Zelter is an upcoming game that crosses Stardew Valley with State of Decay

Zelter Screenshot
Zelter Screenshot (Image credit: Super!Games)

What you need to know

  • Stardew Valley is a relaxing game about crafting, and State of Decay is a tense horror survival game.
  • Despite the massive difference in genres, Zelter is an upcoming game that attempts to mash them together.
  • In it, you have to build up a community of survivors, arm yourselves, build a fortress, and survive wave after wave of undead foes.
  • The game looks very interesting, and is coming to Steam in Early Access on October 22, 2020.

The world is filled with interesting video games nowadays, and the picture is only getting busier with the introduction of next-gen consoles this holiday season like the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The scene is particularly interesting when it comes to indie games, with dozens of incredible games from passionate teams vying for top spots in our list of best indie games. The latest game to be announced is Zelter, a game that asks the question: "What if Stardew Valley and State of Decay had a baby?"

Then the game answers that question with its wonderful mix of Stardew Valley graphics and crafting mechanics, with the community building and zombie survival gameplay of State of Decay. Its first trailer was just revealed, along with a date for the game's early access.

As you can see from the trailer, it's clear Zelter does take heavy inspiration from the game that inspired an entire generation of games: Stardew Valley. However, insteady of focusing on building up an adorable house and crafting new tools, Zelter has you build up a fortified shelter complete with automated turrets, traps, and other defenses to protect from the living dead. Instead of farming tools, you'll be equipped with an arsenal of guns and other varoius weapons.

In Zelter, you'll also have to build up a community of survivors and arm them as well, in order to better survive the undead onslaught together. It's a very interesting mash-up of genres, and could be an exciting game if it all comes together well. Fortunately we don't have long to wait, with the game entering Early Access on Steam with a planned release date of October 22, 2020. If you're interested, mark you calendars, and be sure to checkout some screenshots from the game down below.

Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.