VEIN, created by a duo of developers at Ramjet Studios and released on October 24, 2025, is a sandbox zombie survival game set in a world where society has collapsed. To survive, you must scavenge through the ruins of the old world in search of food, materials, and weapons. Grow crops and build base defenses to fend off the undead hordes.
Similar to Project Zomboid, VEIN borrows a few core ideas but delivers a fresh experience through its first-person perspective. You can switch to third-person mode; however, we found that view to be less immersive than first-person. The most engaging aspect of VEIN is its base-building and farming systems. There’s something oddly cozy about growing pumpkins in a post-apocalyptic zombie world.
The World of VEIN
As VEIN is currently in its beta release and being developed by just two people, there are—and will be—bugs, as with most games in development. That said, the bugs we’ve encountered haven’t been game-breaking; if anything, they add to its charm. For example, driving over 90 MPH in a school bus toward a massive jump can cause all sorts of hilarious, unpredictable chaos.
The demo lets you reach level 50 out of 100 and explore a large open world. Honestly, I’ve never spent more time in a demo than I have in VEIN. You’ll spend most of your time searching containers for supplies to survive. The world evolves dynamically as you play, with power, water, and cell service gradually shutting off. These features, along with zombie health, spawn rate, and numerous other settings—can all be adjusted to create a tougher (or lighter) survival experience.
The Future of VEIN
VEIN shows a lot of promise, especially given how active the developers are within the community and how thoughtfully they’ve approached the game’s release. It’s rare to see a developer offer so much content in a demo. We suspect this was done to build a larger player base and collect valuable feedback to guide future development—and honestly, that’s a smart move.
Looking at their roadmap, the team plans to revamp zombie models, expand the game’s lore, add gamepad support, implement a fire system, and much more. If they continue on this path, VEIN could easily become one of the standout indie survival titles of its kind.
