Buried Town is a survival game that takes place on an isolated island. A character ends up in a remote town in the middle of a zombie epidemic and needs to survive as long as possible. This is done by fighting zombies, gathering supplies, crafting items and exploring. Most of the information is presented through text and images with many RPG-like statistics to keep track off. Combat is played out automatically with text describing turn-based combat based on a number of variables and statistics for both sides.
The character soon finds shelter that can be converted into a space to live and work, shown through a top-down view. There is a stove to prepare food, a sleeping bag, and a workbench to repair and craft items. Different types of locations are unlocked gradually on a map. There is a day-and-night system and travelling consumes time. The same applies to sleeping and building items. Each location (a shop, a house, an apartment ...) consists of one of multiple rooms or areas that need to be visited to complete the location entirely. Sometimes this leads to combat, but some parts also have chests with items and supplies. Items can be stored in a bag and only a limited amount of weight can be carried.
All actions and items influence the main statistics: Energy, HP, Hunger, Infection, Injury and Mood. The season, temperature, time and weather also play a role. If certain statistics are neglected, the character dies. The same happens when the zombie enemies are too strong. Death is permanent unless a first aid kit is available or purchased. If not, the game has to be started over. Along the way different types of characters are encountered that offer quests and services. They often can be used to trade items.
The game is free-to-play and offers in-app purchases for many game elements that make it easier to survive for a longer time. Examples are talents such as Athlete (more HP), Communicator (large interaction bonus), Marksman (better accuracy) and Scavenger (more item drops). Other purchases are patterns for boots or a military backpack, or the schematic to build a dog house. There are also food bags, shopping bags, medical packages, weapons packages and survival kits.
