I Made a Game with Zombies in It!

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I Made a Game with Zombies in It!
Developer(s)Ska Studios
Publisher(s)Ska Studios (Xbox Live)
Microsoft Studios (Windows Phone)
Designer(s)James Silva
Programmer(s)James Silva
Artist(s)James Silva
Composer(s)James Silva
Platform(s)Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, Windows, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
ReleaseXbox 360
August 16, 2009[1]
Windows Phone 7
November 29, 2011[2]
Windows, Linux
November 11, 2021[3]
Xbox One, Series X/S
October 31, 2022[4]
Genre(s)Multidirectional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

I Made a Game with Zombies in It! (stylized as I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 [sic]) is a 2009 zombie-themed multidirectional shooter game developed by Ska Studios and was designed by company founder James Silva, previously best known for the Xbox Live Arcade game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.[5][6] The game was developed using Microsoft XNA in two weeks. The title makes excessive comic usage of features of Internet writing, such as leetspeak, overuse of exclamation marks, and typographical errors. The game was released for Xbox 360 through the Xbox Live Indie Games service in August 2009.

I Made a Game with Zombies in It! received positive reviews from video game journalists, with game being praised for its quirky sense of humor and theme song. The game was the most popular Xbox Live Indie Game of 2009. A re-release of the game was released for Steam in November 2021 and the Xbox Store in October 2022.

Gameplay

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I Made a Game with Zombies in It! features one to four players, viewed from an aerial perspective, and by using the two analog sticks,[7] the players shoot droves of attacking zombies, which by killing them adds to your total score, while collecting power-ups, extra lives and types of weapons that include machine guns, shotguns and flamethrowers.[8] The objective is to survive until the game's background song ends.[9][10] The game is timed by a 13 minute and 37 second rock-style background song sung by Silva with lyrics given in first-person.[11][8] The song was made available for download on the official Ska Studios website.[12][13]

Development and releases

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I Made a Game with Zombies in It! was developed by James Silva using the Microsoft XNA tool.[8] As in a teenager, Silva learned how to make games by taking Visual Basic class in community college. Silva continued making DirectX games in VB6, however when XNA launched, Silva stared to use the C Sharp programming language.[6] The game only took two weeks to be developed.[11] In an interview with the DigitalSpy, Silva stated at he wasn’t expecting the game to be as successful as it was, and that he was "half-expecting it to fail for being too stupid of a game, but I think the exact opposite thing happened."[6][13] When Silva found out about the $1 price point for Xbox Live indie games, it inspired him to make "a $1 experience that delivers."[6]

I Made a Game with Zombies in It! was released on August 16, 2009 for the Xbox 360.[14] A version for the Windows Phone, entitled Z0MB1ES!!1 (on teh ph0ne) [sic] was released in 2012.[10][15][16] A spiritual successor to I Made a Game with Zombies in It!, entitled TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR [sic] was released for the Xbox 360.[16][17] A re-release of the original game was released for Steam in November 2021 and the Xbox Store in October 2022.[9][18]

Reception

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I Made a Game with Zombies in It! became a favorite with critics, and was noted for its quirky sense of humor and theme song.[5] IGN ranked it the best independent game of 2009.[19] Writer Erik Brudvig of IGN said the game was extremely entertaining and "somehow about as insane as its title," despite the simple controls.[20] Conrad Zimmerman of Destructoid said "It’s a level of creativity that we don’t often see and is highly welcome." However, Zimmerman did criticised that in multiplayer "Due to the field of play being so large, as players move away from each other the display zooms out to accomodate everybody onscreen."[14] Juno Stump of Retroware said "[Silva] unknowingly created a meme and a game that’s perfectly preserved in its time with everything from its overuse of typographical errors to its use of leetspeak that gave it a voice."[13]

Larry Hryb ranked the game as the number one spot on his "Top Indie Game" of 2009 list.[21] By January 2010, the game was the top-selling Xbox Live Indie Game by more than 40,000 units.[22] I Made a Game with Zombies in It! went on to sell 308,000 copies by August 2010,[23] making Ska Studios roughly $140,000.[22] I Made a Game with Zombies in It! won the 2009 Inside Gaming Award for Best Indie Game.[24] The song featured in the game, was released through the Rock Band Network, about a year after the game's release.[5][20][8]

References

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  1. ^ "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1". Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft. August 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  2. ^ "Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne)". Microsoft Store. Microsoft Store. November 29, 2011. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. ^ "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1". Steam. Valve. November 11, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Z0mb1es! Remastered". Xbox Games Store. Microsoft. October 31, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Hatfield, Daemon (January 25, 2010). "I MAED A #1 IND1E GAM3". IGN. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Matthew (October 21, 2009). "James Silva ('Dishwasher', 'Z0MB1ES')". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  7. ^ Altano, Peter Eykemans and Brian (2011-07-13). "Awesome Games Made By One Person". IGN. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  8. ^ a b c d Gardner, Matt (2017-08-09). "I Made a Game with Zombies in It (2009, Xbox 360) - GameTripper review". GameTripper. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  9. ^ a b Pamintuan, Dylan (2024-04-01). "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 Review". GameGrin. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  10. ^ a b Acevedo, Paul (17 February 2012). "Z0MB1ES!!1 (on the phone): Xbox Windows Phone Review". Windows Central. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. ^ a b "James Silva talks dishwashing, Zombies and XNA". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  12. ^ Silva, James (August 26, 2009). "Download I MAED A S0NG W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1". Ska Studios. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  13. ^ a b c Stump, Juno (2021-11-12). "I Made a Game with Zombies in It! is Back from the Dead and Free on Steam". Retroware. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  14. ^ a b Zimmerman, Conrad (2009-09-11). "Review: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1". Destructoid. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  15. ^ Hillier, Brenna (2013-04-12). "The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile dev defends Microsoft". VG247. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  16. ^ a b "Ska Studios releases TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR". GameSpot. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  17. ^ "Time Viking is the follow-up to I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES, out now on Xbox 360". Engadget. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  18. ^ Xbox, Pure (2022-11-07). "2009's 'Top Xbox Live Indie Game' Has Just Been Remastered For Free". Pure Xbox. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  19. ^ "Best Indie Game: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!". IGN. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  20. ^ a b Brudvig, Erik (August 28, 2009). "The Best Way to Spend a Dollar". IGN. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  21. ^ Hryb, Larry (January 10, 2010). "The Top 20 LIVE Games of 2009". MajorNelson.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  22. ^ a b "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1... And Sold 200K Units". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  23. ^ "GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES Infects Rock Band Network". Ska Studios. 23 August 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  24. ^ Glasser, A. J. (2009-12-15). "Infinity Ward Sweeps First Annual Inside Gaming Awards". Kotaku. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
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