Unturnedis a zombie survival game developed and published by Smartly Dressed Games, which is made up of designer Nelson Sexton. It has stripped-down polygonal graphics comparable toMinecraft, but it’s far less about crafting and building and more about fighting off hordes of zombies and upgrading the player character.
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One of the unique things aboutUnturned, other than the fact that it’s a free-to-play game, is that it has several maps for the player to choose from. Each is based upon a real-world location and offers different challenges and elements to test the player’s skill. But which among them are the best?
Updated June 08, 2025 by Josh Davison:Unturnedremains a popular and accessible game due to its free-to-play nature and easy-to-understand presentation and goal. The player must fight, survive, and, if possible, even thrive. Scavenging resources, learning the terrain, and fighting the undead aren’t easy tasks, but they are easily understood — and are a lot of fun when done well. With all of this in mind, learning tips to help survive the variousUnturnedmaps is both a helpful task, and one that showcases how each map is unique in several subtle ways.
10France Is A Lore-Filled, Fan-Made Delight
France is one of theUnturnedmaps that weren’t created by Smartly Dressed Games. This a fan-made map was released in November 2018, and is currently only available through theSteam Workshop. As the name suggests, the map consists of much of western France and the townships within.
This is a great map with a lot of space and a fair amount of lore behind it involving the fall of Germany, France’s response, and how several groups within France mobilized to face the threat. The geography of the map allows players to enjoy a lot of small towns, more urban areas, rural sections, and even coastal zones. It’s a great map to get lost in –so long as players are armed.
Tips For Surviving France:
This is another fan-made curatedUnturnedmap. It consists of the Monterey County area of California and, was initially dubbed “Carmel Valley.” It was added in late 2019 but is now available only through the Steam Workshop.
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This is another fairly varied map featuring streams, towns, and semi-mountainous terrain that can provide an interesting survival challenge. There are several radioactive Dead Zones spread throughout the California map to really up the ante. It may be smaller than the France map, but it’s tougher to survivewhile shooting down zombies.
Tips For Surviving California:
8Rio De Janeiro Is A City-Filled Change Of Pace
Another of the curated fan-madeUnturnedmaps, Rio de Janeiro is a coastal map that sits around a vast bay. It was added to the Steam Workshop in early 2019, and is currently only available there.
The geography and setup of Rio make for another interesting survival experience. It largely consists ofcoastal urban areas surrounded by greenery and forests. There’s a lot to do and find in those urban zones, and the abundance of urban areas helps Rio de Janeiro stand outin the zombie-filled wasteland.
Tips For Surviving Rio de Janeiro:
7Easter Island Brings A Volcanic Biome ToUnturned
Another curated island map (there’s just something extra fun about the coastal and island-basedUnturnedmaps), Easter Island was added to the game in early 2020. It’s largely undeveloped, and has a lot of underwater secrets for the player to discover.
It also has plenty ofvolcanic terrains to navigate and master, which is an addition that most other maps inUnturnedcan’t boast. Fighting zombies on the Easter Island map definitely has its own unique flavor.
Tips For Surviving Easter Island
6Elver TakesUnturnedTo A Fictional Balkans Setting
Elver is another of the curatedUnturnedmaps, this time attempting to provide a broad Eastern European theme for the player. It’s a medium-sized map with a small town in the center and a lot of greenery surrounding it. It’smore of a roughing-it mapthan most of theUnturnedofferings.
Elver is also one of the newer maps, having been released in July of 2020. This map attempted to vastly change the wayUnturnedis played in terms of crafting and weapons, and it does truly provide a distinct feeling from othermaps.
Tips For Surviving Elver
5Hawaii Delivers A Magma Zombie Boss Battle
The tropical setting and brighter coloring of the Hawaii map give it several points right out the gate. The island terrain brings its own unique challenges and makes for a compelling survival experience. Like the prior two maps, Hawaii was a curated fan-made map. It was added in early 2017, but can now only be obtained through the Steam Workshop.
Hawaii has several caves to explore as well, and players can explore the ocean around the island as well. TheUnyieldingfactiongives the player a survivor group to interact with. Like the France map, Hawaii has its own fair share of lore and even an easter egg puzzle that leads the player to the Magma Zombie Boss.
Tips For Surviving Hawaii:
4Prince Edward Island’s Unusual Shape Makes It A Distinct Challenge
Prince Edward Island, or PEI, is one of the officialUnturned 3.0maps and replaced an earlier map simply called “Canada.” It’s a highly enjoyable island map that provides its own secrets and lore that point at the story behindUnturned’szombie apocalypse.
It’s a smaller map than most of the others listed here, and that gives it a sense of identity steeped in claustrophobia and a sense of limited resources. There are very few buildings and facilities spread throughout Prince Edward Island, which makes everything feel just a bit more intense. There are also four variants of PEI inUnturned: Halloween, Festive (holiday season-themed), Moon (low-gravity), and PEI Arena (a PVP arena map).
Tips For Surviving PEI:
3Ireland Packs The Map With Warring Factions & Alliances
Ireland is a curated map that provides the entirety of Ireland in a microcosm. Consequently, it hasseveral townships and a lot of territories to cover.It also provides a trio of NPC factions to interact with: theCoalition, theIrish Defense Force, and theIrish Freedom Republic. This map is particularly packed with lore and backstory to dig into as well.
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The caveat with the Ireland map is that it’s technically been properly removed. While other curated maps were moved to the Steam Workshop after a time, Ireland has been left without Unity engine updates and may not be compatible with most updated versions ofUnturned.
Tips For Surviving Ireland:
2Washington Dots Its Map With Military Bases
Washington is another officialUnturned 3.0map that takes place in anorthern and colder environment.It’s a darker map that offers plenty of military basesto raid for weaponsduring the player’s quest for survival. It’s intended more for player vs player combat, but a single-player experience is also an option.
This one is possibly the most lore-rich in terms of explaining how the zombie virus came to be inUnturned.It also provides plenty of wilderness areas to explore around those aforementioned military bases.
Tips For Surviving Washington:
1Yukon Is A Frigid Fight For Survival
The Yukon is another officialUnturned 3.0map that takes the player to thetundras of Northern Canada,allowing players to experience thefrigid experience of trying to survivein the Arctic Circle. It forces players to maintain their body temperature, and has the addition of wolves that the player must fight off.
This map is fairly lore-rich as well, having aScorpion-7 hidden base. It is a truly challenging map, with few resources and confusing terrain. It alsohas a Mega Zombie bossto beat. That said, it’s also possibly the best map in the game.
