IndieCade 2010 Finalist: Humans vs. Zombies by Gnarwhal Studios
This year’s IndieCade is a grand celebration of independent game developers and their creations. Many of this year’s submissions are video games adapted from different forms of media and art.
Humans vs. Zombies is an entirely different animal. This game is best described as a real-life game of moderated tag inspired by video games, and its presence will be felt at IndieCade’s Outdoor and Pervasive Games track.
Humans vs. Zombies was first created by Brad Sappington and Chris Weed, two students from Goucher College. Since its inception, the game has spread across college campuses like a zombie virus. While the game has boasted several different rule variations since its creation, the general idea is that humans attempt to outlast one person randomly chosen as the “Original Zombie.” If the zombie tags any of the humans, those humans become zombies themselves and must tag other humans. Humans win if they can outlast the zombies, who starve after going 48 hours without touching a human, while the zombies win if they can successfully eliminate all of the humans. Humans can defend themselves by shooting at their undead foes with a Nerf gun or throwing a sock at them, which neutralizes them for 15 minutes.
What started out as a fun out-of-class activity has now plagued the entire nation. Games of Humans vs. Zombies are now played across the country at over 600 colleges and universities, military bases, summer camps, among many other locales. Sappington and Weed have since formed Gnarwhal Studios in order to retain the legal rights to the game encourage more people to play.
Those with no previous exposure to Humans vs. Zombies can imagine it as a real-life adaptation of some of the best zombie video games. It’s a live version of Left 4 Dead, as survivors try and outlast a relentless horde of zombies. It’s like Dead Rising, only without chainsaws, baseball bats, and copious amounts of duct tape. Or people can look at the game as preparation for the impending zombie apocalypse.
Find Humans vs. Zombie at IndieCade 2010 — and for those that would like to learn more about getting their own game of Humans vs. Zombies going, they can visit the official Humans vs. Zombies website.
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