Zombies in the Suburbs
The virus started from the infectious disease hospital on Lenin Street; by evening the bridge was closed, only emergency comms left. Your building has nine apartments, the generator belongs to the guy on the fourth floor, water is in the rooftop tank, and it's all divided by votes on the landing.
World is ready — start right away. Each move costs $0.01, first ten free.
What is this world
Russia, the present day, two weeks after the outbreak began. The city is under lockdown: the military has cordoned off the districts, but evacuation is only for those on the "clean" lists. Stepping out of your stairwell means risking a run-in with an infected or a looter. Ammo and gasoline are the new currency.
At stake: The bus seats 40, there are 60 people in the yard, and Artyom has already announced he leaves in exactly one hour, with whoever he chooses.
Who awaits you here
Everyone has their own interest in you. Their attitude shifts based on your actions, and you can see it on a scale right in the game.
Cold and calculating, speaks with pressure, won't tolerate objections.
Wants from you: For you to hand over your diesel stash, or give up your seat on the bus he controls.
Tired but composed; speaks quietly and weighs every word; she sympathizes, but she goes by the rules.
Wants from you: To check your papers and put you on the list if she finds a free seat; otherwise she'll have to turn you down.
Jumpy, flinches at every sound; talks fast and in a muddle; he's obviously hiding something.
Wants from you: To make off with the bus without extra passengers: he has his own plan for getting past the ring road.
Where it all begins
The wrecked playground in the yard of No. 5. A rusty turnstile lies on its side, the swings creak in the wind, and it smells of damp and burnt plastic. In the gloom by the bus with its headlights off, a crowd has gathered: some squatting, some standing, clutching bundles to their chests. Artyom Malyshev stands on the bus step, Katya counts people with a tablet in her hand, and Lyokha Korshunov smokes nervously by the open cab door, glancing at the dark windows of the building.
Katya Butorina — Sergei? She looks up from the tablet, recognizes you, and for a second something alive flickers in her eyes. You're back from the night shift? I didn't see you on the lists. Were you in the building when they announced the evacuation?
This is one possible opening. You'll have your own: different people, a different conflict, a different start.
Where it may lead
- Lead the stairwell to the convoy and come up two short
- Reach the cordon and learn they're letting no one out
- Hide someone else's bite and decide what to do on day three
- Make common cause with the one who didn't open their door to you on day one
- Hand over the keys to the electrical panel and lose your voice on the landing
- Take an empty apartment and explain yourself when the owners return
How it might begin
The world is rebuilt for every player. These are the openings it picks from: you get one of them, and from there the story follows your choices.
What stands between you: a seat on the bus, which are fewer than people in the yard. Tone of the story: harsh: hierarchy and power.
What stands between you: the person for whom the player didn't leave the city. Tone of the story: romantic, with tension.
What stands between you: a bite that someone has been hiding for three days. Tone of the story: detective: someone is lying.
What stands between you: a neighbor collecting signatures to have the player removed. Tone of the story: domestic, with dark humor.
What stands between you: looters who will return — they've already seen the apartment. Tone of the story: anxious: counting steps on the landing.
FAQ:
The city is made up but recognizable: panel blocks, industrial zone, ring road. Write 'this is Chelyabinsk' in your first move — the world will take it as fact.
You decide at the start. But the problem is usually not them, but that the neighbors have their own version of who's to blame and who to let in.
Yes. There's little weaponry in the city, and almost everything is settled by who you've bargained with for food, water, and a spot in the car.
How it works
No pre-written answer options. Speak, act, ask — the world accepts what you state as fact and adapts. Actions can be marked with asterisks.
Each character has a scale from −100 to 100. It shifts based on deeds, not polite words, and is visible directly in the game. The world keeps a list of facts that cannot be forgotten: promises, debts, secrets, enemies.
Characters act without your command: they demand, lie, leave, and return. From time to time, a twist occurs that changes the situation. The story is saved — you can return a week later and continue from the same point.
How is this different from character chat:
In the chat, you're talking to a single character, and everything hinges on the conversation. Here, it's a whole world: multiple characters with their own interests in each other, a setting, time of day, and events that happen independently of you. You're not a conversation partner, but a participant in the story.
In this universe, they've already started 41 Stories and played 844 turns.
Similar universes:
Also in this section:
All universes and your world in one line
Group Roleplay Chat — Scene with Multiple Characters
AI Novels — Stories with Choices and Endings
AI Roleplay Chat — One-on-One with a Character