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Zero-K

Free to Play
Release Date:
Developer:
Zero-K Team
Publisher:
Zero-K Team
Platforms:
Windows Linux
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About This Game


Commander wanted! Construct giant robots, build an army of a thousand Fleas. Move mountains if needed. Bury the enemy at all cost!
  • Traditional real time strategy with physically simulated units and projectiles.
  • 100+ varied units with abilities including terrain manipulation, cloaking and jumpjets.
  • 70+ mission galaxy-spanning campaign to be enjoyed solo or co-op with friends.
  • Challenging, (non-cheating) skirmish AI and survival mode.
  • Multiplayer 1v1 - 16v16, FFA, coop. ladders, replays, spectators and tournaments.
  • Really free, no paid advantages, no unfair multiplayer.

Fully Utilized Physics


Simulated unit and projectile physics is used to a level rarely found in a strategy game.
  • Use small nimble units to dodge slow moving projectiles.
  • Hide behind hills that block weapon fire, line of sight and radar.
  • Toss units across the map with gravity guns.
  • Transport a battleship to a hilltop - for greater views and gun range.

Manipulate the Terrain


The terrain itself is an ever-changing part of the battlefield.
  • Wreck the battlefield with craters that bog down enemy tanks.
  • Dig canals to bring your navy inland for a submarine-in-a-desert strike.
  • Build ramps, bridges, entire fortress if you wish.
  • Burn your portrait into continental crust using the planetary energy chisel.

Singleplayer Campaign and Challenging AI


Enjoy many hours of single player and coop fun with our campaign, wide selection of non-cheating AIs and a survival mode against an alien horde.
  • Explore the galaxy and discover technologies in our singleplayer campaign.
  • Face a challenging AI that is neither brain-dead nor a clairvoyant cheater.
  • Have some coop fun with friends, surviving waves of chicken-monsters.
  • Cloaking? Resurrection? Tough choices customizing your commander.

Casual and Competitive Multiplayer


Zero-K was built for multiplayer from the start, this is where you can end up being hooked for a decade.
  • Enjoying epic scale combat? Join our 16v16 team battles!
  • Looking for a common goal? Fight AIs or waves of chicken-monsters.
  • Prefer dancing on a razor's edge? Play 1v1 in ladder and tournaments.
  • Comebacks, betrayals, emotions always running high in FFA.
  • Want to fight for a bigger cause? Join PlanetWars, a competitive online campaign with web-game strategic elements, diplomacy and backstabbing (currently on hiatus pending an overhaul).

Power to the People


We are RTS players at heart, we work for nobody. We gave ourselves the tools we always wanted to have in a game.
  • Do what you want. No limits to camera, queue or level of control.
  • Paint a shape, any shape, and units will move to assume your formation.
  • Construction priorities let your builders work more efficiently.
  • Don't want to be tied down managing every unit movement? Order units to smartly kite, strafe or zig zag bullets.

Plenty of Stuff to Explore (and Explode)


Zero-K is a long term project and it shows, millions hours of proper multiplayer testing and dozens of people contributing ever expanding content.
  • Learn to use all of our 100+ units and play on hundreds of maps.
  • Invent the next mad team-tactics to shock enemies and make allies laugh.
  • Combine cloaking, teleports, shields, jumpjets, EMP, napalm, gravity guns, black hole launchers, mind control and self-replication.
  • Tiny flea swarm that clings to walls?
  • Jumping "cans" with steam-spike?
  • Buoys that hide under water to ambush ships?
  • Mechs that spew fire and enjoy being tossed from air transports?
  • Carrier with cute helicopters?
  • Jumping Jugglenaut with dual wielding gravity guns?
  • Meet them in Zero-K!

Screenshots

User Reviews

Overwhelmingly Positive
4 user reviews
100%
Positive
62 hrs at review
Recommended

Zero-K ("ZK") is an open-source real time strategy game based on the Spring engine. That engine has been around for over 15 years and it shows: While the graphics may not be state of the art any more, the other technical aspects of the game are very mature. Spring based games tend(ed) to be oriented at the 1990s classic "Total Annihilation" ("TA") but ZK has come a long way: The devs have streamlined the mod so that every unit and building has its own role and mechanics: There are units that cloak, stun, disarm, jump, incinerate, push or pull, climb walls... and lots more. Units are organised into different factories, each of which represents a certain theme or gameplay focus: Rovers are quick in flat terrain but fragile, tanks are the robust but more expensive option for the plains, there are aircraft to bomb high value targets and shield the team from air attacks and there is a gunship factory for providing close air support to ground units. There are bots with cloaked snipers and st...

1 helpful
2 hrs at review
Recommended

this is like TA and thats is a GOOD thing!! very good game and people who not a tech/number person will just not understand just how good, im in love just love them numbers!!

1 helpful
502 hrs at review
Recommended

I've gotten over 500 hours so maybe its review time. An excellent game in the Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander style. Entirely open source code written by volunteers, in family with Beyond All Reason. While it inherits a lot from this gene pool, it provides a very good re-imagination of several core concepts. I was a skeptic when I first came over Zero-K on Steam, and my first game was just weird feeling. Its a bit more zoomed-in and less-serious feeling, but delivers (in particular) really interesting large multiplayer battles. Now when I try one of the more classic games mentioned above, I miss the options Zero-K gives. It can take a while to understand the different factories and units within; not all factories have the answer to all problems, and not all units fit into some nice category. Map control is a big deal. Terraform and shields allow the construction of pretty impressive forts, while cloak fields keep the enemy guessing. Water units could be better, one o...

147 hrs at review
Recommended

Fun with some light strategy.

System Requirements

Minimum

Minimum:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS *: Windows 7, 8, or 10
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz dual core CPU with SSE (Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent)
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 512 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (GeForce 8800 or equivalent); integrated cards may not work
  • Storage: 6 GB available space

Recommended

Recommended:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS *: Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11
  • Processor: 3.0 GHz quad core CPU (Intel Core i5 or equivalent)
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 2048 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (high GT 500 series or equivalent)
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 8 GB available space

FAQ

How much does Zero-K cost?

Zero-K is completely FREE to play. You can download and play it without any purchase.

What are the system requirements for Zero-K?

Minimum: Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS *: Windows 7, 8, or 10 Processor: 2.0 GHz dual core CPU with SSE (Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent) Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: 512 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (GeForce 8800 or equivalent); integrated cards may not work Storage: 6 GB available space Recommended: Recommended: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS *: Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 Processor: 3.0 GHz quad core CPU (Intel Core i5 or equivalent) Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 2048 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (high GT 500 series or equivalent) Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 8 GB available space

What platforms is Zero-K available on?

Zero-K is available on Windows PC, Linux.

Is Zero-K worth buying?

Zero-K has 100% positive reviews from 4 players.

When was Zero-K released?

Zero-K was released on Apr 27, 2018.

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