ZOMBUTCHER: Monster Business Simulator

[gritty jackal]

Hey everyone! Me and my uni friends are developing a ZOMBUTCHER - is a stealth action simulator in which you take on the role of a zombie butcher. Hiding in the shadows of a Louisiana town and avoiding night patrols, you will gather food and resources for other monsters.. Sell meat to humans during the day, butcher them at night and eat BRA-A-A-INS!

Core features are:

• **Crafting **- Every day begins according to plan: I pick up meat from the farmers, bring it to my shop, cut it up with a knife, and pack everything into convenient bags.
• **Hunting **- Zombies aren't the strongest monsters, but you have the shadows on your side, so getting brains and new consumables for goods isn't a difficult task. A stranger in a dark alley is prey. But remember, you're not the only hunter on the streets.
• **Selling **- During the day – for people, at night – from people. The main thing is not to get confused! A piece of human flesh may taste similar to chicken, but not everyone will appreciate such a delicacy. And it is unlikely that any of the nighttime shoppers will be happy with a berry smoothie instead of a bottle of fresh blood.
• **Upgrading **- Consumer appetites are growing! If you want to satisfy their demands, upgrade your equipment, expand your store, and seek out the highest quality ingredients so that EVERY customer leaves satisfied.
• Customizing - Tired of your arm? Or your leg? No worries—you're a zombie! Borrow one from someone who doesn't need it anymore! More than ten pairs of arms and legs that you can swap out to gain new abilities or just change up your look.

Here is our link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4039900/ZOMBUTCHER_Monster_Business_Simulator/

Steam

ZOMBUTCHER: Monster Business Simulator

ZOMBUTCHER – is a stealth action simulator in which you take on the role of a zombie butcher. Hiding in the shadows of a Louisiana town and avoiding night patrols, you will gather food and resources for other monsters.…

Release Date

To be announced

And already sharing some news - 3 days ago we launched a playtest. Want to share some numbers:
It's only been 3 days since launch, and the numbers are already impressive:

**689 **players have accessed the playtest

**108 **invitations to friends to participate in the playtest

**173 **people have already played

**32 **minutes - median playtime (thank you so much, dear players!)

Thank you to everyone who has already participated in the playtest, shared their impressions, and filled out our Google form - your answers are incredibly helpful in keeping us on the right track!

Right now, we are all working on the feedback: reading every review, fixing bugs, and polishing any flaws we find. Thank you for helping us make ZOMBUTCHER better!

Hope this numbers share also will help another devs!)

[gritty jackal]

Hey! Please join our public playtest on Steam and...
Destroy our game now so people can love it later!

We need maximum feedback, and we won't be upset if it's strictly negative – it's important for us to see what our game is like now so we can make it better in the future, fix game design errors, and release a high-quality demo version of the game on Steam.

Follow the link to the Steam page, click the green Request Access button, and the playtest version will be available in your library:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4039900/ZOMBUTCHER_Monster_Business_Simulator?utm_source=discord

Steam

ZOMBUTCHER: Monster Business Simulator

ZOMBUTCHER – is a stealth action simulator in which you take on the role of a zombie butcher. Hiding in the shadows of a Louisiana town and avoiding night patrols, you will gather food and resources for other monsters.…

Release Date

To be announced

[gritty jackal]

We just hit 500 wishlists on Steam - feeling grateful and motivated!

Hey everyone!
I wanted to share a small but meaningful milestone from our team and me!

Our first game ZOMBUTCHER just reached 500 wishlists on Steam - something we've been slowly but steadily working toward for quite some time.
We're a tiny team doing everything ourselves: code, art, level design, marketing (that part is on me - and I'm still learning how to do it properly).

Seeing 500 people click "Add to Wishlist" is a huge reminder that our game is reaching someone. That the idea resonates with players, even at this early stage.

About 10 days ago we launched our first playtest and gathered a ton of valuable feedback. Right now we’re focused on improving, polishing, and tightening the core loop.

We still have a long road ahead, but today we're celebrating this little win - and I wanted to share it with you all!

If you're also working on your game: keep going.
These small milestones matter more than you think.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your projects!

[gritty jackal]

Our playtest is officially over! Thank you to everyone who participated! 🫰
During these two weeks, we received a huge amount of valuable feedback and are already working hard on improvements.

During these 14 days of the playtest:
855 - players gained access to the playtest;
303 - players have already played;
165 - invitations to friends to participate in the playtest;
30 minutes - the median playtime.

We continue to improve every aspect of the game - from game design to environment models. There's still a lot of interesting things to come!

[gritty jackal]

What we learned from launching our first playtest

What issues did we face?

1. Technical issues:
   This one is obvious, but our players found a lot of bugs - and unfortunately, some of them were critical. While we expected issues, the number of game-breaking bugs was higher than we anticipated.

