Atom Zombie Smasher is a top-down, strategy-resource managment indie game. It is the objective of you (the commander of human forces) to destroy the Zed menace and rescue civilians. The learning curve for the game is high, but once you have a good idea of the basics, it is not very difficult at all to win on short campaigns and as time progresses the longer campaigns.

In the early game it is in your best interest to capture as many level one outbreaks as you can for two reasons. One is that the ticket count for your side gets higher. Two, is area denial, reducing the possible size of the enemy's ticket count in the future by blocking them.

You will find that it is likely, you will recieve most of your tickets/points at the end of mission breakdown, but the Zed's recieve most of their points from the territories they control. The more areas you can block them or turn to your side the better. Late game boards can quickly fill with level four outbreaks that will give the Zed's huge bonuses.

Don't be afraid to try missions over and over to capture the area if you are close or can come up with a better strategy. Unless you are playing with a modifier that prevents mission restarts there is no penaly for failure and restarting.

There are certain times where your available units will not be able to capture the area. For example, early game, you may roll snipers and barricades with shorter daytime. This would be almost impossible, so in those cases where you are clearly a mile away from capture, dont stress out and fight it over and over and over. Complete the objective and consider the matter over and move on to the next month.

When presented with multiple outbreaks to choose from, if you think you can succeed in a level two or three outbreak with your available units, then go for it. This is especially true later in the game when the orbital cannons become available. Upgraded choppers and highly explosive weapons can easly deliver huge ticket scores on level three outbreaks. This makes level three outbreaks the prime target when your units are just right, because they offer point multipliers and huge areas that give the chopper time to work. See the pic below...





However, if you are looking at multiple level one outbreaks, consider how many adjacent territories there are around them. For example if you have two level one outbreaks, and one of them has three adjacent territories and the other one has six, then clear the one with six territories touching it. This will help to prevent huge outbreaks sites that are next to multiple available territories for it to spread into.

Finally, in regards to level four outbreaks which require complete destruction of enemy forces, the easiest way to be rid of them is to use llama bombs. If you haven't got them, then go for area denial and try and capture or black out the territories next to the level four to reduce its influence. Only bother to attempt a level four once you have the catbird cannon and preferably either upgraded artillery or upgraded bombs and dynamite, otherwise, you are really wasting your time.

The units that you are given every month and the outbreaks that occur force you to try and make the best decision you can make. Capture the level one, block the level two, farm points on the level three, or try and wipe out the level fours to get huge scientist bonuses. Dont be mad that you can't smash face every turn. The old saying goes, "Do what you can, with what you've got."

If you have any additional questions, or problems, feel free to add me on steam and I will be glad to offer any suggestions or advice that I may have to help.

Thank you for reading this and good luck against the Zed : )