Ok so I have this idea, it's a bit vague and I'd like help getting it fleshed out.

I was inspired by this video by Second Wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3StUP6xPYQ

What Makes Us Care About Video Game Homes? | Semi-Ramblomatic

It's not very important to watch the video; it discusses what makes a video game home feel homey. The video concludes, and I agree, that for that to happen, we need:

• A place we can learn to know the layout of
• Which offers respite ("a safe place")

And it gave me this idea of a mix between a survivor and tower defense game.

The core points are:

• The mood of project zomboid, but easy to pickup and play.
• The "just one more day" loop created by a day/night cycle.
• The tension between danger/safety that you need to inflict on yourself by leaving the comfort of home.

You start in a house (randomly generated?) during a zombie invasion (if zombies is too 2000s, replace with any menace of your choosing).

During the day, there are few zombies and they are weak, but you can go further to get resources. You need to make sure you have the time to go back home before the night (or can fend for yourself). Maybe you need to be sure you can find your way back home (breadcrumbs? waypoints? radar?)

During the night, you have to hope your defenses hold; you repair defenses automatically by going near them, same as you attack automatically. If you're sure your defenses will hold, you can choose to sleep, which regains your stamina (I have no idea what spends the stamina yet, I just want there to be a mechanic between risk and regaining a resource. Might just be health instead of stamina).

You can also go out, and there are many more zombies, and they're much more powerful, but you have higher chances of obtaining... what? I have no idea - there must be a reason for going out when it's very dangerous.

Alternatively: it's not a choice and night is just extremely deadly.