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MINUS ZERO

A survival game from Black Thorn Labs. Cold world, warm fires, everything earned — built in Unreal Engine 5.

In development
Black Thorn Labs · a Minus Wells company
Fig. 1 — in-game, the title screen flythrough ● captured in engine · Unreal Engine 5
The original challenge

Survive the world.

Play Minus Zero as a pure survival game. Cold, hunger, thirst, wildlife, shelter, injuries, tools, seasons and the long walk back to camp are enough to end a run without anything supernatural switched on.

Optional enemy classes

Then make it worse.

Add Zombies, Mutants or Aliens as separate challenge layers. Run one class at a time, combine two, or stack all three over the normal survival simulation when simply staying alive is no longer difficult enough.

The Zombie enemy class in Minus Zero
Challenge class 01

Zombies

Roaming shamblers, unsafe sleep and a second life after death. Put them down, then use fire before they rise again.

Undead pressure
The Mutant enemy class in Minus Zero
Challenge class 02

Mutants

Fast, persistent stalkers led by Ben, a recurring day-five encounter with exceptional sight, speed and pursuit range.

Stalker pressure
The Alien enemy class in Minus Zero
Challenge class 03

Aliens

The X, Hollow Matriarchs and Broodlings garrison the cave network where the rare materials are.

Cave pressure

Your winter, your punishment: the natural survival simulation remains the foundation. The three hostile classes are extra difficulty layers, not replacements for the weather, wildlife and resource economy.

The World

Below freezing, nothing is given. Six rules the world runs on.

The Cold

Hunger, thirst and warmth are real meters, and the night drains all three. The fire is not scenery — it is the difference.

The Forest

Every tree is real. Cut where you swing, drop it where it leans, buck it to logs and carry them home — timber is currency.

The Wild

Elk in the treeline, trout in the lakes, songbirds on the perches — a living food chain that does not wait for you.

The Deep

Caves hold the ore that unlocks everything else. They also hold things that would rather you left. Bring light. Bring a spear.

The Craft

Blueprints with real physics — spans sag, logs have limits, and what you raise stands because you built it right.

The Companions

Assemble a robot from parts and it walks beside you — and talks. Real conversations, run by AI, out in the snow.

Field Notes

From the studio ledger — systems already alive on the bench.

The axe
Trees fall the way you cut them. The notch you carve decides the lean; the lean decides where it lands. Firewood is a skill.
The seasons
The world turns without you. Snow builds on the boughs, autumn burns through the deciduous stands, and the lakes remember what month it is.
The pack
Space is honest. The pack holds what it holds — volume, not magic. A storage hut with a tarp and an LED lantern is a real upgrade.
The hunt
Bow, crossbow, spear. Arrows drop, spears arc, and a missed throw is a walk to retrieve it. Pelts dry on real racks.
The build
From lean-to to log tower. Blueprint ghosts show every block before you commit a single log — then you feed the frame piece by piece.
The companions
The medic robot is real. Craft the kit, watch it assemble, then press a key and have an actual conversation by the fire. The wilderness is less quiet with someone to talk to.