‘Zombies, Run!’ is an alternate reality game that makes running a game. It was developed by ‘Six to Start’, and their goal is to combine interesting stories with interesting game. Zombies, Run! pairs the player with a smartphone and encourages them to run, while at the same time telling a compelling story. Like a traditional running application it also provides the player feedback on running progress and statistics.

The game takes place during the ‘zombie apocalypse’, and the player takes on the alias of ‘Runner 5’. The goal of Runner 5 is to collect resources that aid in the survival of the apocalypse. The further the player runs the more resources they are privy to, and as the player progresses in running, the more game content is unlocked. As the player runs the storyline is also revealed . Players can also enhance their experience by participating in the game online after their run is over.

This game is a great way to get people into running. It takes an interesting piece of popular culture and applies it to something very mundane. Zombies have erupted with popularity in recent years, through many other forms of story driven media. It keeps the player wanting to run by rewarding them with resources while at the same time revealing secrets about the storyline.

Integrating this kind of storyline in this kind of game is such a great idea. Many of the games played on consoles are highly story driven. The fact that this game incorporates running in tandem with an unfolding story opens it up to many gamers that might not otherwise participate in running. It has the potential to appeal to massive amounts of people, due to that fact that it includes the popularity of zombies and an interesting story. It took less than a week for Six to Start game developers to get enough pledges to develop the game, this game has great potential to become wildly popular among several different groups of people.

Information retrieved from: Zombies, Run!