Zombies, Run! is a 2012 mobile fitness game co-developed and published by British studio Six to Start and Naomi Alderman for iOS and Android platforms. Set around Abel Township, a small outpost trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, players act as the character "Runner 5" through a series of missions during which they run, collect items to help the town survive and listen to various audio narrations to uncover mysteries.
The storyline of the game is written primarily by Naomi Alderman and a team of writers, with guest contributions by notable science fiction authors such as Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Bear, Joanne Harris and Andrea Phillips. The game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign which raised more than five times what was expected, a total of $72,627 from 3,464 backers. Additional season expansions have been released annually. In October 2012, Zombies, Run! 5k Training, a spin-off app designed as a "couch to 5k" training program, was released.
Zombies, Run! became the highest-grossing Health & Fitness app on Apple's App Store within two weeks of its initial release, and has drawn praise for the way its immersive storyline makes running more fun and academic attention for its genre and mHealth applications.
Gameplay Zombies, Run! is an immersive running game. Players act as the character "Runner 5" through a series of missions, during which they run and listen to various audio narrations to uncover the story, between listening to music from their own playlists. While running, the player collects supplies which can be used to benefit the base camp of Abel Township. The app is hands-free while the player runs and items are automatically collected. The app can record the distance, time, pace, and calories burned on each mission through the use of the phone's GPS or accelerometer. When using the GPS feature, the user can also opt to participate in a zombie chase which requires the player to run faster (at least 10% faster—a form of interval trainingKim, B. 2015, "Gamification", Library Technology Reports, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 10-0_3.) for a short period of time or be caught by zombies and lose their supplies. The app has 23 missions for season 1. Season 1 focuses on the player's arrival and acceptance at Abel Township and Abel's rivalry with New Canton, a larger outpost which treats its citizens harshly.Zombies Run! Season One Missions Season 2 was released in April 2013, and has over 60 missions. Season 3 was released in April 2014, and has 40 missions. Season 4 was released in May 2015 with 40 missions, when the game became free-to-play. Season 5 was released in April 2016, with 40 missions. Season 6 was released in April 2017, with 40 more missions. Season 7 was released in April 2018, with another 40 missions. Season 8 was released in May 2019, adding 30 missions to the game. Each mission typically lasts from 35 minutes to an hour.
Additional modes In addition to the standard "Season" missions, which advance the central story, several additional modes have been introduced. These include virtual races, radio mode, and airdrop and supply missions.
Virtual races
The first special "virtual race" event was released in October 2015. For an additional cost of $40 entry, entrants received exclusive training missions, a race mission, private forums, and prizes such as a medal, a running bib, etc., with all results recorded (anonymously if desired) on global leaderboards. Entrants were required to complete a 5k and/or a 10k run between specific dates. The virtual race missions remained available to entrants to run again, but runs taking place after the event window aren't recorded on the global leaderboards. Players created over 200 real-world meet-ups for the virtual race. The next virtual race took place in March–April 2016.
Six to Start now release a virtual race every Spring and Autumn. The associated stories all take place before or during Season 1, so as not to introduce spoilers for entrants who have not yet completed all seasons. The format usually includes two "training" missions, whose stories gives background and context to the actual race mission, and emails giving further background, often containing links to specially created augmented reality game in-universe websites or phone lines. For example, the autumn 2016 virtual race centred around recovering a flu vaccine. Entrants received an in-game 'leaked' email outlining practices of the corporation that had created the vaccine, and a telephone number contained in the email worked, containing recorded messages about the corporation. One of the training missions centred around creating a biometrically coded T-shirt in order to bypass the corporation's security systems.
Six to Start has released 15 virtual races, which include: Race PeriodVRTitleTraining MissionsOct 30 - Nov 11, 20151Run for Abel NoneMar 30 - Apr 11, 20162Nuclear Threat2Oct 20 - Nov 1, 20163The Xia-Hifa Heist2Apr 7 - Apr 18, 20174European Rescue Force2Oct 20 - Nov 3, 20175Halloween!2Apr 19 - Apr 30, 20186Tactical Zombie Division2Oct 18 - Nov 15, 20187Tomorrow Island2Apr 25 - May 7, 20198Train to Oban2Oct 24 - Nov 11, 20199Escape from Runaway Fairground2Apr 29 - May 19, 202010The Abel Manor Murders2Oct 7 - Oct 22, 202011Die Rise2202112Jack & Eugene's World Tour (3 Parts)6Spring 202213Runners of the Round Table2Halloween 202214Death Wish2Spring 202315Cape Wrath2 Six to Start spun the virtual races concept off into a separate app called Racelink, where participants listen to audio while participating in a charity race remotely. Racelink was closed down on December 10, 2019. Most of those virtual races have been incorporated into the Zombies, Run! app as New Adventures.
Airdrop and supply missions An 'airdrop' feature was released where the player sets a real-world location to run to, and the app creates a mission that will last the distance needed. Supply missions allow the runner to gather additional supplies to be used for the in-app Home Base feature.
