aNewDomain — Runs can be boring. I know, I get it. Music can help, or just zoning out to your breath, but that’s not always enough. Well, the beauty of this digital age is that there are options, one of which is a unique running app called Zombies, Run! The title pretty much sums it up: load the app, put in your headphones and get ready to run, fast, away from hordes of zombies.
An Experience
Zombie, Run! provides a rich audio experience of a future world in which zombies have taken over and you, Runner 5, are trying to reach Abel Township. You do this by running. Throughout your run, which can contain preloaded personal music and GPS tracking, the app will play pieces of this apocalyptic world to you. Zombies chase you, news of the world’s situation emerges and different missions take place.
The stream of data you receive, and the fear of zombies, all helps you to run faster while making you forget about the actual exercise you’re engaging in. It’s a brilliant way to approach running, especially for people who don’t normally enjoy it.
Zombies, Run! has been around for a number of years and has evolved as the app marketplace changes. The app used to cost $4.99, but the most recent update made it free. That means there are in-app purchases, which take the form of three years of content. What’s the content, you ask? “Seasons” with “missions” — essentially years of accumulated transmissions that paint the story of the world as you run.
You can subscribe for all the content — $2.99 for the month or $19.99 for the year — or continue to play for free and get weekly access to individual missions. You can be as involved as you want. For instance, there’s an entire community online that tracks specific runs and uses supplies to build up your base (Abel Township), or you can just run once a week to scary sounding zombies. It’s your call.
It’s exercise, borderline RPG and a strange version of Walking Dead, if the characters were the ones doing all the walking. I would check it out, if this piqued your curiosity at all (which I know it did!). It’s free for Android on Google Play and Apple iOS.
For aNewDomain, I’m Daniel Zweier.
All images: Screenshots courtesy of Google Play
