This is really great, I love a game that makes every item feel precious. I gave it a few runs and each run I felt like I knew a bit more.
That is, until the last run - I was able to gather a lot of great survival resources, but could never cobble anything together by way of weaponry. Then I ran into two zombies and used up my entire inventory and then lost.
I love the concept of having more items makes my deck more unreliable in battle, but I think a slight balance tweak towards increasing durability of items used in battle could help a bit in situations where you just can't find anything to help. Or maybe even stacking the game luck in your favor towards items you haven't been able to craft in awhile.
Or more ways to use items to get around enemies. And being able to run away from fights. Basically I want more ways to strategize certain situations than drag my entire inventory to the zombies.
Maybe there's a system around luring and dodging zombies I haven't figured out yet.
In summary, luck is a bit too much of a factor in balance, so there might be some ways to even the playing field a bit more.
I'd only write this if I thought the game showed amazing potential - so I think there's something really great here.