Porchlight! — Free 3D Zombie Defense Game

Porchlight! is a free 3D zombie defense game — a zombie tower defense where you are the tower — for your phone or computer: one finger, no download, no gore. You are a survivor in a log cabin in the woods, and every night goofy cartoon zombies shamble out of the fog toward your windows. Your flare gun puts them to sleep in a puff of fireflies. Keep the lanterns on the mantel lit until the sun comes up, then do it again on a harder night.

How to play

Tap a zombie to fire a flare at it. Your survivor runs to that side of the cabin and shoots; the flare bursts where you tapped, so a tap between two zombies can put both to sleep for a Double.
Tap the 🔨 hammer next to a window to nail a plank back on. Planks come from a limited pile.
Tap the flare drum at the bottom to reload early. When the drum is empty you reload by yourself.
Zombies claw the boards off a window; when the last plank goes, one climbs in and a lantern goes out. A window glows amber while it is being clawed and red on its last plank. Lose every lantern and the lights go out.
Your survivor can cover only one side at a time, so the real question every second is: stay here, or run to the window that is about to break?

Nights, dawn and survivors

Each night ends at dawn, when the sun puts every zombie still awake to sleep and pays a bonus. In the morning you pick one of three finds: more lumber, a bigger flare drum, a porch lamp that slows zombies at one window, a radio that brings an extra survivor, or a lantern relit. From the second night survivors burst out of the woods with zombies on their heels. Flare the chasers and the survivor joins you; up to three survivors guard a window each by themselves; tap a survivor, then a window, to move them.

Zombie types

Shamblers are slow and arrive from every side. Runners (from night 2) sprint, so their windows need you sooner.
Bruisers (from night 3) take four flares and tear planks off twice as fast.
Screamers (from night 4) stop at the edge of the woods and call a pack of runners unless you flare them first.
Climbers (from night 5) go up the wall and over the roof beams to the hatch; flare them from the ladder in the middle of the cabin.
Every fifth night a huge Big Timber smashes two planks at a time. Hit it three times while it winds up to stagger it.

The Homestead and Tonight's Forecast

Every run earns supplies: more for each night you survive and each survivor you save. Spend them in the Homestead on sturdier boards, a bigger lumber stack, porch lamps, a fourth lantern, a bigger drum, faster reloads, wider flares, the Sunburst that puts a whole side to sleep, and a steadier crew. Tonight's Forecast is one special night per day, the same for everyone: Full Moon, Thick Fog or Thunderstorm, with extra supplies and a daily streak.

Tips

Watch the glow: amber means clawing, red means the next plank is the last.
Zombies come in packs from the second night. Aim between them: one flare, two or three zombies.
Reload in quiet moments, not when a runner is at the window.
Board a window when two zombies are clawing it; shoot it when there is only one.
Post your survivors at the windows you can't watch, and keep the hero free to run.
Chill gives you an extra lantern and slower, fewer zombies; Hard gives you two lanterns.

Questions

Is it scary? No: the zombies are cartoon characters who fall asleep and sink into the ground. Nothing bleeds. Does it save? Yes, your night is saved in this browser if you close the tab (Tonight's Forecast runs are not saved), and your Homestead stays between runs. Is it like Convoy or Citadel? Convoy is a zombie runner and Citadel is a classic tower defense where towers fight for you; in Porchlight you are the defense, and where you stand matters most.

More games like this

Bubble Brigade! (zombie crowd runner) · Citadel! · Convoy · Tower Defense · More strategy games

3D characters and props by Quaternius (CC0 1.0); some model files obtained via poly.pizza under CC BY 3.0, recoloured and simplified. Cabin, woods and effects made for this game. Credits: CREDITS.txt.