Although fewer students participated in this semester’s Humans vs. Zombies game, a higher percentage of players were actively involved, according to organizer Jacob Bow.
Bow said the game, which lasted Feb. 6 to 12 and was sponsored by InterVarsity, went smoothly.
“We had incredibly few problems or issues that came up throughout the course of the game, and I think for the most part everyone had a really good time,” he said.
Bow said fewer participants were expected due to the snow and cold weather.
“As moderators or refs, we were always very cognitive about (the weather),” he said. “We were always talking about how to be careful and prevent people from falling or getting hurt … I don’t think we had any major injuries this time around, which is really nice.”
The only time snow became a factor was Saturday, but participants were able to incorporate that into the game’s mission, Bow said.
“It was kind of supposed to be a last hurrah, final outing mission, so the feeling of it was supposed to be a little bit ominous and desperate,” Bow said. “So the snow worked out really well thematically.”
He said the location for the final mission was shifted from concrete to a large, grassy area for safety and entertainment reasons.
Referee Ross Galyean said it’s hard to determine a winner of the game.
“If we’re going to be perfectly honest, the game is designed so that all the humans will eventually be killed off,” he said.
He said Sunday’s mission was the “last chance,” and the humans who were still alive fought for their lives.
Few humans were left standing at the end of the game, Bow said.
Galyean said the game was more organized this semester.
“For example, we had on our website, the ability to create squads … to help keep ourselves organized amidst all the chaos of people running around,” he said.
In an effort to keep the game organized each year, Bow said he hopes to create a Humans vs. Zombies club on campus.
“InterVarsity started up this game, but it became very apparent very quickly that we didn’t want to hold on to them,” he said. “We felt that it would run more smoothly and would be better for the students involved if it had it was its own entity, opposed to running through InterVarsity.”
The club is still in its initial planning stages.