Five Standout Project Zomboid Maps Released in 2022

Project Zomboid is one of the most punishing zombie survival games out there, and the location where you scrape by changes the entire experience. Some maps drop you into recognizable suburbia, others throw you into haunted hallways or sprawling foreign cities. Below are five of the most popular standalone maps the community shipped during 2022, ranked from honorable mention up to fan favorite.

5. Camden County

Camden County is built the slow, painful way: hand-painted, with no copy-paste shortcuts. Every building has its own footprint, and the author put real effort into making forests, fields and roads feel organic rather than tiled. If this list were judged on visual detail and immersion alone, this one would steal the top slot.

4. Backrooms Apocalypse

Backrooms Apocalypse drags you out of the suburbs and into liminal-space hell. It recreates the Backrooms layout plus every floor featured on the Kane Pixels YouTube series, along with a few extra horrors fans of the genre will spot immediately. Good luck finding the exit.

3. Cherbourg

Cherbourg trades small-town America for the French coast. You get an ocean view, a dense urban sprawl, and more than 10,000 buildings to loot or hide in. The scale alone makes it a solid pick for multiplayer servers or long replays where you want fresh blocks to explore each run.

2. The Forest

The Forest flips the formula completely. Instead of looting abandoned grocery stores, you survive off the land. Buildings are rare and ruined, so crafting and foraging carry the entire run. Expect to rethink your usual perk choices before the first night.

1. Clear Cove

Clear Cove earned the top spot for a reason. Multiple modders contributed handmade buildings, five towns and dozens of points of interest. What pushes it above the rest is polish: the map plays smoothly, looks great, and ships with custom zombie spawns that build the kind of horror set pieces the default spawner cannot pull off.

The verdict

2022 was a strong year for standalone maps. Some longtime favorites held their ground while newcomers brought polish, scale and a few genuinely terrifying ideas to the table. Got a map you think deserved a slot on this list? Drop your pick.