Zombie Café: The iPad Game Where Zombies Serve Coffee

You’ve just opened a coffee shop—but there’s a twist. No staff. No customers. Just you, an empty café, and a growing hunger for... something stranger than espresso. This isn’t your average café simulation. Welcome to the world of Zombie Café, where turning your clientele into the undead is part of the business model.

Zombie Café is a time-management strategy game developed by Capcom Interactive, Inc. You start with an abandoned café and no workers. Your first task? Lure in human customers, then use a mysterious compound to transform them into zombie employees. Once you’ve got even one zombie server, you can open for business. But beware—rival restaurants are just down the block, and competition gets brutal.

How Zombie Café Works: Zombies, Coffee, and Competition

The core gameplay revolves around building and managing a café staffed entirely by zombies. At the start, you have no employees, so you must attract regular humans, then convert them into zombies using an in-game compound. The moment you recruit your first zombie, your café can begin serving customers. But running a zombie café isn’t just about brewing eerie coffee—it’s also about survival against competing businesses.

Zombie Staffing and Café Management

Your primary goal is to attract customers and turn them into zombies, who then become your workforce. Zombies can be used as waiters, baristas, and kitchen staff. The more zombies you have, the faster your service and the more customers you can handle. However, attracting human customers and converting them takes time—unless you use in-game items to speed things up. You’ll spend much of the game balancing customer acquisition, zombie conversion, and service efficiency.

Competing (and Destroying) Rival Restaurants

Other restaurants in the area pose a constant threat. To deal with the competition, you can deploy your zombie staff to attack and “consume” rival businesses. This removes the competition and potentially unlocks new areas or resources. It’s not enough to serve coffee—you have to defend your turf by turning other eateries into your next meal.

Game Mechanics: Time, Recipes, and Upgrades

Most actions in Zombie Café take time—whether you’re researching creepy new recipes or preparing batches of “GRUB” (the game’s term for food with sinister names). You can speed up these processes by purchasing special items or power-ups. The game encourages strategic use of resources to optimize service speed, expand your menu, and grow your zombie team. Time management is key, as you balance cooking, serving, converting customers, and battling rivals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Zombie Café?

Zombie Café is a time-management strategy game by Capcom Interactive where you run a café staffed by zombies. You start with no employees, attract human customers, and turn them into zombie workers using a special compound. Once you have at least one zombie server, you can open your café for business.

How do you get zombie employees in Zombie Café?

You attract regular human customers to your café, then use an in-game compound to transform them into zombies. The first zombie you create becomes your first employee, allowing you to start serving customers. More zombies mean faster service and the ability to handle more business.

What do you do about rival restaurants in Zombie Café?

Rival restaurants compete for customers. To eliminate them, you send your zombie staff to attack and consume the competition. This not only removes rivals but can also unlock new opportunities or resources in the game.

How does the cooking and service system work in Zombie Café?

Preparing food and serving customers takes time. You cook various items with spooky names referred to as “GRUB.” Most actions, like cooking or researching new recipes, are timed. You can use in-game items to speed up these processes and improve efficiency in your café.

What kind of items can you buy to help in Zombie Café?

The game offers various in-game purchases that let you speed up cooking, customer conversion, and service times. These items help you manage your café more efficiently, serve more customers, and outpace your competitors.