Sniper: Price, Range and Placement in Zombies Aren't Real

What the sniper is

The sniper is long-range fire for distant approaches and positions that need coverage other units cannot provide. The store page lists snipers among the specialised ground forces you deploy against the spreading horde, alongside garrisons, turrets and mortar squads.

Price

$38 in the planning UI shown in the official screenshots - the cheapest unit on the deploy menu, a fraction of the garrison’s $150 and far below the mortar’s $270 or C4’s $500.

Cheap does not mean weak. The stats panel in the official screenshots records snipers out-killing garrisons in a real run (84 sniper kills against 9 garrison kills), which is a useful reminder that price tracks role and reach, not importance.

Where it earns its cost

• Long, open approaches. A street or bridge that leads to your boundary from far away is sniper work - nothing cheaper reaches it, and nothing more expensive is needed.
• Positions behind obstacles. Where a garrison’s building-based line of fire is blocked, a sniper’s reach is often what still covers the approach.
• Adding reach without rebuilding. When one section of a perimeter has no useful coverage, a sniper is usually the cheapest fix - sometimes the answer is moving the wall instead, but check the sniper first.

When it does not earn its cost

• The target area is close in, where a turret’s concentrated fire or a garrison’s building position does the same job for a comparable price.
• The approach is clustered rather than spread out - a mortar’s 40 m blast handles groups better than single targeted shots.
• Buildings obstruct the sniper’s view of the target area. The store-page-derived rule holds for every unit: check the actual firing range and whether the view is restricted before paying.

Related

• Units and defense overview - every deploy option with prices.
• Garrison - the building-based alternative for closer approaches.

faq:

• question: “How much does a sniper cost in Zombies Aren’t Real?” answer: “$38 in the planning UI shown in the official store screenshots - the cheapest deploy option on the list. Prices can differ between scenarios and may move during Early Access.”
• question: “Are snipers worth it compared to garrisons?” answer: “They solve different problems. A garrison is building-based defense for a wall section; a sniper is long-range coverage for a distant approach. The official screenshots show a run where snipers scored 84 kills and garrisons 9, so cheap does not mean weak - but neither unit earns its price in the wrong spot.”