Humans vs. Zombies: Athens continues through Tuesday.
Kyle Moyer is not a "normal zombie."
Moyer began playing Humans vs. Zombies in 2008 and has since become very skilled at being a zombie, creating an elaborate character for himself during the game.
“What is more scary than a zombie running at you?" Moyer said. "A clown zombie. … I dress up as a jester, face paint and everything. I let out an evil cackle as I charge.”
When being a human in the game, Moyer said the paranoia sets in because of the constant fear of being tagged. As a zombie, it’s about focusing on how to be stealthy and where to hide.
Members of the Nerf gun war Humans vs. Zombies began the game Oct. 20 and will continue playing every moment of the day until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. in hopes of surviving as a human and not being attacked by a zombie.
In simple terms, the game is essentially one big game of tag with two sides, Tanner Bivens, a moderator of the game, said. Zombies wear bandannas around their heads and humans wear them around their arms.
Although numbers fluctuate, Bivens said there are normally about 150 to 200 players. For a week, the players are completely immersed into the game and work to complete missions and objectives. Bivens added that the theme for the current game of Humans vs. Zombies is "Team Fortress 2," which is also the name of a first-person shooter, multiplayer video game.
In the past, Bivens said there was a Christmas theme where the humans had to rescue the children of Christmas. Another game was based around Men in Black.
He said people become interested in the game because it’s similar to experiencing a zombie apocalypse.
Scotty Spielberger, who lives in Cleveland and travels to Athens to play, said the creative themes and the high intensity are what makes the game so interesting.
“It’s intense,” he said. “If you play it the way it’s supposed to be played, you’ll be having fun, but the paranoia (when you are playing) as a human will get to you. The hunger as a zombie to kill humans, it will get to you.”
Despite being a skilled zombie, Moyer said he wants to be able to experience both sides of the game so he starts as a human. But at some point, he said he usually charges into a group of zombies so he can experience the different kind of adrenaline that comes along with the role.
Moyer said there are a lot of people who will stop playing after dying, but they’re missing half the game. He added that everyone eventually becomes a zombie, losing constant fear of being attacked.
Spielberger said being a zombie is difficult for him because his mindset has always been to kill the zombies rather than to help them kill.
Zombies do their best to lure humans to the zombie side, and one way is giving the humans cake in return for their life. That day has been dubbed “Zombie Cake Day.”
The game comes with reactions from outsiders who are curious, but Spielberger said not all the reactions toward the group are positive. Spielberger has been called names and people also tend to point and stare. He added that because he has fun, the comments don’t phase him.
Newer players to the game such as Trent Hoge, a freshman studying communication studies, said the members are welcoming and many people outside of the game are curious rather than rude.
“As a kid, I liked playing with Nerf guns,” he said. “I am kind of a nerdy guy and still a kid at heart so I embrace it. I think it’s fun. You get to play with toys again.”
Hoge said when people see him playing the game, they ask questions about it and tend to think it’s an interesting phenomena.
For Spielberger, Athens has been the most welcoming group of Humans vs. Zombies players he has come across in his almost five years playing the game.
“There’s no one that we exclude," Spielberger said. "I don’t see other players as black, white, gay, straight, male or female. It’s you’re a human or you’re a zombie. Depending on what side I’m on, that’s all the matters.”
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