Charming New Apocalypse Builder Zombie Cure Lab is Out Now!

 

MUNICH — Dec. 7, 2022 — Zombie Cure Lab, the undead treatment lab builder from the AAA sim vets at Aerosoft and fun-loving problem solvers at Thera Bytes, is starting experiments to save the human race today on PC via Steam Early Access.

Years after an apocalyptic event brought humanity to the brink of extinction, a team of scientists emerges from a subterranean sanctum to put an end to the zombie masses. Lead a team of heroic researchers and build a facility while investigating a cure. Scour environments for raw materials to build an initial facility before upgrading into a base with new structures, lab equipment, and fortifications for defending the area.

By placing traps and capturing attacking zombies, the first move to save humanity is done. Use the captives as test subjects in an attempt to reverse the infection. Each successful treatment brings the team one step closer to the ultimate cure. In addition, the newly created zombie-human hybrids – affectionately called Humbies – present invaluable laborers to assist the scientists and gather much-needed resources.

Manage materials and balance lab upgrades and creature comforts to ensure that the workforce is well-fed, maintained, and comfortable. Build kitchens, recreational facilities, and more while researching sci-fi tech like freeze rays to capture more zombies for testing. Turn the laboratory compound into a well-oiled, undead-curing machine. A motivated Humbie is a safe Humbie, so make sure to keep them happy, lest the workers succumb to their flesh-eating urges.

“Zombies and video games go hand-in-hand,” said Maarten Janello, Product Manager at Aerosoft. “With Zombie Cure Lab, we’ve elected to explore a world overrun by zombies from a hopeful perspective. As you overcome deep strategic challenges and fight back against the infection, you’ll find a colorful and charming experience that’s quite unlike anything else around.”

Zombie Cure Lab is available now via Steam Early Access on PC for $24.99 USD. A limited-time release discount of 20% will make the launch price $19.99 USD. Supported languages include English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and simplified Chinese. Development of Zombie Cure Lab is financially supported by FFF Bayern and the budgetary funds of the Free State of Bavaria. Analyze Zombie Cure Lab on the official website, follow @ZombieCureLab on Twitter, check out the latest development updates on YouTube, and join the official Discord server.

About Aerosoft - “The Simulation Experts”

With more than 45 employees and more than 15 connected studios worldwide as well as numerous freelance developers, Aerosoft is one of the leading software manufacturers and publishers worldwide in the field of simulation games today and the exclusive publisher of the retail version of the Microsoft Flight Simulator. Thanks to its strong distribution partners in Europe, South America, and the USA, Aerosoft today generates more than 65% of its sales abroad. The high-quality standard of the products is repeatedly proven by international awards and a customer satisfaction rate of over 90%. The Aerosoft online shop currently offers one of the largest PC simulation ranges in the world, with nearly 1000 products.

For more information, visit their official website.

About Thera Bytes

The people of Thera Bytes love games, adore science, and strive to educate and empower gamers at the intersection of both. By addressing serious real-world problems with playful, exploratory solutions, games and health can become intrinsic. To that end, Thera Bytes develops both original game IP and problem-solving applications for the healthcare sector.

Article by Susan N.

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Zombie Cure Lab Preview

Zombie Cure Lab by developer Thera Byte Gmbh and publisher Aerosoft Gmbh—PC (Steam) preview written by Hayden with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

When you’re ready to face the hordes but you want to trade “grim and gory” for “cute and cheery”, it’s time to open up your very own Zombie Cure Lab. From bumbling humans to bumbling zombies and half-way in between “humbies” (also bumbling), Zombie Cure Lab will toss some very interesting takes on zombie-human relations your way. From weaponry that looks it belongs on a frozen schoolyard to research equipment that looks straight out of old Saturday morning cartoons, this game has a unique charm and style that will thaw the most frozen hearts as it launches into Early Access this holiday season.

