Quarantine Market Simulator is a shop management game set during a zombie outbreak. Players order products, stock shelves, set prices, serve customers, and try to keep the business running. At the same time, they must deal with infected customers, thieves, shortages, and zombie raids. I wanted to combine the familiar gameplay loop of a market simulator with the tension and unpredictability of a quarantine setting. The main idea is that the player is trying to run an ordinary business while always being prepared for the danger outside.

Developing the game took several months, and the process was definitely challenging as a solo developer. I handled almost every part of development myself, including programming, game design, interfaces, content, and updates. One of the hardest parts was making interconnected systems such as customers, inventory, workers, thieves, infected customers, and raids function together without breaking the simple and enjoyable simulator experience. Although I developed the game independently, PlayWay supported me with publishing, testing, and feedback. Their testing before releases and updates helped identify issues and made the game more stable, so I was not completely alone during the launch and post-release process.

Since release, I have added several major updates, including workers, audio and interface improvements, quality-of-life changes, and the raid upgrade system. I have also fixed issues and improved existing systems based on player feedback. I still have ideas that I may explore for QMS, but I do not want to promise a feature until I know that I can complete it properly and that it will genuinely improve the game. I will continue following player feedback and evaluating what can be improved while also working on future projects and carrying the experience I gained from QMS into them.

Multiplayer is not currently planned for QMS. The game was designed as a single-player experience from the beginning, and adding multiplayer at this stage would require rebuilding a large part of its core systems. However, I am not against multiplayer in general. If the right idea comes along and the game is designed around multiplayer from the start, I would consider it for a future project.

I learned how important player feedback, thorough testing, and a strong core gameplay loop are. In a simulator game, even a feature that appears small can affect many other systems. I also learned that players can quickly notice issues or missing details that a developer may overlook after becoming too familiar with the game. Feedback from PlayWay during testing, together with comments from players after release, helped me look at the project from a different perspective. For future projects, I want to begin testing earlier, plan the connections between systems more carefully, and make the main gameplay loop as solid and enjoyable as possible before expanding the scope.

I would probably tell the people around me. However, there is also a good chance that I would try to finish one last update before turning.

My favorite part is the infected customer system. A completely normal day in the market can suddenly descend into chaos when a customer begins to turn. Other customers panic, the queue stops, and new customers refuse to enter. The player must deal with the threat before business can return to normal. I think this system represents the main idea of QMS very well: trying to manage an ordinary business in an extremely abnormal and dangerous world.

I would have liked to spend more time testing and polishing the game before release. When you are developing a game alone, it is easy to become so familiar with it that you overlook issues a new player would notice immediately. A longer testing period could have helped me identify some of those problems earlier. PlayWay's testing support and the feedback received after release helped me understand this much better.

There is actually already a bald, bearded survivor customer NPC in QMS. However, before you get the chance to ask whether his name is Lucian, there is a very good chance that he will try to attack and bite you.

I want everyone who plays QMS to know that their support genuinely matters to me. I am a solo developer, so every review, piece of feedback, video, and message helps both the game and me as a developer. I am grateful to everyone who gave QMS a chance and helped me improve it after release.