There’s only one thing more terrifying than the looming threat of final exams — the undead.
As the semester’s end draws near, students joined together to fight the walking dead in Humans vs. Zombies, an imaginary game for students to live their apocalyptic fantasies.
“I’ve been a part of the game for three years now at two different schools that had a strong following of players, both current students and alumni,” said Alexa Gilberti, one of the game’s moderators.“This game appeals to those who love a challenge and want to survive, as well as those who want to be a zombie and not feel the stress of human life. People also love that they get to use Nerf blasters while in college.”
The concept of the game is simple. Invented in 2005 by a small group of students from Goucher College, it’s a game of tag with a twist. All players start as humans, while one person is randomly selected to be the “Original Zombie.” The Original Zombie tags human players and turns them into zombie players. Once this has happened, it is up to the remaining human players to defend themselves using socks or Nerf blasters, while the zombie players try to tag the remaining human players.
“Watching the humans play and seeing things unfold is my favorite part of the game,” said Jamie Abad, another moderator. “The chase and watching humans and zombies fight is really fun. When I played, I liked the tactical aspect of working together, as well as watching people zombify when they hinder teamwork.”
The game has been a campus tradition at Stony Brook since 2010. This semester’s iteration kicked off as the clock struck midnight on November 16 and lasted until the 20th, with a “final stand” orchestrated between the surviving humans and the accumulated army of zombies.
Luckily for us, a real zombie apocalypse hasn’t befallen us, yet. But the fight will continue with another game in the spring semester. You can find out more at the Humans vs. Zombie website or Facebook page.
— Joshua Pietzold ’18
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