Socks and survival: Humans vs. Zombies

For those who have spent any time on Utah State University Logan campus during March 23-27, they certainly came across dozens of students sporting bright orange bandanas on their arms or heads. All of these students were part of USU’s biannual Humans vs. Zombies game, a massive game of tag with other objectives to complete along the way.  

 “Humans vs. Zombies is a 15-year-old USU tradition. It’s a week-long, campus-wide game of zombie infection tag. We start with just one zombie, and the infection slowly spreads throughout the week,” said Anna Tuite, the president of the Humans vs. Zombies club. “Humans vs. Zombies took the United States by storm in the early 2000s. There used to be hundreds of campuses that would play, and now we are one of only a handful left.” 

While at the surface level the game appears to simply be a big game of tag, there are many objectives and goals for players to accomplish throughout the week. These objectives aim to make the game more interesting and create a story for each of the week’s events. 

“We have two types of play: day play, which is between classes and other things during your day on campus, and night missions. Day play can be really stressful, and so personally, I really like it. I think it’s very fun to chase people between classes or get chased by zombies between classes,” Tuite said. “Night missions are where a lot of the action happens. We gather as many people as can at Old Main, and we give each team tasks and specific things to do that further the story that we’re telling throughout the week.” 

Photo Illustration by Rory McNeill

Humans are not completely hopeless as they traverse between classes. They can “stun” the zombies by throwing balled-up socks at them, and the zombies are then required to wait 15 minutes until they can return to the game. 

For some players, the goal is to stay alive the entire week, while others enjoy participating in the hunt throughout the game. For this reason, various awards are given out to players for different accomplishments on both sides of the game, such as the Star Human and Star Zombie, which are given to the best player of each team during the nightly challenges. Two of the most coveted awards include the Golden Socks and Gamemaker awards. 

“Golden Socks is an award that you can achieve by going on every night mission and surviving until Friday. That also means finishing the objective and being present in the game,” said Lissette Lyautey, member of the club’s presidency. “The Gamemaker pin is where us as harbingers come together and have a discussion on who really made the game. It’s someone who jumps in feet first and is just really excited to play and adds to the experience for everyone involved, someone who truly is the heart of the game.” 

At its peak, the game had more than 1,000 participants. This year’s game only about 80 participants. While the games each semester are the highlights of the year for the club, the group strives to foster an active community throughout the year. 

“The game is our big thing, but we do have smaller events throughout the semester. Some of the big hitters are the Halloween party and Valentine’s events, as well as other general hangouts,” Lyautey said. 

The club invites everyone to come out and join the game next fall. Regardless of major, year or background, the club is an opportunity to have some fun and nerd out about zombies with friends. For anyone interested in the club, it has an active page on MyUSU and Discord.