7 Days to Die has been in development for over a decade, and even after the recent full release of the game, there are plenty more content updates planned for the game’s future. One feature that’s not on the future roadmap for 7 Days to Die that The Fun Pimps should still consider adding is the option for players to sleep through the nights and days.
7 Days to Die uses bedrolls as the player’s respawn point, but these, or any other beds players come across in POIs can’t be used to sleep in. Not without using community mods for 7 Days to Die at least, but considering the benefits this feature could have, The Fun Pimps shouldn’t shy away from experimenting with it as an official feature in a future update.
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It’s Not Too Late for 7 Days to Die to Give One Classic Survival Mechanic a Chance
Future updates for 7 Days to Die should bite the bullet and finally introduce a staple feature among survival games that it lacks.
The Case for a Sleep Mechanic in 7 Days to Die
The Perks of Sleeping Through the Nights in 7 Days to Die
By default, the zombies in 7 Days to Die move faster at night. Additionally, Feral variants of zombies that are stronger and more resilient will also naturally spawn throughout the night. Yet while the game’s difficulty increases every night, there isn’t any inherent advantage that comes with this difficulty spike like increased loot or xp, so it’s not always worth the risk of exploring at night. This subtle change in the difficulty between nights and days in 7 Days to Die becomes less impactful as players get geared up with better weapons, armor, and perks, but this added nighttime difficulty can be quite drastic for the first few days of a new playthrough.
Aside from the increased difficulty, every trader in 7 Days to Die will become unavailable at night, so players won’t be able to turn in quests or purchase from the traders until the next morning. While nighttime can be a great opportunity for players to focus on tasks at their base to prepare for the next day, like building, crafting, and cooking, not being able to initiate new quests can be a bit of a nuisance, and sleeping through the night could solve this problem.
The Perks of Sleeping Through the Days in 7 Days to Die
While sleeping through the night could help players avoid the nighttime difficulty spike and skip to the trader’s operating hours, sleeping through the day could also provide some benefits. Namely, sleeping through the day would pass a lot of time, allowing crops to grow instantly, bringing players closer to the trader’s inventory reset, skipping through a negative status effect, and letting crafting stations operate.
Sleeping in 7 Days to Die Would Be a Double-Edged Sword
As helpful as it would be to skip forward in time in a playthrough of 7 Days to Die, though, it would also be a risky decision as it would bring players closer to the inevitable Blood Moon horde nights. A sleep mechanic also introduces the possibility of players being able to skip the Blood Moon horde nights entirely. Horde nights are a great source of XP and loot, but they can cost players tons of meds, ammo, and other resources to survive the horde, so sleeping could give players the freedom to either skip or expedite the next Blood Moon horde, making sure that players are always prepared for these tough nights.
Overall, a sleep mechanic in 7 Days to Die seems like it could be a valuable yet risky QoL feature, whether players want to use it to roleplay, or to pass the time of day to gain a specific gameplay advantage. Consequently, this feature could be right at home in the game without taking away the challenge for players who don’t want to utilize it.
- Released
- December 13, 2013
- Developer(s)
- The Fun Pimps
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer , Local Multiplayer , Online Co-Op , Local Co-Op
- Engine
- Unity
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- N/A
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 3 GB (November 2023)
- Number of Players
- 8 (PC), 4 (Consoles)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Weak
