The first game in the series portrays the story of a lone survivor named Jack, attempting to hold out against an unrelenting zombie horde from the safety of his fortified barricade.

The game is a multi-level base defense game broken up by rest periods where the player must search for weapons and other survivors, as well as repairing the barricade in preparation for the next wave of enemies. After holding out for 20 days, Jack and his group are rescued by a passing military helicopter.