Give us an overview of what you do in more detail. Is it a living world with other players? What's the replay value.
Thanks.
Single player. It is a single player game, their next title (Working title: Class 4) is going to be an console MMO. Co-op was unfortunately cut from the current title but may be added late in the games life span. As MMO's are normally persistent worlds, State of Decay is also a persistent world that continues to exist even when you turn it off... more on that later.
The game is a simulation. You create a community of survivors whom each have their own personalities and abilities or professions before the zombie apocalypse. Some can be Doctors, pharmacists, engineers or workshop experts or cooks and so on. These abilities can add on as bonuses to certain stations you build in your base (kitchen, workshop, watch tower, Infirmary...)
It is important to know that you do NOT play as just a single character but as the community. You can switch out between survivors for different play styles depending on their abilities (and skills/stats) or to give your other character a rest/break or time to recover/get over a sickness.
There is perma death. If someone dies, they are gone. So it is important to play safe yet smart to build and scavenge the supplies that you need or are vital.
Also, there is a bit of a human element. Some characters can be out right D**ks and can cause tension.
Example:
Currently in my game, someone with gun experience can sometimes be a d**k to this other survivor who is a total push over. While those two have been having arguments the last couple weeks (in-game time), I have a consular in my group whom seemed to keep them at peace. Until recently the push over became scared due to a recent experience and lost hope and I made the mistake of taking my counselor out for a little scavenging due to my other 3 guys being hurt or extremely tired.
Their latest argument was a BAD one and now that push over has lost all hope and has become suicidal.
There can be other examples like people who are great leaders but have a history of extreme alcohol abuse (I SUSPECT two of my group members are DRINKING my freaking Molotov's) or even pill/drug addicts who steal extra medication for their own personal use.
Now as for what you do exactly: Scavenge and survive the zombie apocalypse simulation. Search for houses, scavenge for food, medical supplies and ammunition. Create a healthy community and raise morale for better survival odds. Search for help (done through missions) or help your fellow neighbors (other communities trying to survive).
Replay Value:
I honestly don't know how much replay value it has, but I would say mild. I may let puckett fill this one. But while they went for a sandbox style game, I don't believe it is a true sandbox.
With that said, there appears to be an ending once you have completed the missions. Doing the last one ends the game and you can always exit and hit continue to come back before completing that last mission... but ehh~
Persistent world:
The world exists even when you aren't there playing it. This is in fact a simulation and time is a huge factor. Your survivors will continue to live and exist in this world and scavenge for supplies. Just as in the real world (if there was a zombie apocalypse), going out scavenging can lead to a very bad situation (hordes, injuries, death).
The world tends to slow down the longer you have been absent from the game though. So if your gone for a full day, you'll notice supplies may have gone down a little (survivors go out and scavenge for themselves too) along with other things depending on how the game was going before you last played.
(bad situation leads to worse, great situation stays around the 'doing fine' area)
As for how fast or slow does time go by while not playing? A week is when the slow down is noticeable and a month is where time in-game seems to stop.
The day and night cycle is 1 hr real-time, so 1 hour for daylight and 1 hour for night.