2) Poor gamedesign dicisions:
Some of our design decisions around shops and product placement were not ideal.
For example, we had meat being sold in one shop and the packaging for it in another - and the shops are on opposite sides of the butcher shop!

Players also struggled to find core locations. We don't have a map, and many playtesters couldn't locate quest objectives, which led to frustration.

3) Didn't connect analytics right from the start
Our first ~50 playtesters played the game while we weren't collecting any analytics data. Once analytics were properly set up, it became much easier to understand where and when players were running into problems.
Being able to look at graphs and see exactly where players quit the game is incredibly helpful for polishing the experience.

What could we have done better?
If we had given early access to friends and family, we would have caught many of these issues earlier - or at least reduced their impact.
Of course, we playtested the game ourselves, but we already knew what to do and where to go. A fresh perspective makes a huge difference.

All in all
Overall, it was a great experience. Our whole team definitely grew from it.
We gathered a lot of feedback - both positive and negative and it's already helping us improve the game. Our backlog now has more than 100 issues to fix or improve

This playtest reminded us how important early analytics and fresh eyes are.
Hopefully, this post helps someone else avoid similar mistakes and make their game better!

[gritty jackal]

Zombutcher had a playtest from November 28 to December 12, and during that time we actively collected player feedback. In this post, I want to share how we gathered that feedback and what we’re doing with it now.

How we collected feedback
We used several feedback channels, but the main one was a Google Form that opened automatically when the game was closed.

It included typical playtest questions such as:

1. how long the session was,
2. what players liked,
3. what they disliked,
4. and general thoughts about the experience.

We also collected feedback through our social media channels, where some players sent bug reports and more detailed comments directly.

How we organized the feedback
In total, we received 150+ feedback messages. Since the volume was manageable, we processed everything manually.

We read each response and added it to a shared Google Sheet. All feedback was split into 8 categories, which made it much easier to review, discuss, and track issues.

What we did with the data
We held a team call where everyone went through every single feedback entry and shared their thoughts.

A large portion of the feedback was bug-related, but there was also valuable input on game design, player progression, UI/UX and art style.

Because of that, input from the whole team was important.
For each issue, we wrote down a clear action or solution.
Once every problem had a solution, we prioritized them on a 1-4 scale, where:
a) 1 = is critical
b) 4 = not urgent

Our Lead Developer then estimated how many weeks each task would take to fix, improve, or implement. Also it helps to understand what to do first - if task is urgent and simple it's gonna be the first thing we are doing.

What we're doing now
We are currently fixing the issues and improving the game based on this feedback.

Our next step is a second playtest iteration, this time with the implemented fixes and improvements.

Thanks for reading, hope this breakdown helps someone with their own playtests!

And question to other devs - How do you usually organize and prioritize feedback after a playtest? What tools do you use to do this?

[gritty jackal]

We are adding a monster to our game - help us choose it's look

[gritty jackal]

You can switch arms in our game (being a zombie has its perks)

In our game you can literally swap your arms. Since you're a zombie, borrowing limbs from your “customers” felt… reasonable.
Here's the concept art for a few pairs of hands you’ll be able to use.
Would love to hear your thoughts

[gritty jackal]

Hello everyone!
Hope you're having cozy, warm holidays and finally getting some well-deserved rest.

For our team, 2026 is going to be a huge milestone. We're planning to release Zombutcher in the first half of the year, and honestly, we couldn't be more excited (and a little nervous too).

Right now, we're working closely with a publisher, having regular conversations and aligning on the next steps. At the same time, we're preparing for Steam Next Fest, so there's a lot happening behind the scenes.

Lessons learned from 2025:

1. Not all publishers are kind or fair - do your research and trust your gut.

2. Run closed playtest sessions before launching an open playtest - it helps catch many issues early and saves a lot of unnecessary stress.

3. Invest time in your Steam page - visuals, description, and clarity matter more than you might think.

4. Build a solid internal pipeline - it will save your team a ton of time in the long run.

We truly believe that 2026 will be your year as well - full of new achievements, growth, and great moments.
Thank you so much for all the feedback and support you’ve shared with us along the way.

[ripe wraith]

This is looking really solid so far nice progress and attention to detail.
I’m a digital artist specializing in game assets, so if you ever need asset support for this project or future ones, I’d be happy to help.
Wishing you the best with development!

@gritty jackal

[gritty jackal]

Thank you very much! Feedback means a lot to us)

Hey everyone! 👋
How are your holidays going? We hope you're having a great time!

The Zombutcher team hasn't been idle — we’re actively working on the game. And here’s a small update:
we've refined our signature visual style and brought back that very shader you asked for during the playtest.

On top of that, our team has grown, so we're getting back to work refreshed and full of energy.
There's a lot of exciting stuff ahead this year!

[gritty jackal]

Hey everyone! Our trailer was posted on IGN's second channel. Please support it with a like and, if you can, a comment. We'd be very grateful! Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV1ZlqM1OqI