Mine Field: Price and Placement in Zombies Aren't Real

What the mine field is

A mine field is area denial on the ground a horde will walk over. It does not shoot; it punishes the route. That makes it one of the few deploy options whose value is decided entirely by pathing rather than by line of fire.

Price

$200 in the planning UI shown in the official screenshots - between the garrison ($150) and the mortar ($270), and well below C4 ($500).

Where it earns its cost

• Ground the horde must cross. A bridge, a narrow street, a gap between buildings - anywhere the pathing funnels zombies into a fixed strip of ground. Mines on that strip fire every time.
• The approach your walls cannot cover. Where a wall section has no useful garrison line of fire and the approach is too close for a sniper, mines deny the ground instead.
• Force multipliers on a thin budget. One official screenshot’s stats panel shows 18 mine field kills against 9 garrison kills - placed where the horde walks, a mine field out-performs units that cost less.

When it does not earn its cost

• On ground the horde can simply walk around. Mines punish a route only if it is the route. Open districts with many parallel streets let the horde bypass them.
• Inside your own safe zone near gates. Civilians entering through gates walk the same ground the zombies do, and your score is the civilians you saved.
• As a substitute for coverage. Mines delay and kill along a strip; they do not watch a wall section. If the problem is line of fire, a garrison or a turret is the answer.

The stats panel scores mine fields separately from every other unit, so after a run you can see exactly whether the ground you mined was ground the horde actually used.

Related

• Units and defense overview - every deploy option with prices.
• Garrison - active defense for a wall section.

faq:

• question: “How much does a mine field cost in Zombies Aren’t Real?” answer: “$200 in the planning UI shown in the official store screenshots - between the garrison ($150) and the mortar ($270). Prices can differ between scenarios and may move during Early Access.”
• question: “Where should I place a mine field?” answer: “On ground the horde has to cross - bridges, narrow streets, gaps between buildings. The stats panel scores mine fields separately, so after a run you can see whether the ground you mined was ground the horde actually used; if it sits at zero, the route moved around it.”