What could be cooler than an immersive, Transmedia Zombie Apocalypse Experience?

For some, that would be getting into the game itself and running your ass off to evade zombies, literally.  If that’s your kind of thing, your dream has come true.

Enter Zombie, Run! The iPhone app that will literally raise  your heart rate – while you do your damnedest to evade zombies. I think it’s one of the coolest apps; it’s a bit transmedia story-telling, a bit interactive game play and a lot of running (and groaning, etc). Not mindless running, but calculated distance/ calories burned/ mileage tracked/ no-foot-dragging with audio soundtrack stuff.

Curious? Here’s the skinny from Jennifer Bergen @ Geek.com:

“The goal of the game is to rebuild civilization after a zombie apocalypse. To do this, you actually have to go out and run around in the real world where you can collect ammo, medicine, batteries, and spare parts that will let you build up and expand your base. You’ll get clues, orders, and stories through your headphones. You can even pretend you’re running around at night avoiding zombies when you’re actually running on the safety of your gym’s treadmill. You’ll get to hear the frightening moans and gurgles of the zombies that are right on your heels, making sure you keep running for your life.”

Man, if that doesn’t sound like neck-snapping hilarity to be had! Add heart-pumping excitement to your workout while playing a transmedia adventure game at the same time. Geez, kids these days have all the damn fun, don’t they? Closest thing I had to this was running around the block, evading my neighbor’s tire-biting dog, hot on my heels. Good times.

Kickstarter & Crowd-sourced Funding = A Wonderful Thing

One of the coolest things about the app’s launch is their Kickstarter campaign to get funding for the project. Check out the Zombie, Run! Kickstarter page. Truly , a lesson in how to kick off a Kickstarter campaign for your own super cool project. Passion is key.

Story-world building.   Yes, You Can.

This is a wonderful angle in which many a transmedia approach can be wielded in creating a transmedia story-world over  multiple platforms. In that, there is the interactive, goal driven gameplay; audio clips to accentuate the community around you, the other survivors via ‘radio chatter’, trackable location mapping, etc. Engaging, and fun, all the while deepening the transmedia experience for the player as you get deeper into the environment, situations, and story itself. Of course from here there are loads of possibilities with online hubs/ portals to reach out to other players, survivors, even the walking wounded, those infected but not ‘turned’ as yet, into a zombie… and all around a central release of a film, comic series, et al. It’s wide open, and I for one can’t wait to see what Six to Start Games pulls out from under the covers in May, 2012.

The more calories you burn, the less there are to be eaten, right? Just a thought.

Have at it!

-M