One More Extraction: My First Night in HUNGER’s Closed Beta

just started playing HUNGER by Good Fun Corporation, and their current playtes is live on Steam. I’ll be honest, I went in with moderate expectations and came out genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Here’s the official description from their Steam page:

“HUNGER throws you into the chaos of plague-ravaged Europe. This multiplayer extraction RPG blends brutal melee and ranged combat with deep long-term character progression, questing and crafting. Scavenge for resources, battle unspeakable horrors, and outlast rival Living.”

That captures the tone perfectly. The setting sits firmly in a Napoleonic-era Europe, similar vibes to Valor Mortis, except the continent has been torn apart by something called The Hunger, a twisted, plague-born infection that has turned people into aggressive, mutated horrors. It’s less “classic zombie” and more unspeakable monstrosities roaming the ruins.

The gameplay mix feels like a blend of Left 4 Dead and DayZ. You get the special infected with distinct behaviors and threat levels, layered on top of multiplayer extraction runs across different maps where other players are a constant, unpredictable danger. In my time so far, I’ve only run into one friendly player. Everyone else has followed the classic “shoot first, ask questions never” rule.

Character progression is pure RPG. You pick a Living, the game’s term for survivors, level them up, and unlock perks and masteries. I went with a healer because I wanted the ability to keep myself alive without constantly scavenging for medical supplies, especially while playing solo. The system also includes secondary professions. If you want to craft armor as a Metallurgist, you’ll need someone with the right gathering or refining profession, like an Artificer, to produce the materials first. The same interdependence applies across the board, there’s even a dedicated Scavenger secondary. I paired my healer with the Physician secondary so I could craft stronger health potions myself.

You can drop in solo or squad up with up to two other players. Runs involve questing, exploring, fighting special Hunger, killing other Living, and even deliberately aggroing the infected to turn them on rival players. Everything feels high-stakes because dying means losing what you brought in.

My first encounter with a Drooler was memorable. It’s a special infected that moves with a heavy, lurching gait that immediately reminded me of the Cart Titan from Attack on Titan. They’re significantly more dangerous than the standard infected. I was already being chased by another player when I accidentally pulled one. I started circling through the bushes, deliberately keeping the other Living between me and the Drooler. The player didn’t last long. That left me alone with it for the next several minutes, kiting, healing, and eventually putting it down. It was tense, messy, and exactly the kind of moment these games live for.

By the end of the night I knew I needed to get some sleep for work in the morning, but I kept catching myself wanting “just one more” extraction. I even queued into another map before forcing myself to cancel. I’m jumping back into the playtest tonight, and the game is already on my wishlist.

If this sounds like your kind of chaos, head over to the HUNGER Steam page, request access to the playtest/Closed Beta, and add it to your wishlist.

If you enjoy these write-ups, drop a like, follow along, and join my Discord, I’ll occasionally drop playtest invites there for people looking to try new games. I’m also on TikTok, where I’ll stream the playtest when I can.