Why this site plays ZombsRoyale.io, and how the game works
BuildRoyale.io is the game this domain is named after: a two-dimensional, top-down battle royale by Mathew Matakovic in which you harvest wood, brick and metal with a pickaxe and throw up walls and ramps mid-fight, Fortnite-style but drawn from above. The catch is that its developer has written a list of domains into the game that it refuses to run inside, and buildroyale.org is on it. Embed it here and the frame goes black. We are not going to patch around a developer's explicit wish, so the original stays where it belongs, at buildroyale.io, and the home page plays the nearest thing to it that welcomes being embedded: ZombsRoyale.io.
ZombsRoyale.io is the same formula minus the building. A hundred players board a plane over an island drawn in the same top-down cartoon style, everyone drops where they choose, and the gas closes the map in rings until one player or team is left. Weapons come in rarity tiers from common to mythic, ammo is split by type, shields stack on top of health, and there are bushes to hide in, chests to crack open and grenades to flush people out of cover. Matches take five to eight minutes and the queues fill in seconds at any hour, which is why it has kept a crowd since End Game Interactive shipped it in 2018. It loads in the frame above with no account required; sign in only if you want your battle pass progress kept.
Controls & mechanics
| Action | Control | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Move | WASD or arrow keys | Walk in eight directions; you move slower while reloading or drinking a potion |
| Aim and shoot | Mouse, left button | Aim with the cursor; hold to fire automatics, click per shot for pistols, shotguns and snipers |
| Pick up and open | Walk over an item, E on chests | Guns, ammo and consumables are grabbed on contact; chests and doors need the interact key |
| Switch weapon | 1 to 5 or scroll wheel | Two gun slots plus three for healing, shields and throwables |
| Reload | R | Reloads the held gun; do it behind cover, the animation is long on shotguns and snipers |
| Map | M | Opens the full island map with the gas ring and your squad markers |
Getting past the first minute alive
- Drop off the flight path: Half the lobby jumps under the plane's line. Glide to a cluster of buildings a screen or two away from it and you loot in peace while the early fights thin the field.
- Shield before second gun: A small shield potion is worth more than a second rifle in the first two minutes. Drink it as soon as you find one; the fight you cannot avoid is decided by whoever has armour.
- Move with the ring, not after it: The gas outruns a walking player once the circle gets small. Watch the timer on the minimap and start moving when it shows thirty seconds, not when the wall is on screen.
- Bushes hide you, not your bullets: Standing in a bush makes you invisible to anyone outside it, which is how the last three usually play the final ring. Firing reveals you, so wait for the shot that matters.
Key features
- 100-player matches: Solo, duo and squad queues on one island, with limited-time modes rotating in on weekends.
- Loot with rarity tiers: Pistols, SMGs, shotguns, rifles and snipers from common to mythic, plus grenades, gas grenades and healing items.
- Runs anywhere: A Unity WebGL build that plays in the page on a laptop or a school Chromebook; the mobile apps share the same servers.
Game info
- Title: ZombsRoyale.io
- Developer: End Game Interactive
- Category: Battle Royale
- Platform: Web browser (HTML5)
- Released: 2018, End Game Interactive; 100 players per match
Pro tip: Open the settings gear before your first match and set the region by hand instead of Auto-Detect. Auto-Detect picks by ping at load time, which on a shared school connection often lands you on a distant server, and a hundred milliseconds of lag is the difference between winning and losing every close-range shotgun duel.
Frequently asked questions
Is this BuildRoyale.io?
No. BuildRoyale.io's code contains a list of domains it refuses to run inside, and buildroyale.org is one of them, so the original cannot be played on this site. The home page plays ZombsRoyale.io instead, a 100-player top-down battle royale in the same style without the building. The original is free at buildroyale.io.
What is ZombsRoyale.io?
A 2D battle royale by End Game Interactive, released in 2018: a hundred players drop onto an island, loot weapons and shields, and the gas closes the map until one player or squad is left. It runs in the browser and has iOS and Android apps on the same servers.
Do I need an account?
No. Type a nickname and press a mode to play as a guest. Logging in only keeps your cosmetics and battle pass progress between sessions.
Can I play with friends?
Yes. Pick Duo or Squad and use the party panel in the lobby to invite friends by code; you drop together and see each other on the map.
Does it work on a Chromebook or phone?
It is a Unity WebGL build and runs in Chrome on a Chromebook or laptop. On a phone the touch layout of the official app is far better than the browser version, so use the app there.