If you think fondly back on Burger Time and imagine the sausages were trying to eat you alive, you'd have a pretty close approximation to this game. Living Dead House is an arcade experience for 1-2 players where they must survive in their house as zombies break in to eat them. Like so many titles from yesteryear, it's easy to pick up but hard to master - although it did come out this year.

We're treated to a 2D sidescroller perspective. The player can run, jump, and climb ladders to escape from zombies that break their way through the house's windows and doors. To succeed, the player only has to survive for a short while, typically 99 seconds, but will soon be overrun by zombies. Thankfully, pickups will occasionally spawn in that give the player a fighting chance.

Those pickups represent the core strategy of the game. Each player can only hold up to two items, which are consumed on use and only exist on the field for a short time. Picking up a third item will overwrite one of your items, so like many zombie games before it, Living Dead House requires players to manage a limited inventory.

Each item is single use. The axe, shotgun, and flamethrower work as you probably expect they would. A bear trap can be deployed and has two charges where it will kill whoever steps on it - whether that's an undead foe or a living friend. Perhaps most useful, the hammer and boards can be used to barricade any window or door to prevent the next zombie from spawning there.

In addition to the above items, there are various score pickups. These are essential if you're competing on the online leaderboards. Sometimes a letter might spawn. Collect all five to spell S-H-R-E-D and get a CHAINSAW. Like Mario's hammer in Donkey Kong, this baddie has unlimited uses for a limited time and can be used to level the playing field.

There are four maps to cycle through, each with its own gimmick. Some of them are explicitly helpful, like a fusebox that can be used to electrocute several zombies at once, or elevators the player can step into to teleport across the map. Others are a bit more dubious - a moving lift can be used to escape zombies or lead them straight to you. Another level has a zombie drop dynamite from the attic, blowing up friend and foe alike. Each level also features at least one Pacman door. Located at the edge of the map, you can step through it to emerge on the opposite side.

If this didn't already feel like a nostalgic title from yesteryear, the game offers a couple of filters to enhance the experience. The CRT filter is a classic for games like this, and something I usually look for. You can also choose to play the game in black and white if you want to really evoke Night of the Living Dead.

Living Dead House is available for purchase on Steam and Switch. You can also play the demo in your browser on Itch. The game is modestly priced, and suitable for an afternoon romp with a friend.