Humans vs. Zombies

There's a giant campus wide game of tag going on right now called Humans vs. Zombies, which I found out about through Facebook. Apparently someone started an event on FB for the game, and it caught on (there are over 500 RSVPs). Basically, all you have to do to play is register your name online and own a bandana.

The game is humans against zombies, and it culminates in a giant dance party at the end of next week-- themed according to who won (so either 1980s humans or zombie costumes).

Anyway, the rules of the game are pretty simple. Everyone who is a human must wear a bandana around their arm or leg to signify that they are playing the game and still alive. Zombies wear bandanas around their neck or head. There is one original zombie who, on Friday (the 26th), started the game by tagging people.

Humans who have been tagged have one hour to turn over into a zombie (by switching the location of their bandana). Zombies run around tagging humans to bring them over to the "dead" side. A human can stun a zombie for fifteen minutes (in order to escape) by hitting said zombie with a sock (hopefully clean). Also, if a zombie doesn't tag a human in 48 hours, it dies.

The humans win when the last zombie "starves" to death. And the zombies win if they kill all the humans.

It's all very elaborate. And kinda entertaining. Apparently this game is being played at numerous universities nation-wide (there was an article about it in the USA Today). I read the rules, but declined playing because (among other considerations, like not being into zombies) I didn't want to have to wear a bandana around my neck for an entire week (since I'm sure I'd get tagged quickly).

To be honest, I didn't really expect that the game would take on. I read the FB invite and declined, figuring that was that. But I guess there are a ton of people registered to play. And even if there aren't a lot of them in number, they sure were making themselves visible on campus.

All day yesterday, as I walked prospective students around campus to their various appointments, kids in bandanas were everywhere. In fact, at one point, I was explaining the game to a student when, as if to illustrate my point, a "human" sprinted past us down the South Oval with a "zombie" close on its heels, complete with face paint and zombie noises. You definitely can't say life in college is boring.