Parents' Guide to State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition

If you've ever wanted a Sims-style zombie game, this ought to do the trick -- assuming you can deal with the stress and repetitive gameplay. There's an unavoidable time management element to State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition. As time marches unstoppably on, your community of survivors will keep using up all of the resources you track down. As resources dwindle, the survivors' morale will sink lower and lower, until they begin fighting with each other, starving, and threatening to leave. At the same time, there's also a vibe reminiscent of The Walking Dead, thanks to a focus on growing a community of people who work together to provide for one another and help other survivors. The best -- and, not coincidentally, most stressful -- moments in the game are when you're racing against the clock to find resources necessary to save someone who's rapidly deteriorating from infection, knowing that they'll die if you don't work quickly and efficiently. It's in these situations that the zombie simulation feels most authentic: scary, tense, and with real, unalterable consequences hanging in the balance.

But there are other times when the action settles into what can only be described as a slog. You'll go on countless repetitive scavenging missions simply to ensure your community is well stocked. And many of the survivors you help have the same objectives, such as to be protected while looting a house or to be accompanied back to their own group or community. More variety would have gone a long way toward making the experience less monotonous. In the end, State of Decay 2 will likely sink or swim based on the strength and appeal of its zombie apocalypse simulation. If you want to feel the stress and experience day-to-day travails of living in a world populated by the shambling dead, there's ample fun. But if you want something with a little less repetition and a little more story, keep looking.