As you can choose pretty much any starting position on the globe in Infection Free Zone, it can be overwhelming to pick where to start. I have looked at all of the recommended positions, and can tell you the best ones to make your life a little easier.
The recommended starting zones are recommended for a reason – although not all of them are great. Out of the 11 the game gives you, I filed the list down to the best five.
Peschiera, Italy
Peschiera, Italy, is probably the best starting location, due to its geographical positioning and its abundance of valuable resources.
The HQ starts on a small island with a great amount of salvageable buildings, including a Uniformed Services Facility and the Studio Medico Peschiera, which houses weaponry, first aid kits, and scientific materials – all at your doorstep. This island is incredibly easy to defend, with only a few bridges to two other islands that share borders with the mainland.
The mainland and other islands are also abundant in buildings and resources. Being a touristy area, you can find many Uniformed Services Facilities, meaning lots of weaponry can be secured early to boost your firepower and arm your guard towers before you start manufacturing them yourselves.
There is lots of bricks, wood, and metals to be harvested on the mainland right outside your island, so your citizens won’t need to travel far for resources.
Being easily defendable with lots of high-tier loot at your doorstep, Peschiera, Italy is a fantastic starting point. I know I’ll be starting a save here for sure.
Cambridge, England
Cambridge, England, is an excellent starting position for Infection Free Zone as it is a university. This means that scientific materials, lodgings, and salvageable food and resources are everywhere.
You will not be wanting for scientific materials in this starting position, and their abundance doesn’t encroach on other resources, either. A river splits the land up, allowing for strategic positioning for your defences. There are also lots of Medical Facilities and Uniformed Services Facilities, so you can stock up on medical supplies and weaponry on day one.
The campus also allows for lots of building and deconstruction, so although it does require some work, there is a lot of materials to be harvested by knocking down the sheer number of buildings there.
Not to mention the swathes of greenery that can be repurposed for farming and gathering wood. You won’t be short of wood for a long, long time.
Atlanta, USA
Atlanta, USA, is one of the best starting positions due to the HQ being close to valuable resources and a large open space.
Having such an open space next to your HQ allows for your workers to easily access hundreds of wood. That wood can be turned into watchtowers and palisades for easy defence on that half, giving clear line of sight and tactical advantage.
Close by are Uniformed Services Facilities and a School, but most importantly, loads of food. You will be situated near loads of shops and restaurants, each brimming with canned food. With the large field to grow your own crops too, it’ll be challenging to be hungry starting here.
Piles of bricks and lots of metal can also be found right outside of the HQ, allowing for a quick start.
Oakland, USA
Oakland, USA, is an interesting starting position in Infection Free Zone as it starts you in the middle of a sparsely populated field.
I initially shrugged off this starting position, until I thought a little deeper about it. Although there aren’t many scalvageable buildings right outside your home – they’re still super close, and the green space can be repurposed for farms and a flexible defence system.
Although it’ll be a little awkward to accomodate for housing as the buildings around your HQ are rather separated, you can build away from your HQ, as long as you remember to defend it to some capacity.
In the green space are Agricultural Buildings, and right outside it is a Uniformed Services Facility, fuel, and lots of food. You’ll need to travel a little further afield for other resources, but nothing a couple of day trips can’t handle.
Jinhua, China
Jinhua, China, is a dense cityscape with tight streets and organised infrastructure, albeit with some space and greenery.
Jinhua, despite being densely packed, isn’t as bundled with resources as other city positions, although it certainly has more than enough. A stone’s toss away is everything you’ll need. Medical supplies, weaponry, food, scientific materials, and fuel.
The HQ will start in a small block of buildings and a small space, perfect for gathering wood, farming, and defensive measures. The block around your HQ are great candidates to form your own community. There are also some larger buildings that are just waiting to become warehouses.
There is also a grand amount of wood, bricks, and metal waiting to be gathered by your survivors, to allow for a solid start.
Honorable mention – your place
Why choose one of these lofty places when you can try to survive the apocalypse from your own home? Simply type in your city, town, or village in the search bar, and select it. Try to find your own home there to set up your HQ, and get started!
Note that not every single place in the world is able to be played in – the position you choose needs to have an appropriate number of buildings in it, else it won’t let you play. In the 3×3 grid you choose from, only the center one has to be adequate, however.
I had so much fun looting my neighbourhood and turning a facility I previously worked at into a warehouse. It’s so weird to see your hometown generated in front of you into a zombie apocalypse game, but it sure is fun.
Now that you’ve got your chosen starting position, all you need now is to populate your Infection Free Zone with citizens and take back what humanity has lost.
