According to GamesRadar, the two-person indie studio Cosmic Tofu has announced In the Van, a "cozy post-apocalyptic survival game." The game combines exploration and survival in a zombie apocalypse with relatively relaxed life-sim elements like cooking and farming, targeting players who enjoy temporarily setting aside the zombie threat to stay in their dwelling, cook meals, and harvest crops.
Unlike fixed cabins, In the Van gives players a mobile RV. This RV serves as both a vehicle for traversing the post-apocalyptic world and a customizable living space, helping players ward off dangers from the outside world and providing a place to rest between expeditions.
The game's daily cycle is divided by day and night: players venture out during the day to scavenge for supplies and drive back before dark; at night, they can cook and farm inside the RV, and even hack phones recovered from the dead to learn what happened to this world. Thus, survival activities revolve not only around resource accumulation but also uncovering the events of the apocalypse.
Players need to strike a balance between exploration, crafting, and survival elements, gradually mastering these survival mechanics at their own pace. The zombies shown in the public trailer are not particularly difficult to deal with, and the RV itself is more than just a shelter: players can drive it directly through hordes of zombies, providing an alternative means of movement and clearing paths.
To make the zombie theme fit the cozy game vibe, Cosmic Tofu refers to the undead in the game as cute pixelated zombie friends. However, the game still retains violent scenes such as running over zombie hordes with a vehicle, and was previously flagged as sensitive for showing content involving setting zombies on fire.
In the Van does not yet have a release date. Cosmic Tofu has stated that closed beta testing for the game is coming soon.