Humans vs. Zombies on campus

Before the widespread chaos caused by the coronavirus, which led to the suspension of regular student activities across campuses nationwide, the game of Humans vs. Zombies had established itself as a club at universities nationwide.  

According to the club’s website, the group was originally founded in 2005 at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. The founders of the game sought a fun and engaging way to increase a sense of community and interaction on campus.  

Although the coronavirus significantly altered campus life and disrupted many student activities like Humans vs. Zombies, the game has still managed to adapt and persist. In the years following 2020, while the game’s popularity faced challenges, a few universities across the United States have managed to keep the tradition alive with clubs continuing to thrive in select campuses, including Utah State. 

According to the club’s website, in 2010, Brice Colby organized the first Humans vs. Zombies game that took place at USU. 

This decision would affect many people who would attend Utah State long after Colby, including Anna Tuite, who has participated in the game several times and considers the club an important part of her life. 

“Honestly, the club as a whole is fantastic … and most of my friends have come from this club. I would say my entire social circle is just a huge group of nerds having fun together,” Tuite said. 

Tuite also highlighted one of the original purposes of the game. 

“We get people from every different major to participate in the game. We get people from every major and every background, and it’s just a place where anyone can fit in,” Tuite said. “The thing that connects us all is that we all think zombies are cool, and we’re playing an awesome game.” 

This sense of inclusivity hopes to draw new participants each semester. According to Tuite, at the peak of the club’s popularity on campus, they would attract hundreds of students to come and participate. 

“Back in the early 2010s, the highest number of members was close to 900. Now, we are probably at around 40–60 players that come to each activity,” Tuite said.

Even though participants have dropped, the spirit of the club has never been higher, according to Tuite, as they are persistently looking for ways to attract more participants to experience the thrill of the game firsthand. 

“We are trying to put up a lot of posters — working with professors to do elevator pitches in classrooms,” Tuite said. “Recently, we have also been talking with the club at Florida State University to talk about different ideas they use to grow their group.” 

The game itself has been able to stay around for so long largely due to its simplicity. 

“It’s a week-long game of zombie infection tag. So it starts with two zombies. We have the zombie Harbinger, who’s the leader, and then you have the OZ, which is short for the original zombie. The OZ looks and sounds exactly like a human. No one knows they’re a zombie, but they can still infect you until people do what’s called ‘outing the OZ,’ which is where you figure out who it is, and then they start looking like a zombie,” Tuite said. 

Once someone registeres to participate in the game, they are given a bandana, which helps all the other players identify what role they play. The zombies wear the bandana on their heads, while the humans wear theirs on their arms. 

The club holds orientations where they explain the rules and clarify any other confusion in the week leading up to the beginning of the game. The first orientation took place on March 23 at 6 p.m. in the Richards Hall 2.5 Lounge. Details for the other orientations can be found on the club’s website at zombieaggies.wixsite.com/usuzao/dates. 

Tuite hopes other USU students will seize the opportunity to join, believing the game offers not only an unforgettable experience but also a chance to connect with new people and create lasting memories. 

“I have met so many people through this. I have made so many connections and friendships that I really believe will be lifelong. There are people that I still talk to who have moved states away since. It is just such an interesting experience that you really can’t get anywhere else,” Tuite said. “It is also great to get out and meet people. We always have people who come up to us and ask what we’re doing, and we get to tell them we’re zombies. It is always fun to see their reactions.”