HUMANS VS ZOMBIES

Brought to SUNY Oswego by the StoryTellers’ Guild

https://www.facebook.com/STGuild

OVERVIEW

Humans VS Zombies is an exciting game of tag wherein a small number of zombies set out to convert a massive group of humans over the course of a week. Zombies are restricted to using a two-hand tag, whereas humans may defend themselves with Nerf-style weaponry and socks thrown by hand.

If anything that follows is unclear to you, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification! Find a moderator or reach us at: hvzoswego@gmail.com

SAFETY RULES

As it is a light contact game, safety comes first in Humans VS Zombies. Failure to follow these rules will result in immediate ejection from the game, and the involvement of University Police if necessary.

• Other than socks, humans may only defend themselves with ranged, Nerf-style blasters. Socks must be thrown by hand. Nerf-style melee weapons such as swords and axes are not allowed.
• Tags should be firm enough that a human can feel it, but not so hard as to be dangerous. If a human is injured while being tagged, accidentally or otherwise, he/she remains on the human team, but is out of play for fifteen minutes.
• Blasters may not be functionally modified; blaster mods often dangerously increase muzzle velocity.
• Blasters may not be visually modified to look like real firearms.
• Hostility and bullying will not be tolerated. Foul language, yelling, and excessive trash-talking should all be avoided. Be a good sport!
• Avoid headshots. A zombie hit in the head is not stunned, and a human found to have aimed for the head on purpose will be ejected from the game.
• Do not blast or tag non-players or out-of-play players.
• Do not participate in the game from a vehicle of any kind (cars, buses, skateboards, bikes, etc.). Consider yourself out of play when you are in/on one, and remove your headband. Purposefully using vehicles as a means of escape or as an attack transport is not allowed.
• Blasters are to be stored in bags or backpacks while players are indoors.

BASIC GAME RULES

Accidents happen and we don’t expect everyone to memorize all the rules, so we will generally give a reminder or a warning before ejection from the game for these. However, if a human is found to have been breaking the rules when stunning a zombie, or a zombie is found to have been breaking the rules while tagging a human, the stun or tag will be reversed. If you believe you were tagged or stunned in error or by someone who was breaking the rules, tell a moderator!

• If you are in play, you must wear your headband horizontally around your head such that it is clearly visible from all sides. You may not conceal it with hair or clothing; if you wear a head covering of any kind (hood, hat, etc.) your headband must be on top. Avoid similarly colored headgear, as it may camouflage your headband. Players will be asked to remove anything that does this.
• Respect other people’s property; do not destroy or dispose of people’s darts or blasters.
• Do not take what isn’t yours. We keep a lost and found box for discarded ammunition and socks, and if you happen upon them on the ground you may return them to us. However, snatching a human’s ammunition or socks to impair their ability to fight is theft.

• We recommend initialing your ammunition for later retrieval, but do not rely on us to keep your ammunition for you. Ultimately, we cannot be responsible for your property.

• Moderator rulings are final. Moderators reserve the right to enforce the rules how we see fit, and things can sometimes change on the fly. We aren’t perfect, and the rules as they are written might not be either.
• Continued participation requires visiting the campus at least once every twenty-four hours. Humans staying off campus for multiple days would have an unfair advantage.
• Non-players may not directly interact with the game. Players found to be working in collusion with non-players (using them as lookouts or to interfere with ammunition, for example) will be ejected from the game.

CONDITIONS OF PLAY

• Once the game begins, being in play is not optional while you are on campus except under certain special circumstances and in certain areas.
• Some areas are out of play. If you enter one, remove your headband and cease participation in the game until you have left. These areas are as follows:

• Outside the boundaries of the SUNY Oswego campus
• Inside or atop any building
• Within five feet of a building’s door(s)
• Parking lots
• Construction zones
• The beach
• Special out-of-bounds areas during missions

• If you are on the way to work or a sports activity, do not wear your headband and do not participate in the game. The same goes while you are at work, participating in sports, or are engaged in outdoor class activities of any kind..
• There is a full game pause fifteen minutes before and after each night’s mission. Players must still wear their headbands, but are not in play.

MISSIONS

Missions are daily gatherings with special rules and objectives. Attending missions is completely optional, but the winning team of each night’s mission is rewarded the following day. Mission details will be emailed out at the beginning of each day; there may be differing meeting places, but missions will all take place at 8PM. Be sure to stick around at the end - there will be a sign-in sheet that allows us to specifically reward players who have attended missions.

Moderator instructions during missions supersede the written rules. Any special conditions will be announced at the start-of-mission gathering. For example: as missions usually take less than an hour, zombies only remain stunned for 1-5 minutes during missions.

HOW TO PLAY

• Humans are issued unique ID cards, and must carry them at all times. If a human is tagged, he/she must give his/her ID card to the tagging zombie.
• Humans switch to the zombie team when they have received a firm two-hand tag from a zombie. If your blaster, backpack, or other bag is tagged, it still counts. When tagged, the human should remove his/her headband; upon being tagged, the human is considered a stunned zombie. After fifteen minutes, the tagged player is in play as a zombie.

• Reminder: both the human and zombie must be fully in play areas. If the human has one foot in a parking lot, for instance, he/she is safe and should not be an active participant.

• After tagging a human, zombies must report the tag within three hours with the ID number of the former human. Email tag reports to: hvzoswego@gmail.com
• Zombies are stunned for a period of fifteen minutes if they are blasted or hit with a sock. When stunned, remove your headband and cease participation.

• Stunned zombies may not participate in the game in any way. Purposeful interference (acting as a shield for active zombies or continuing to pursue humans) will result in ejection from the game.
• Darts or other projectiles which ricochet off of active zombies are still dangerous. Projectiles are no longer capable of tagging after touching any other surface (buildings, ground, etc.).
• Zombies may not hold objects to use as shields for the purpose of deflecting projectiles. In such cases, the zombie counts as tagged.
• If a zombie is hit in the head, it is still in play. Headshots never count.

• Humans will be required to sign in at the Marano Campus Center on Tuesday and Thursday. Humans who fail to check in are considered to have starved out, and will be moved to the zombie team.
• Zombies starve and are removed from the game if they go forty-eight hours without tagging a human.

CONCLUSION

Humans VS Zombies is just a game, and the point is to have fun. The game’s rules exist either to make sure you’re having fun in a safe manner or to help protect you from people who would make Humans VS Zombies less fun to play. It can be very rewarding to take a game seriously, but remember not to take it so seriously that no one’s having fun. A game is never worth screaming at someone over, and a game is never worth getting hurt over. Be safe, enjoy yourself, and eat brains!