That wasn't a sweet enough intro to make you skip reading the rest of this to run out and get it already? How about this then - this is a game that isn't just about being fun for the player, it is also designed to support efforts to make real cures, for real diseases. That's right, this is a game that rewards you not for making microtransactions in their store, but for offering spare computing cycles to help solve real-world problems. Check out the developer's site (linked up top in that first weird sentence under the banner) for all the details, since they explain it way better than I would.

Still here? All right then, here's the rest of the normal stuff.

The premise

Zombie Cure Lab is straightforward about what it wants you to do: build a lab that finds (and applies) a cure for zombies. Your staff at the outset is all human, with basic human needs like food and shelter that must be met so they can do their work. Oh, and protection against the hordes of zombies that run amok at night. Can’t forget about the zombies, right?

Are you ready for the horde?

Over time, you’ll perform research that will allow you to attempt to partially cure zombies - there’s no one-and-done cure here. Each partial cure you apply to a zombie progressing them slowly through life as a “humbie” (human-zombie hybrid), with each successive stage allowing them to relearn more human-like behavior. Even the most basic humbies are useful though, and can be employed (carefully) to aid your lab. The closer to zombie they are, the stronger they are, and the more useful they are at manual labor like harvesting. Conversely, the closer to human they are, the more strength they lose but the more dexterous and intelligent the tasks they can be assigned.

The horde

There are a number of visually different varieties of zombies in the hordes that attack your base, with different equipment. The question you need to answer, however, is how are you going to subdue them long enough to apply a cure to a ravenous zombie without it attacking your staff?

The usual suspects: zombie cleaner, zombie angler, zombie....mountie? Zombie Grandma??

The answer is simple: you’re going to freeze them.

Snowball launchers, cold blasts and more will bring the joys of winter combat from the schoolyard to your screen as you pelt your attackers with flash-frozen snow until they become icy popsicles, safe to approach until they melt in the daytime sun - and start moving again! These zombies aren’t the slow shamblers by the way, they’re just as fast on their feet as your researchers, so keep a well-repaired wall between them and your staff!

Base Building

A staple of the “survive the zombie horde” genre of games is base building, and Zombie Cure Lab is no exception. Using a building interface that reminded me of a very slimmed-down Sims style, you’ll be dragging out room blueprints and filling them with custom layouts to serve your needs. Kitchens let you grow lab-cultured meat to serve your still-hungry humbies, while the basic bedroom layout can feature a couch with a cardboard box to remind you of the good old days when there were still TV broadcasts to watch.

The aptly named “science room” covers all sorts of high-tech uses beyond that of a basic research lab - this is where you’ll administer treatments to zombies or run automated equipment like fertilizer mixers. For now, just the three room classifications exist with all the equipment either fitting into one of those categories or being free to place as you see fit outside. All of these are placed as blueprints, with materials delivered to complete them from the prebuilt main stockpile you get at the start of every map.

There's just a few things to build as it launches into Early Access. Just a few.

What you get in Early Access

Zombie Cure Lab is very up-front with its roadmap, displaying it as a loading screen at the start of each game session in the version we had access to review. It makes clear that the developers goal going into their Early Access launch was to have the basic platform of the game, but that there are many more things to come. The short answer to the question of “what do I get?” is this: a functional, fun game that probably has several dozen hours worth of gameplay for any one playthrough right now, but not a lot of bells and whistles.

Notable items that readers may have seen me harp on during other reviews like production / consumption reports, the ability to prevent your people from going dangerous places / doing silly things, difficulty customization, etc. are not here yet at the Early Access launch date. They are acknowledged as needed, planned and present on the game’s roadmap however, which fills me with enough hope that I might just last through seemingly every company’s (completely understandable) pause on new content as their staff take vacations. (I think there’s a reason all the holiday events seem to launch earlier every year, and its probably not to compete for shelf space at Woolworth’s any more.)

