A man walks past me, reloading his NERF Blaster. A group of resistance fighters discuss strategy: how to move around while avoiding the infected. The volunteer zombies are putting bandanas on their head. This is the group of test subjects for Stony Brook’s Humans vs. Zombies minigame, a way to get more people aware of the game’s existence, and a practice run for the longer event planned in October.
Andrew Quaranto, a Senior Environmental Studies major, is one of the organizers for this semester’s HvZ events. He described the event as a “giant game of tag with NERF guns.” The organizers and moderators add missions as a way to “change things up for the game, and to advance the plot we have going.”
Humans vs. Zombies is a weeklong event that’s taking place this semester between Oct 16 and Oct 22. Humans can use NERF guns, darts, and socks to protect themselves from zombies. When most inevitably turn into zombies, they can infect the remaining humans by tagging them. The event starts with everyone as a human and an individual is chosen to be the Original Zombie, randomly from a small pool. Over the course of the week the infection spreads and by the end of the event, the remaining humans are fighting for their lives against a huge zombie horde.
WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN HvZ
1) It’s a giant game of tag with NERF guns. Who wouldn’t want to play?
2) The campus turns into a battlefield, buildings acting as safe zones, while most of the campus is a free-for-all between the two sides.
3) You fight and defend bosses like the Hamburglar and the Burger King, among others.
4) Missions that range from assassinating special NPCs to a King of the Hill style game, where both sides compete over control of a point.
5) You get to sneak around the campus at night, either hunting resistance fighters or shooting the infected.
6) The infected wait outside buildings to pick off solo players while the Resistance creates convoys to get across campus.
7) Late night hunting parties, where humans group up to find and destroy zombies.
8) The Final Stand, the last mission, where a small group of humans fend off a horde of zombies as they move towards an extraction point.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ONCE YOU’RE IN
1) Sign up for the text service that tells you about special events, like missions.
2) Make sure to have your HvZ ID with you while you’re playing.
3) Grab some friends or classmates and set up convoys to move around the campus.
4) Meet new people and set up ambushes for the humans as they move around campus
5) Humans, make sure your NERF/Dart weapons are approved by the mods.
6) Zombies should have their bandana wrapped around their head while they’re playing.
7) Both sides have NPCs that can be killed as they perform random tasks.
8) Jason Gregerson, a veteran player, had this advice to give, “Check over your shoulder, look around corners, and stick together.”
