BLOG & UPDATES

The full Shop system is now live. Earn coins every run and spend them on permanent upgrades and new characters.

• Coins drop from every zombie kill — collect before they disappear
• Weapon upgrades: Damage and Mag Size, up to 5 levels each
• DET. HAYES unlocked for 300 coins — Speed +55%
• SWAT COLE unlocked for 500 coins — HP x2.3, Damage +45%
• CMDR. VOSS unlocked for 800 coins — Phase shift every 10 seconds
• CAPT. RAMOS unlocked for 1200 coins — Rage passive builds with kill count
• Coins persist between runs — every session counts

Each weapon has a specific role. Using the wrong gun for the situation will get you killed.

• GLOCK-17: 15-round mag, 280ms fire rate. Your fallback — ammo-efficient, zero spread. Always reliable for stragglers.
• MOSSBERG: 6 pellets per shot, 750ms reload. Devastating at close range against grouped enemies. Useless against Runners at distance.
• MP5: 32-round mag, fires every 80ms. Best sustained DPS. Burns ammo fast — watch your reserves on long waves.
• M4A1: Highest damage at 3.2x multiplier, near-zero spread, 95px bullet range. The only efficient weapon against Tank zombies.

Switch weapons with keys 1–4. While one reloads, swap to the Glock instead of standing empty.

From wave 8 onwards all four zombie types spawn together. Know what you're fighting.

• NORMAL: Slow walker, medium HP. Dangerous in large numbers. Mossberg handles crowds.
• FAST (RUNNER): Small, very fast, low HP. Always kill Runners before any other type — they reach you first.
• TANK (PURPLE): Very high HP, huge hitbox. Use the M4A1 — it's the only weapon that takes them down without burning a full mag of anything else.
• EXPLODER (ORANGE): Explodes on contact or death. Never let one get close. Never shoot with the Mossberg at close range — the blast damages you.

Priority order when multiple types are present: Exploders → Runners → Tanks → Normals.

Each arena has its own story, obstacle layout, and colour palette — and each one changes how you have to play.

• POLICE PRECINCT: Desks and lockers as cover. The most forgiving layout. Best for learning the game.
• DOWNTOWN: Burning city streets. Open sightlines between building columns. Ideal for rifle players who want distance.
• ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL: Tight corridors formed by hospital beds. High-intensity — the MP5 dominates here.
• RIVERSIDE CEMETERY: Scattered gravestones for cover. The most chaotic map — Exploders are especially deadly here due to limited escape routes.

All arenas share the same difficulty scaling. Only the layout changes. Choose the map that suits your playstyle.

Dead City is officially live on GitHub Pages. Free. No download. No account. Click and play.

The game launched with 4 arenas, 4 weapons, 4 zombie types, 5 characters, a coin and shop system, a local leaderboard, and a full procedural audio engine built on the Web Audio API.

Every sprite, sound, and mechanic is hand-coded in vanilla JavaScript — no game engine, no libraries. Just HTML5 Canvas and code.

This is a solo project built out of genuine love for top-down pixel art shooters. It will keep getting updated. Feedback shapes every patch — use the Contact page.