July 30th, 2012 by Nickie Williams
Zombies, Run!
Available: Now Platform: iOS/Android/Windows Phone
I’m going to write about something completely unorthodox in the land of gaming journalism- and mention that one word that no gamer likes. EXERCISE. Hey now, there’s no need to brandish that machete at me, I promise I’m not calling you fat.
I personally am a gamer and a keen exercise enthusiast. I love to run, it makes me feel so very free and there’s no expensive gym membership. At the moment since my arduous moving of houses- I’ve still got no internet connection at home other than the hotspot-variety that I use from my mobile phone. And so, no internet means no Xbox. This makes me quite a sad panda, but I’ve got my Nintendo 3DS to console me. It’s okay. I promise I’ll live.
Anyway, I’m a keen runner and it’s a way I can vent my many frustrations without punching customers in the face. So when I discovered the app ‘Zombies, Run!’ on the iOS App Store- I was taken a little by surprise. It’s a game that involves some kind of movement from you. Bit like Nintendo Wii but with zombies! And surely, any kind of game that has zombies has to be worth the time and energy- right?
The idea of the game is that you start of by crash landing into an area just outside a township. You pick a playlist on your phone/iPod Touch and you get little bits of speech through your headphones from the guys in the game interspersed by your musical tastes. You can choose to either run or walk, but I will give you a bit of a cheat- if you’re not much of a runner then make sure you download the app onto an iPod Touch as they can’t track your pace or speed with the lack of GPS. Basically, as you’re running (or walking) you are told about a story where the people in the township are suffering and desperate for supplies. It’s your job to complete the missions and pick up the items along the way. You’ll pick up things like bottles of water, batteries and med kits to use to level your buildings at the township. The better the buildings, the more advanced the population. Which means more people to help out! Each mission is about 30 minutes long, so it’s a nice chunk of time to get a decent walk/run in.
If you do use a phone, it will track your pace so if you’re a runner and you have your GPS turned on- expect to come across mobs of zombies trying to tear a strip off you. If you’re told that zombies are within 100m…YOU MUST RUN. If you don’t run fast enough, like your life depended on it- it’s highly possible that they will catch you and kill you. If that happens, it’s game over and you have to re-start the mission. So it’s advised to listen to the warnings and not get too absorbed by your music.
The only downside of this app for me was the price, as I paid just a shade over £5. I believe it’s about $8 in the US. But it is available across all three major platforms, so if you fancy the thought of something that will get you motivated for exercise and get to run from zombies at the same time- you’re onto a winner 
Game on Girl is a weekly podcast hosted by Regina McMenomy and Rhonda Oglesby. New episodes premiere every Thursday. We interview gamers and discuss games, gaming, and game culture. We also have a regular segment, Games in Pop Culture, where we talk about representations of games and gaming in mainstream media.
