you put a basket or cardboard box back on its stack near the front door.”
  • grinding
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding in this game is widely described as tedious and frustrating, involving repetitive tasks like leveling up through extensive crafting and managing employees daily. While some mechanics, like roof access or zombie encounters, hint at deeper gameplay, they ultimately feel underdeveloped and add to the monotony. Despite its addictive qualities, many players find the constant micromanagement and repetitive chores detract from the overall experience.

    • “Like I said, maybe it was a combination of things like the weak zombies and the crafting system needing a lot of grinding to level up, and also the fact I only found about 7 blueprints in total and had to grind experience to learn the rest.”
    • “Having to constantly reassign the workers every single day to the same tasks I always put them on is a tedious chore and makes me roll my eyes every time I have to do it.”
    • “This game is so tedious... the video makes it look fun but I didn't experience any of that.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely appreciated for its quirky characters like the hotdog-suited guy and absurd zombie antics, creating many funny and unpredictable moments. While some find certain elements annoying or unimmersive, bugs often contribute to unintended comedic situations, enhancing the overall lighthearted and amusing experience.

    • “I love the random zombies; the guy in the hotdog suit is hilarious.”
    • “There are a few bugs that create quite some hilarious moments, like cleaners turning your whole store upside down because they believe baskets are useless and everything belongs on the floor.”
    • “Addictive, funny, and unpredictable.”
  • music
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally seen as pleasant and unobtrusive, contributing well to the chill atmosphere, though some users feel it could be improved to add more variety and liveliness. A few players find the soundtrack lacking or sparse and suggest adding more musical elements and ambient voices to enhance immersion. Overall, the music is stable and fits the game's style but leaves room for enhancement.

    • “Great game to chill with music.”
    • “I'm enjoying the game, I like the art style, the music is not annoying and it runs stable and well.”
    • “My only gripe is that the soundtrack sucks.”
    • “It could use some music and more voices because it feels a bit lonely and sparse in that regard.”
    • “More decorations, ways to draw customers (music, treats, 'food' cart, etc.) to your shop would be cool.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users feel that the monetization relies heavily on aggressive AI-driven cash grabs, which diminishes the enjoyment of the game, and they also criticize misleading advertising practices.

    • “There are too many games from this genre/style that are quick AI cash grabs and are sucking the fun out of this type of game.”
    • “The advertising lies yet again.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users praise the game for its unique and captivating atmosphere, highlighting it as a key part of an enjoyable and engaging experience. The combination of atmospheric design with gameplay and survival upgrades is regarded as impressive and skillfully crafted.

    • “This game is a very enjoyable experience with a unique atmosphere and engaging gameplay.”
    • “Game is genius, amazing atmosphere, gameplay, craft and talent, upgrade survival system.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users feel that the game currently offers limited replayability, which affects its overall value, especially considering the price point. However, ongoing updates may improve content and replayability over time.

    • “I think my main complaint (ignoring the glitches/bugs because again, they're getting fixed regularly) is that there isn't a lot of replayability.”
    • “Price point is MSRP is 3 dollars too much IMO, but it's still early on and I need to see what content and replayability there is.”
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10h Median play time
11h Average play time
6-12h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 16 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Walking Trade is a survival shooter game with horror, economy and post-apocalyptic themes.

The Walking Trade is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 11 hours playing The Walking Trade.

The Walking Trade was released on March 5, 2026.

The Walking Trade was developed by Microwave Games.

The Walking Trade has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked The Walking Trade for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

The Walking Trade is a single player game.

Similar games include HumanitZ, Saleblazers, Zombie Graveyard Simulator, Night of the Dead, Sunkenland and others.