5 Mods To Try to Rediscover the Game

7 Days to Die does a pretty bang-up job of keeping you engaged, letting you pour in hundreds of hours into its randomly generated worlds. However, it all sometimes can feel a bit samey. After all, the game does aim to simulate a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic world at the end of human civilization. It’s not exactly meant to look and feel like a good ol’ time.

Fortunately, the modding community has made sure there are tons of options there if you’ve been getting bored with the vanilla 7D2D experience. From mods that add to the base experience to those that completely alter it, there’s no shortage of ways for you to spice up the game and rediscover its joys.

Here are five of the best mods you can install today to breathe new life into the game.

Ztensity’s Unnecessarily Beautiful But Immersive (UBBI)

Overview & Changes

There’s no shortage of building blocks for you to make your digital post-apocalyptic home away from home in 7D2D. None of them, though, give you quite as many options to make your crib fabulous.

Enter UBBI, a building and crafting mod that will allow you to add some beauty and flair to your base. This mod contains a massive array of new craftable items and materials to the game, each of which is designed to make your home a bit more functional and stylish.

Here’s a taste of some of the cool stuff that UBBI adds to 7D2D:

• Working showers
• TVs
• Computers
• Couches
• Soundbars and doorbells with unique audio
• Beds you can actually sleep on
• Cabinets and other storage units
• Garden beds and amenities
• Working fireplace with chimney

What Makes it Fun

Survival games like 7 Days to Die cater a lot to players that enjoy building and maintaining a home. If you’re really into this building aspect of the genre, this game’s vanilla offerings may feel a bit thin. There’s a ton of stuff you can find and craft but their devastated, end-of-the-world vibe can get a bit boring after repeat playthroughs.

By adding some more functional and stylish items, you can make your base building much more interesting, and UBBI has the goods. The options on offer are plentiful and will give you a lot of room to experiment with decorating, arranging, and sprucing up your base. Want to add an awesome gaming setup to your world? You can do it. Need a more relaxing space for your bedroom? That’s possible as well. 

To some degree, the mod also adds an extra layer of difficulty as the items that make sound can also attract zombies.

All in all, if base building is your thing, then you should definitely add UBBI to your 7D2D mod rotation.

VanillaPlus

Overview & Changes

The vanilla 7 Days to Die experience is pretty solid but that doesn’t mean it can’t get better. Whether it’s a slight lack of good quality of life elements or a feeling that one feature or another would make the game a whole lot better, there’s always an area that the game could improve.

This is where the VanillaPlus mod comes into play. It retains the feel of the base 7D2D game but at the same time expands it by adding some fun and complementary new features. If you’ve spent a fair amount of time in the game and occasionally wondered “such and such would be a nice addition” then this mod was likely made for you.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of stuff and features VanillaPlus adds to the game:

• Scrapping of various items, such as batteries and ammo
• Skills mastery
• Additional vehicle passengers
• Zombie gut harvesting
• Bird nesting system for eggs
• Flower and bee system for honey
• Armor modifications that add vision features such as lights
• All kinds of new blocks to spice up your building and crafting
• Traps for catching prey and keeping the zombies at bay
• Books and schematics can be read again
• A boatload of items can be bundled

What Makes it Fun

If you’re looking at the above list thinking that all of these are perfect additions to the base 7D2D experience, then this mod was made for you. It’s the sheer definition of what modding the game is all about. Taking a familiar experience and making it even better.

If you already love 7D2D and aren’t that into overhaul mods and mods that completely change the game, then VanillaPlus is a good option for you. You’ll still get that fuzzy, familiar feeling of being in the game you know and love. At the same time, though, you’ll feel you’re in a much better experience thanks to all of the additional features and quality-of-life updates.

The Wasteland

Overview & Changes

7 Days to Die has a lot in common with most survival games. It does also compare, in some ways, to Fallout. In fact, the whole idea of wondering about a post-apocalyptic world is right up both of these games’ respective alleys.

Therefore, there’s no doubt that combining the two would make for a great meeting of the minds. The Wasteland mod makes that all come true. It takes everything that makes Fallout recognizable and sticks it into 7D2D. From the Nuka Cola brand to the extra NPCs and weapons, this mod will change your vanilla 7D2D experience and give it a Fallout hue.

Here’s a short list of stuff that you’ll add by installing The Wasteland:

• Raider NPCs with melee, ranged, and boss variants
• Soldier NPCs with their own set of variants
• Mutant NPCs that are tough to defeat
• POIs are all modded to include the above enemies
• Power Armor with customizable exterior and repairability
• Nuka Factory POI and 4 different drinkable Nuka Cola flavors with their own buffs
• Tons of melee, ranged, energy, and explosive weapons inspired by the Fallout franchise

What Makes it Fun

It’s Fallout in 7 Days to Die, need we say more? Fine. But seriously, one of the most important additions this mod brings to the table is the NPCs and weapons. 7D2D goes heavy on the zombie theme which is fine.

