What is cataclysm-dda?

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a free, turn-based survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world. You scavenge through the ruins of civilization, searching for food, equipment, and maybe a working vehicle, while fighting off zombies, giant insects, killer robots, and other survivors who want what you have. The world is procedurally generated, meaning each playthrough creates a fresh map with different layouts and challenges. Because it is turn-based, you can take your time with each decision. Move a step, and the world moves a step. This makes it more of a strategic survival simulation than a fast-paced action game. The world is also persistent, so your actions and the state of the world carry forward as you play. You can play with graphical tiles or in a classic text-based interface. The game appeals to people who enjoy deep, difficult survival experiences with layered crafting and exploration systems. If you have ever wanted to start with almost nothing in a hostile, ruined world and slowly build up a stockpile of gear while figuring out how to stay alive, this is built for you. It is the kind of game where you might spend hours just figuring out how to repair a car or craft a decent weapon. The project is open source and built in C++, with contributions from over a thousand volunteers. It is freely available on Linux, Windows, macOS, and BSD, and some Linux distributions even package it directly through their standard package managers. There are also experimental builds available if you want the latest changes before they reach a stable release. The game is entirely free to use, modify, and redistribute under a Creative Commons license. The community is active, with forums, an IRC channel, and a Discord server for discussion and support.