Winter is Coming challenge in Project Zomboid

Winter is Coming is one of the built-in challenges on the Challenge menu (see game modes for how challenges differ from Survival and Sandbox). The opening text puts you in mid-July, waking in an isolated spot with very few supplies, and warns that an unnatural winter will arrive in about three days. Once it arrives, the cold does not lift. There is no spring to wait for.

The Indie Stone took several challenges out of rotation for the Build 42.20 stable release in July 2026, but listed Winter is Coming as one of the classics returning "with improvements", next to A Really CD DA. The blog post did not list the changes. One patch summary says the spawn coordinates were moved (one source), so a Build 41 video may show a different starting spot.

In a normal game, winter is a season you stock up for and then wait out (see the winter survival guide and seasons). Here the cold is the whole game. Sources disagree on one point: the intro text promises roughly three days of grace, while one Build 42 guide describes an immediate deep-winter start with frozen water from day one (one source). Check the challenge description on the select screen before you plan around those three days.

• Endless cold. Wind chill, wet clothes and hypothermia stay a threat for the whole run, not just a few months. See health.
• Weak food sources. The intro says foraging becomes much less productive and riskier, and farming becomes harder. In Build 42, outdoor crops that are not cold-hardy take damage at about 10 degrees Celsius or below (one source).
• Slower but still deadly zombies. The intro says the cold slows the undead and falling snow can hide you. It does not make them harmless.
• The indoor trap. Staying inside keeps you warm, but a crowd can build up outside while you sit there.

Water and power are reported to shut off on the usual sandbox schedule (one source), so you get no free utilities during the long freeze. See utility shutoff.

Opinion Treat the grace period as a sprint. Everything you fail to gather before the snow is twice as hard to get after it.

For clothing values, see best clothing. Bring a saw and an axe early, since firewood is the fuel you can keep renewing.

Opinion After the first week, the run comes down to three supply lines: heat, food and water. Build them so that each one keeps working without long trips out in the snow.

• Heat. Use a fireplace, wood stove or a car heater. Do not light a campfire indoors. See fire and fuel.
• Water. In Build 42, snow fills outdoor rain collectors at about half the rain rate (one source). Boil or purify that water before you drink it. See water.
• Food. Eat fresh food first and keep cans for later. Trapping, fishing through the season and preserving what you catch beat foraging here. Cold-hardy crops such as kale, leek, cabbage and garlic are your best outdoor bet. Plants in a greenhouse room or indoors may do better, depending on the Kill Inside Crops sandbox option.
• Calories. Being cold burns energy. Keep weight up so you are not running thin in mid-winter. See nutrition.

Opinion Pick a character who can feed and heat themselves, not one built for fighting. The table lists common choices. Check trait names and costs in your build, since some changed in Build 42.

For full builds, see character builds and traits and occupations.

• Spending the grace days looting far away instead of setting up a base.
• Walking home in wet clothes, then sleeping in an unheated room.
• Running a generator or fire in a closed space. See fire safety.
• Counting on spring. In this challenge it is not coming.

If you want a different kind of pressure next, try sprinter settings or the CD DA challenge.