If you’re craving something different to fight, though, you’ll find the base game somewhat lacking in that department. The Raiders, Soldiers, and Mutants each have their own weapons, armor, and attack patterns that bring new life into the way you interact with the world.

The new POIs and the modded existing ones also feel fresh. With all the Fallout paraphernalia also lying about, you’ll feel like you’re in some kind of crossover episode.

And, of course, we can’t ignore the inclusion of the Power Armor. In the Fallout franchise, donning this hulking piece of kit makes you feel like an absolute badass. There’s little reason to not want that in 7D2D as well.

War of the Walkers

Overview & Changes

Adding stuff to the vanilla 7 Days to Die experience is great and all but sometimes you wonder what the game would be like with an entirely different take. This is where overhaul mods come in. These packs make sweeping changes to the core gameplay and appearance of the game, making it feel fresh and new.

War of the Walkers is one such overhaul mod that does a fair bit to make the world of 7D2D seem like it’s a more crowded place than it actually is in the base experience. On top of adding more NPCs and enemies, this mod also introduces a slew of new mechanics and items.

Here’s is a sampling of what War of the Walkers brings to the 7D2D table:

• NPC Follower system that allows you to hire bandits, zombies, and more
• More varied types of Zombie Hordes
• NPC Bandits that attack you on sight but will also go after zombies and other NPCs
• NPC Survivors that’ll leave you alone if you will or else
• New skills and perks
• Over 100 challenge quests
• Reward card system for extra experience and skill points
• New full sets of armor
• All new workstations that completely change the crafting game
• Tons of new survival systems for farming, fishing, traders, and more

What Makes it Fun

War of the Walkers feels somewhat similar to the above-mentioned The Wasteland mod. Like the Fallout style mod, it adds new enemies to take on and makes changes to the world to make it feel new.

War of the Walkers, though, also introduces a ton of new mechanics that completely alter the way you play the game. Sure, survival, zombie killing, and crafting are all still present. But, you’ll also get a few more ways to surprise yourself as you explore and expand the map.

The world feels more dangerous but not in the same way as some other overhaul mods. You’ll still have a more manageable time wondering about looking for stuff. If you’ve tried other mods and felt that the experience became a bit too much for your liking, then you’ll find  War of the Walkers more approachable.

Better Homes and Worlds

Overview & Changes

Upgrading your base 7D2D experience is always a fun and refreshing way to re-experience the game. Even if you don’t want to completely deviate from its core gameplay, a few extra goodies would be nice to pick up your spirits.

Better Homes and Worlds adds just enough new stuff and quality-of-life extras to make the base game feel new and fresh. It’s a massive collection of server-side additions that’ll allow you and your friends to truly mold the world the way you want to and add to the experience as you see fit.

Here are a few nuggets from the massive list of additions Better Homes and Worlds includes:

• Army Surplus collection that adds a ton of army-themed gear and recipes
• Down on the Farm collection that improves and expands farming crops and managing animals
• Power Plant collection gives you access to various ways to power your base
• Modern Cooking collection adds working appliances and Campfire blocks
• Signage collection gives you access to customizable and placeable signs
• Hoarder collection adds a ton of new storage and compartment options
• Fashionista collection gives you a smorgasbord of new ways to customize your look

What Makes it Fun

Honestly, there’s so much to cover with the Better Homes and Worlds mod collection. Whatever you’ve imagined that should be included in 7 Days to Die, this mod will likely have it. Because of how many new elements it brings to the table, you’ve got so many different ways to change the game the way you want to.

It’s also a fairly easy mod to get started with as it’s quite modular, meaning you can use what you want so you don’t get overwhelmed. What’s more, is that the modders continuously add new stuff and collection that expand the game further.

Which Mod Should I Try First?

Can’t decide for yourself? Here’s a simple way to look at it. There’s no right or wrong with modding. You can just pick a 7D2D mod that seems interesting to you and dive in head-first. If you don’t like it, you can try another.

If this is all sounding a bit too overwhelming, then an overhaul mod may not be an ideal start. Instead, you can try adding a few elements with a mod like UBBI. It’s a fun way to expand your base building without being intimidating. VanillaPlus and Better Homes and Worlds both also fit that bill just fine.

Once you’ve gotten your modding feet wet, you can try giving War of the Walkers a try. The Wasteland can also work as a go-between when you want to try out some that feels like an overhaul without actually changing the base game too much.