"Run a shop in the zombie apocalypse! Trade, craft, defend, and survive."
Updates & Events
The Walking Trade - 10% OFF on Steam
The Walking Trade is currently featured on the Steam store!
About
The Walking Trade is a quirky, action-packed management simulation where you run a store amid a relentless zombie apocalypse. Blend the cozy commerce of shelf-stocking and staff management with the tense, gritty reality of base defense and first-person combat against undead hordes. Your choices—whether to be an honest wasteland merchant or brutally exploit the chaos for profit—will shape your store's reputation and your ultimate fate.
Story
Set in a grueling post-apocalyptic world, your storefront serves as a rare beacon of civilization—or a trap for unsuspecting survivors. Expand your operations to unlock gated city zones, interact with desperate customers, and navigate moral dilemmas that decide the future of your trading empire.
Gameplay
Juggle intricate store management mechanics like crafting stock and organizing shelves with high-stakes survival elements. Send hired staff on dangerous scavenging runs via the world map, invest in a deep RPG talent tree, and defend your base from escalating zombie waves using everything from chainsaws to flamethrowers.
Key Features
- 1Post-Apocalyptic Commerce: Craft stock, organize shelves, and manage daily store operations in a hostile world.
- 2Dynamic Staff System: Hire guards and scavengers, manage their infection risks, and boost your workforce limits via talents.
- 3First-Person Defense: Fight off zombie sieges with craftable melee weapons (chainsaws, spears) and firearms (shotguns, flamethrowers).
- 4World Map Exploration: Spend batteries to bypass gates, unlock new looting zones, and search abandoned buildings.
- 5Deep RPG Progression: Level up combat, survival, and management skill trees to build the ultimate wasteland empire.
- 6Moral Sandbox: Choose to trade honestly, heal customers for reputation, or ruthlessly loot their corpses for quick profit.
Highlights
Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Addictive gameplay loop mixing relaxing retail management with tense horde combat.
- +Deep and rewarding skill tree with meaningful synergies.
- +Fun moral choices that impact your playstyle and rewards.
- +High level of interaction and base-building customization.
Cons
- -Core inventory and decay loop can feel a bit grindy over time.
- -Strictly single-player with no cooperative defense modes.
- -Resource management might overwhelm players looking purely for action.
Game Ratings
Refined blocky low-poly aesthetic that balances cozy and gritty.
Highly addictive blend of retail sim, base building, and FPS combat.
Emergent narrative driven by sandbox mechanics and moral choices.
Contrasting audio between relaxing shop ambiance and chaotic horde sieges.
Extensive talent trees and sandbox freedom encourage multiple playthroughs.
Who Will Enjoy This?
Players who love optimizing inventory, managing staff, and watching numbers go up.
Gamers who enjoy base-building, scavenging, and defending against waves.
Those who want to use shotguns and flamethrowers on undead hordes.
Similar To
Zombie Horde Survival
7 Days to Die
match
Store Management Loop
Shopping Market Simulator
match
Visual Aesthetic
Schedule 1
match
💡 Did You Know?
Developed entirely by solo creator Microwave Games, whose previous release was a 2D action platformer called 'Against All Odds'.
Batteries act as the primary currency in the game, used for everything from hiring staff to unlocking major city gates.
Players can earn a quick 50 XP bonus by doing the dirty work of disposing of zombie corpses that pile up outside the shop.
Staff members run the risk of catching the zombie infection, but dedicated managers can upgrade their talent trees to make them fully immune.
Latest Updates & Events
The Walking Trade - 10% OFF on Steam
The Walking Trade is currently featured on the Steam store!
“Quite the grind in its store simulator loop with supply, demand, and decay themes, offering a fresh take on the apocalypse.”— Early Demo Review
“Cool base protection, crafting, and surprising depth in managing your apocalypse storefront!”— First-Look Creator Impressions
Game Ratings
Refined blocky low-poly aesthetic that balances cozy and gritty.
Highly addictive blend of retail sim, base building, and FPS combat.
Emergent narrative driven by sandbox mechanics and moral choices.
Contrasting audio between relaxing shop ambiance and chaotic horde sieges.
Extensive talent trees and sandbox freedom encourage multiple playthroughs.
Who Will Enjoy This?
Players who love optimizing inventory, managing staff, and watching numbers go up.
Gamers who enjoy base-building, scavenging, and defending against waves.
Those who want to use shotguns and flamethrowers on undead hordes.
Similar To
💡 Did You Know?
Developed entirely by solo creator Microwave Games, whose previous release was a 2D action platformer called 'Against All Odds'.
Batteries act as the primary currency in the game, used for everything from hiring staff to unlocking major city gates.
Players can earn a quick 50 XP bonus by doing the dirty work of disposing of zombie corpses that pile up outside the shop.
Staff members run the risk of catching the zombie infection, but dedicated managers can upgrade their talent trees to make them fully immune.
Latest Updates & Events
The Walking Trade - 10% OFF on Steam
The Walking Trade is currently featured on the Steam store!
Development Journey
Skill Tree Synergies
- •25% reduced world travel time for faster scavenging
- •50% faster search speeds in abandoned buildings
- •25% XP bonus when maintaining over 90% health
Game Details
- Developer
- Microwave Games
- Publisher
- PlayWay S.A.
- Platforms
- PC
- Genres
- Simulation, Action +2
- Atmosphere
- gritty