The Home Front In 2020, a series of 35 workout missions designed to be done at home was released as a reaction to the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series is also available in German as The Home Front Deutsch. The workout missions combine classic bodyweight exercises such as Squats, Lunges, Sit-Ups, Jumping Jacks, High Knees, and Chair Dips.
Home base mechanics The supplies collected while running can be used between missions to enhance a small version of Abel Township, with detailed buildings similar to SimCity. The more runs the player goes on, the more supplies they collect. They can use those supplies to expand their Abel Township base and unlock more missions. Players start with three level one buildings: Janine's farmhouse, an armory, and a defense tower, which are all surrounded by a fence. As a player runs, supplies are picked up to build new structures or improve structures. Each structure has some type of bonus attached to it.
Expanding the base reflects the player's dedication to their exercise, and the more the player exercises, the larger and better-equipped the base becomes. Expanding the base can influence story events and availability of missions.
Development The game was conceived when writer Alderman attended a running class, during which the instructor asked attendees why they wanted to run, and one answered, "I want to be able to out run the zombie horde." The game was funded by a Kickstarter campaign which raised more than five times what was expected, a total of $72,627 from 3,464 backers in October 2011. Developer Hon described the gameplay's aim as being more role-playing than gamification. The developers' aim in creating Zombies, Run! was partially to make use of the features of a smartphone such as GPS and the gyroscopes, creating a game that could only be played on a smartphone. Although the game uses GPS and the accelerometer, these are to estimate distance, not track location, and Zombies, Run! has been described as "one of the few actual distance-based games". Zombies Run! does not have as much quantification of data as other exercise apps do, and Alderman regards their decision not to consult professional help in design as a strength, arguing that much of Zombies, Run!'s uniqueness comes from that lack of professional involvement. The team were trained in Objective C for iOS and the player character, Runner 5, was designed to be genderless. Stories were written with generic landmarks included to give a sense of place, and to encourage the player to identify their own local landmarks as being what the characters are talking about. The story was designed to be episodic, more like a TV show or a novel than a film.
The story is written by a team. Alderman is the head writer and co-creator. Staff writers include Rebecca Levene, Andrea Klassen, Kayt Lackie, Grant Howitt, Mathilda Gregory and Gavin Inglis. Several guest authors who are notable in speculative fiction and video games, such as Margaret Atwood, Joanne Harris, Elizabeth Bear, and Andrea Phillips, have contributed missions. A fan fiction author contributed ten missions for season 2.
In June 2012, Zombies, Run! expanded onto Android and Windows Phone. Windows Phone support ceased in December 2012.
For the release of season 2, the team rewrote the apps, added in a lot of new features and changed their behavior, which led to backlash from some players. As of May 2015, Zombies, Run! became free-to-play. At this time, between 15 and 20% of all purchasers were still playing the game. Existing players were given access to all content up until the end of Season 3 and the Interval Training and Race Missions features. Existing players can also unlock one episode of Season 4 for free per week, and have a discounted rate on "Pro Membership" subscription. New players get part of Season 1 for free, and can unlock a new episode every week. As of November 2015, Zombies, Run! is available on the Apple Watch. A spin-off game for the Apple Watch is in development, codenamed Overwatch.
Seasons +Episode countRelease dateSeason Story missions Side missionsFeb 27, 2012123Apr 16, 2013245Side Missions: 16 Halloween Missions: 3Apr 16, 2014360May 12, 2015440Side Missions: 2Apr 20, 2016540Apr 26, 2017640Apr 26, 2018740May 15, 2019830Apr 13, 2021930Side Missions: 5Mar 29, 20231030Dec 2, 20241115May 6, 2026128
Plot, important points, and characters Alice Dempsey was the immediate past runner 5 before you became Runner 5. Under Sam Yao's time as a radio controller, there were also two other Runner 5s before Alice.Zombies, Run! episode A Voice in the Dark Evan Deaubl is runner #7 and head of runners. Sarah Smith is runner #8. She was at a military base 5 months after the outbreak.Zombies, Run! episode "Recovery" Jack Holden – the co-host of Radio Abel; has a great relationship with his mother but she is disappointed that she will not have a grandchild. His preference anti-zombie weapon is WG, a cricket bat. Jack Holden produced the "This Zombie Life" program which is a pastiche/homage of WBEZ's This American Life hosted by Ira Glass. Eugene Ben Woods – the co-host of Radio Abel; he was in for a week in London to do an article about pop up restaurants; missing an entire leg; met Jack at a rave 3-days into the Zombie outbreak. Told Jack "Come with me if you want to live." Radio Abel – a radio station from Abel Township and its alternative call sign is WNYZ. The alternative frequency is 5200 kHz. ROFL Net – is a radio-based network that stands for Radio Operated Freeform Link as a network recovery effort, not a "network resurrection effort". It is a low-tech version of the Internet using ASCI character to transmit pictures of funny cats. It contains emails and text-based sites such as Wikipedia and Survivor's Bible.