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Bite the Living

Flip the zombie trope—command the undead, hunt down humans, and keep your horde from rotting away.

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Gameplay overview

Reverse zombie strategy

Built during Pixel Game Jam 2025, Bite the Living lets you orchestrate zombies in real time. Select undead units, send them shambling toward humans, and watch new zombies spawn as you overwhelm the living. Each body brings your horde closer to victory, but your undead lose health over time—finish the hunt before the rot sets in.

Remarkable Games prototyped the experience in KAPLAY.js, combining quick selection controls with expressive pixel art and crunchy sound design.

Controls

From the official blog post

  • Mouse move: Aim the selection box and panning.
  • Left click: Select zombies (drag to select multiple).
  • Right click: Command selected zombies to move/attack.
  • Goal: Defeat every human before your horde decays.

Why it’s cool

Jam-powered chaos

  • Fast-paced RTS loop that inverts the usual survival story.
  • Pixel apocalypse visuals paired with energetic horror soundtrack.
  • Open-source code base for studying KAPLAY.js command and AI patterns.

Tips

Keep the undead fed

  • Focus on isolated humans first—their bodies bolster your horde.
  • Split groups to flank gunmen or civilians hiding behind obstacles.
  • Watch zombie health bars; constantly send them toward new prey so they don’t wither.

Our take

Why Bite the Living is a fun jam swarm

Bite the Living flips the usual survivor formula by putting you in charge of the zombie horde, which makes every successful infection feel like a tiny snowball rolling downhill. Watching your shambling crowd grow and wrap around pockets of resistance is oddly satisfying, especially when a risky flank pays off.

The isometric view and simple controls keep the focus on positioning rather than micro, making it approachable even if you aren’t usually into real-time tactics. It’s a nice example of how jam constraints can still produce a strong, readable gameplay loop.

Who will enjoy it?

Players who like light strategy, zombies, and jam prototypes with clear ideas will get a kick out of Bite the Living. If you expect long campaigns or complex upgrade trees it may feel short, but as a compact horde toy it’s great.