Fallen Nights combines top-down zombie survival with tower defense. Scavenge by day, build your defenses and fight beside them when the horde closes in. Every piece of scrap spent protecting your camp is a piece you could have used to repair your escape.

The zombies are coming for that escape, too. Hold the approaches, deal with enemies that slip through and decide how much longer you can afford to stay. Your defenses help hold the line, but you are still out there with a weapon in your hands.

Daylight is your chance to prepare. Explore the surrounding area, strip abandoned cars and gather scrap before the next attack. Bring it back to strengthen the camp, replace a lost defense or put more parts into your escape.

Each trip leaves you with another choice: invest in a stronger position for the next night, or push the repairs closer to completion? When your preparations are done, call the night early and put your setup to the test.

Build at marked sites around your camp and choose what each position needs. A site covering a busy approach might earn its keep with a turret, while a mine can punish enemies that bunch together.

• Turrets add steady fire while you fight nearby.

• Mines deliver an explosive hit against a crowd.

• Barricades and spikes help hold up enemies and buy you room to react.

Upgrade and repair your defenses as the run develops. Placement is simple, but spending everything on the camp means leaving less scrap for your escape.

Choose upgrade cards as you level up and shape the weapons you bring into each fight. Build around rifle fire, the close-range punch of a shotgun or a fast-firing SMG, then add grenades, rockets or Molotovs to handle a crowded approach.

Experiment with combinations and discover synergies that make your chosen weapons stronger. Your equipment and defenses work together: cover a lane with a turret while you deal with another threat, or use an explosive when enemies gather. Watch your footing around your own fire, because it can hurt you too.

The full game takes you beyond the demo's Riverside into new locations, from wooded roads to snowy mountain terrain and a fortified bunker. Each location brings different approaches to defend and an escape to work toward.

Carry the same hard choice into each new location: how much do you spend surviving here, and how much do you put toward getting out?

Try six survivors with different strengths, choose another set of upgrades and rethink which defenses deserve your scrap. A different weapon combination gives you another reason to return to a familiar map.

For another challenge, take on Endless mode or the Daily Run. Simple controls and marked build sites keep the focus on the decisions you make during the action: where to stand, what to build and when to make your escape.