Games like Call of Duty Zombies for round-based survival
Call of Duty Zombies is round-based: each wave is bigger, and points buy guns and doors. Killing Floor 3 is the closest in structure, while Left 4 Dead 2, World War Z and Back 4 Blood move you through levels with friends. Roam has five horde shooters too.
How CoD Zombies works
Zombies is a wave survival mode created by Treyarch. It first appeared in Call of Duty: World at War in 2008 and has been in most Treyarch games since. Up to four players hold out in one map. Zombies come in rounds, each round harder than the last. Every hit and kill earns points, which you spend on new weapons, opening doors and perks.
Each map also hides a long main quest called an Easter egg, which is why some players keep coming back to the same map for years.
Wave survival games like CoD Zombies
- Killing Floor 3. Tripwire's 2025 co-op shooter. Waves of monsters, a trader between rounds and a boss at the end. The closest match in structure.
- Left 4 Dead 2. Valve's 2009 co-op classic. Four survivors fight through hordes from one safe room to the next.
- World War Z: Aftermath. Saber's co-op shooter with huge swarms that climb over each other. Good if you want big crowds of zombies.
- Back 4 Blood. Turtle Rock's 2021 co-op game with a card system that changes each run.
Tips for high rounds
Train the zombies. Run them in a big loop so they bunch up behind you, then turn and shoot into the group.
Do not spend all your points on the first good gun. Open doors that give you more space to move, and buy the perk that lets you take more hits first.
Roam horde shooters
Roam is a free iPhone app with thousands of short games.
- Toll the Horde. First-person horde survival. Ring the bell, they rise, shoot until dawn.
- Soak the Dead. The water park filter broke and the park went green. A zombie raft shooter.
- Next Stop: Ghouls. Keep the train moving. Every stop is full of ghouls.
- Sector 03. A sci-fi wave defense shooter. Hold the line one wave at a time.
- Rotten Rounds. Top-down zombie survival. Twelve waves, one camp, keep moving.
Play it on Roam
More on Roam
Make your own zombies mode with Roam
Describe the map, the waves and what you can buy between rounds. Roam builds it, and your friends can join the fight.
Try: "round-based zombies in a shopping mall, buy guns from the walls with points, every 5th round a boss, 4 friends co-op"Questions people ask
Who made Call of Duty Zombies?
Treyarch created the Zombies mode. It first appeared in Call of Duty: World at War in 2008.
What game is most like CoD Zombies?
Killing Floor 3 is closest: wave-based co-op with a shop between rounds.
Are there zombie wave games on phones?
Yes. Roam has several, like Toll the Horde and Rotten Rounds, built for short sessions on iPhone.