A high-pitched scream pierces the air as a "zombie witch" in a dirty, white dress sprints down a street at a Sydney university, hair whipping around wild eyes as she chases a group desperately scrambling to get out of her way. Welcome to "Zedtown" -- an adventure event where competitors play out a zombie apocalypse: people race to reach an evacuation point to ensure their survival, but must also avoid being caught and turned by the "undead".
Described interchangeably as a giant game of zombie-themed tag and a 'live-action' video game, the events capitalise on an emerging legion of gamers who have grown up battling virtual enemies on computer screens -- and now want to experience such fantasies in real life. "It's a great feeling having hundreds of fully grown men and women running away in legitimate fear from you. It's really exhilarating," the woman who plays the zombie witch, Katerina Halkeas, says. "Video games themselves are becoming so much more immersive. And then when you have something like this, it's really the next step," adds Halkeas.
But unlike computer games, in real life players can't hit pause or pull the plug, or even head to the toilet without risking their "lives". They have to keep running to escape the threats in the game, adding to the heightened intensity. The events kicks off with humans, dubbed "survivors", outnumbering zombies, though all that is required to turn someone into the undead is to tag or touch them. Both sides are in an assortment of costumes and in high spirits. The organisers add jeopardy at the start of the game by anointing a small faction, who appear to be survivors, as secret zombies. This, players say, sows mistrust and quickly swells the number of those hunting, versus the number of those hunted. "You find yourself talking to people you wouldn't have otherwise spoken to and relying on those people for your life and... you form intense relationships quickly," says Zedtown creator David Harmon, who has plans to roll out the event in other cities.
Tasks and challenges are set for people to progress through the event space, and to try to make sure they don't simply stay hidden. As darkness falls, tensions rise and the ranks of the undead thicken -- sometimes chanting "one of us" in hordes to scare the few remaining survivors as they make a last-gasp attempt to reach the evacuation point.
Shooting games such as laser tag or paintball have been around for some time but Zedtown taps into a trend blending vintage video game concepts with reality. Pokemon Go, which is based on software first launched in 1996 for Nintendo's iconic Game Boy console, uses players' smartphone cameras and satellite location to enable them to see cartoon monsters to capture -- in real-world settings. Escape the Room computer games such as the Submachine Series and Mystery of Time and Space, where players have to solve riddles and puzzles to reach the next level and ultimately leave, have spawned physical adventures -- known as Escape Rooms -- where participants are locked in a room and have to solve problems to get out.
The next generation of games though, will see consumers playing in the physical world but immersing themselves in settings and against foes in the virtual world, industry experts say.
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This story in 30 seconds
• Zedtown is an adventure event where competitors play out a zombie apocalypse: people race to reach an evacuation point to ensure their survival
• The events capitalise on an emerging legion of gamers who have grown up battling virtual enemies on computer screens -- and now want to experience such fantasies in real life
• But unlike computer games, in real life players can't hit pause or pull the plug, or even head to the toilet without risking their "lives". They have to keep running to escape the threats in the game, adding to the heightened intensity
• The events kicks off with humans, dubbed "survivors", outnumbering zombies, though all that is required to turn someone into the undead is to tag or touch them
