Have You Played... Cottage Of Doom?
Fight the undead with bullets and planks
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.
The winner of TIGSource's B-game competition, Cottage of Doom places you in a cabin surrounded by zombies and challenges you to survive against the hordes.
You have a shotgun and limited ammo, and the ability to board up windows and doors with limited planks. You can also venture out of the house into a small outdoor area, and risk being mobbed in order to find more ammo.
That must sound familiar, but it's worth keeping in mind that Cottage of Doom was made in 2007. Sure, it was riffing on common tropes from B-movies, but hordes of survival games hadn't yet arrived to gnaw away our brains.
When I first played Cottage of Doom, I was blown away by how rich and fun it seemed given it was a free game made for a jam. Looking at it now, it's simple, but still satisfying and fun. The developer released a polished remake in 2014, which is still available.