Interestingly, I found myself very conflicted as I was writing that last part. As a dedicated city builder, colony-simmer, strategy gamer, what-have-you, I love data and reports and seeing information that tells me how my team is doing. I also love the idea of having some fairly strong levers I can use to influence behaviors.

 

This time, however, I’m not so sure.

Zombie Cure Lab has really grown on me in its current, simple, streamlined state. A few production reports might be nice but the goofy, cartoonish feel of the art makes me not want to have lots of detailed control. If the developers here can keep the game’s decision-making robust enough, Zombie Cure Lab might actually be one of the rare titles that ends up stronger without giving the player all those numbers and levers and buttons. I guess I’m just going to have to keep my fingers crossed and wait to see how this all plays out.

Conclusion

Zombie Cure Labs launched into Early Access yesterday on December 7 as a streamlined survive-the-horde zombie basebuilder. Bright, deliberately cartoonish art and a lack of deeply nested menus make this entry feel like a fun, light, approachable game that is far harder to put down than pick up. An extensive roadmap promises to bring many of the info views and behavior control tools that colony sim players like, while expanding on the game’s replayability.

Zombie Cure Lab is a game worth spending some time with over the holidays, with a visual style that is screen-safe even when the youngest of relatives comes toddling up to your battlestation.

Score: N/A

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Zombie Cure Lab, Apocalyptic Base Builder, Out Dec. 7 in Steam Early Access

Reverse the apocalypse by curing, not killing, the undead hordes.

MUNICH — Oct. 19, 2022 — Zombie Cure Lab, the undead treatment lab builder from the AAA sim vets at publisher Aerosoft and fun-loving problem solving developers at Thera Bytes, begins experiments to save the human race on Steam Early Access for PC Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.

As the world ends, the last remaining humans hide underground, emerging to find a whole heap of zombies where their friends once stood. But with a little ingenuity, these walkers can become allies once more!

Command a colony of heroic scientists on a quest to restore the world. Start the adventure by gathering natural resources in the woodlands and summits. Prepare for the first night with fortifications and a rudimentary base, giving the scientists just enough stability and defense to stay alive. With a foothold established, set traps for the zombies and attempt to snag one. Take it back to the lab and attempt to reverse the infection.

Eureka! The zombie is a humble human once more. One down, only 500 million to go!

Manage the workforce, both original scientists and newly converted human-zombie hybrids alike, to keep them happy and hearty, ready to research and work. Setup kitchens, recreational spaces, and other creature comforts. Research and unlock sci-fi tech like freeze rays and barriers to capture more zombies. Expand the lab’s manpower and resources to rewind history and save all of mankind.With time, meticulous planning, and precise management, the undead hordes will soon become the Working Dead. But stay vigilant, as Humbies are unpredictable. Go above and beyond their basic needs, lest their primal, flesh-eating instincts claw back to the surface.

“Zombie Cure Lab is very different from every other zombie-focused game on the market,” said Maarten Janello, Product Manager at Aerosoft. “The adventure is colorful and charming, but demanding survival gameplay comes from a world-changing objective—to not just weather the night, but capture and cure your attackers. We hope this subversive take on the genre and zombie lore entertains diehard strategy fans and zombie enthusiasts alike.”

Zombie Cure Lab will be available via Steam Early Access for PC on Dec. 7 for $24.99 USD. A limited-time release discount of 20% will make the launch price $19.96 USD. Supported languages include English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and simplified Chinese. Development of Zombie Cure Lab is financially supported by FFF Bayern and the budgetary funds of the Free State of Bavaria. Analyze Zombie Cure Lab on the official website, follow @ZombieCureLab on Twitter, check out the latest development updates on YouTube, and join the official Discord server.

