College Kids Playing Humans vs. Zombies on Campuses
Posted on April 28, 2009
Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ) is game played with Nerf guns. The Boston Globe reports that game is all the rage on college campuses these days.
The game provides students with a distraction from studies as they chase one another from classroom buildings to dorms. Students say HvZ is a healthy way to keep them on campus on the weekends and away from drinking. But the game has come under scrutiny. Reports of large groups of students wearing bandannas and shouldering 2-foot toy guns have alarmed passersby on some campuses. The game has been banned at some schools, including Butler University and Washington State University.
David Tillinghast, chief of campus police at Bridgewater State College, told the Globe, "In a post-Virginia Tech world, people very rightly take that kind of stuff seriously. We have received calls that some people thought the weapons they were wearing looked real. Sometimes they are out there in camouflage fatigues."
It sounds like harmless fun. The students should make sure the police and campus officials are aware of their games. The article says one group was told by police not to wear red bandannas so people don't confuse them for gang members.
A website called humansvszombies.org explains how to play the game. The site says, "Human players must remain vigilant and defend themselves with socks and dart blasters to avoid being tagged by a growing zombie horde."
Here's footage of an HvZ game at Western Washington University.