10 Times Video Games FORCED You To Lose (And Punished You For It)

A typical tutorial is meant to help you familiarize yourself with the game’s mechanics while encouraging you to experiment and have fun. But not in Project Zomboid. Project Zomboid loves to remind you how hopeless its world is, and you’re not safe from its wrath even when it’s showing you the ropes.

In the tutorial scenarios for the game, you play as a custom character trapped inside their family home. Right off the bat, you receive a cheery welcome note from the game telling you you're not going to make it. Afterward, the tutorial teaches you the basics of survival by making you eat dead rats and killing the zombified members of your family.

And somehow, that’s not even the worst part!

See, eventually the game shows you how to shoot a gun, and the noise it makes attracts a huge horde of zombies to your location. Another message pops up telling you that “your” mistake will be the end of you, and then you’re left to fend for yourself until your character becomes zombie food.

To make this even more punishing, the tutorial disables your shotgun so that you can’t even have a proper last stand.

Welcome to Project Zomboid!