About Aerosoft - “The Simulation Experts”

With more than 30 employees and more than 50 free developers worldwide as well as numerous cooperations, Aerosoft is one of the leading software manufacturers and publishers worldwide in the field of simulation games today. Thanks to its strong distribution partners in Europe, South America and the USA, Aerosoft today generates more than 50% of its sales abroad. The high quality standard of the products is repeatedly proven by international awards and a customer satisfaction rate of over 90%. The Aerosoft online shop currently offers one of the largest PC simulation ranges in the world, with nearly 1000 products.

For more information, visit their official website.

About Thera Bytes

The people of Thera Bytes love games, adore science, and strive to educate and empower gamers at the intersection of both. By addressing serious real-world problems with playful, exploratory solutions, games and health can become intrinsic. To that end, Thera Bytes develops both original game IP and problem-solving applications for the healthcare sector.

Article by: Susan N.

Read More

Zombie Cure Lab Releasing in Steam's Early Access in Q3 2022!

MUNICH — July 14, 2022 — Zombie Cure Lab, the undead treatment lab builder from the AAA sim vets at publisher Aerosoft and fun-loving, problem-solving developers at Thera Bytes, begins experiments to save mankind on Steam Early Access for PC in Q3 2022.

After years of hiding underground, the last remaining humans stand ready to reverse the zombie apocalypse. With a means of curing the undead in hand, return to the surface and lead a settlement of brave scientists in their mission to save the world.

Start by using natural resources in the forests and mountains to give the human race a place to eat and sleep. Happy workers make better survivors! With their immediate needs met, the world-saving work can begin. Construct sturdy walls and defenses to prepare for night. Open a laboratory and begin your research on sci-fi tech like freeze rays and barriers. With these colorful gadgets in hand, capture roaming hordes and start the treatment process.

https://youtu.be/wt-75nCdMUA

With each zombie cured, grow the workforce and expand the operation, turning back the doomsday clock. Set day and night shifts for your human-zombie hybrids—the Humbies!—to keep them happy and productive. Upgrade the lab to harvest more premium, high-efficiency material and let the new-fangled science equipment open a path toward the final cure.

Use time, careful planning, and proper management of the lab economy to create a well-oiled research machine and turn the hordes into the Working Dead. But be wary—Humbies, like the humans they aspire to be, are fickle creatures. Go beyond their basic needs with comfortable quarters, plentiful food, and luxurious recreational spaces to keep them happy and satisfied, lest they revert to their flesh-hungry baser instincts within the very walls of your base.

“Most games featuring the undead solve the problem with killing, so when Thera Bytes approached us with the idea to focus a zombie game around empathy and healing, we were immediately onboard,” said Winfried Diekmann, Managing Director at Aerosoft. “We hope that Zombie Cure Lab not only brings a refreshing take to the genre, but exemplifies how there are other, nonviolent ways to solve problems.”

Zombie Cure Lab is available via Steam Early Access for PC with language support for English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. Development of Zombie Cure Lab is financially supported by FFF Bayern and the budgetary funds of the Free State of Bavaria. Research Zombie Cure Lab on the official website, follow @ZombieCureLab on Twitter, check out the latest development updates on YouTube, and join the official Discord server.

About Aerosoft - “The Simulation Experts”

With more than 30 employees and more than 50 free developers worldwide as well as numerous cooperations, Aerosoft is one of the leading software manufacturers and publishers worldwide in the field of simulation games today. Thanks to its strong distribution partners in Europe, South America, and the USA, Aerosoft today generates more than 50% of its sales abroad. The high-quality standard of the products is repeatedly proven by international awards and a customer satisfaction rate of over 90%. The Aerosoft online shop currently offers one of the largest PC simulation ranges in the world, with nearly 1000 products.

For more information, visit their official website.

About Thera Bytes

The people of Thera Bytes love games, adore science, and strive to educate and empower gamers at the intersection of both. By addressing serious real-world problems with playful, exploratory solutions, games and health can become intrinsic. To that end, Thera Bytes develops both original game IP and problem-solving applications for the healthcare sector.

Article by: Susan N.

Read More