HVZ wraps up week of tagging, hiding

After the first game of Humans vs. Zombies held on campus Oct. 24-29, students are singing its praises.

“It kept you on your toes at all times and let you make new friends,” undecided sophomore Kade Barton said. “As someone that doesn’t make friends all that easily, it’s awesome to be able to meet new people.”

Freshman economics major Clint Fish scopes out his competition as the original zombie near the Hundle Pirtle Roosth building on Oct. 27. Fish said being the original zombie was his favorite part of playing the game.

The humans were the victors of the game, with nine survivors after the last battle.

Sophomore Sam Tiedemann was one of three moderators, or MODS, for the game and said she believes the game was successful.

“Given the feedback from the players, they absolutely loved it,” she said. “I really do hope the game gets played again, and again and again.”

More than 200 students participated in the event  throughout the week.

Tiedemann, along with senior marketing major Amanda Davis and senior journalism major Anthony Bernardelli organized the event.

HVZ was approved as an independent event by student life and leadership.

Tiedmann said being a MOD was both stressful and awesome.

“There were a few bumps along the way that put stress on everyone, especially the MOD, but in the end it seemed to work out,” Tiedman said. “I know Amanda, Anthony and I all felt the strain in our classes and jobs, but in the end we absolutely loved doing it.”

She said she played the game previously at Texas Tech University and met new people while playing.

Tiedemann said the game brought students together.

“Before the game, I didn’t know anyone on campus because it’s my first semester here,” she said. “Now I can walk around and talk to people that I met throughout the week.”

Freshman biochemistry major Laura Vogler said it made everyday a fight for survival.

“I started planning my routes to class instead of thinking ‘I could just skip today,’” she said. “It was easily the most fun I’ve had since coming to college.”

She said her favorite part was being a zombie and jumping out of the bushes at people.

Students were required to register in order to participate, which involved recieving a zombie ID card and reviewing the rules with the MODS.

At the beginning, participants started as humans while few started as zombies.

Brody Scott gets freshly tagged by a zombie by Harvey Deck on Oct. 27.

Each day the MODS would adminster a daily mission where students could interact and win vaccines and other privledges.

During the game, humans were allowed to use balled-up socks, marshmallows and Nerf guns in order to stun the zombies and protect themselves.

The finale of the game was called ‘the last battle,’ which invloved a face off between the remaining humans and zombies.

Senior marketing major Ely Corum said the battle was his favorite part of the week.

“That’s what brought us all together and bonded like we did,” he said.

Freshman nursing major Casey Uscanga said she looks forward to the next game that is played.

She said one of her favorite parts of the game was the suspense built into playing.

“The stress and paranoia that comes with the game is actually one of the best parts, right next to shooting people,” she said. “Always having to watch your back, laughing about it, and laughing about other peoples paranoia.”

Freshman economics major Clint Fish said the game made his week exciting, and his favorite part was getting to be the original zombie.

Even after the game ended, those who played continued to organize events and socialize with making memorable videos and   by planning events such as a “Walking Dead” watch party Oct. 30 and  a HVZ party on Nov. 4.

Sophomore Sam Tiedemann (right) confiscated sophomore computer information systems major Eric Ellis’ human ID near the Robert R. Muntz Library.

The game was invented by Chris Weed at Goucher College in 2005, according to humansvszombies.org.

In a press release, Weed said he believes sometimes his genereation gets too wrapped up in self representation that students forget how to have authentic experiences.

“Humans vs. zombies represents a way of holding on to our need for fun for no other reason than to have fun,” he said in the release.

HVZ has now been played at more than 650 colleges across the world.