Zombies run app....to listen to stories as you run?

[goofeygirl]

I think Sarah Rose mentioned this on another thread and I wanted to find out more about it. I never heard of it before. Apparently there is a app where you listen to stories of Zombies? They are chasing you and it is so good it makes you want to get out and run just to hear the next story?

Can you share or give more details on this? How long is each story? How many are there? Or is it one story that goes on and on...is it an actual story?
Does it have a plot?

 

[kappyfamily]

I have it and it's kind of a fun app. I dont play it all the time though. You have "missions" you go on and in your headphones you hear the team talking to you about where you need to go. Like the abandoned hospital 2 miles away. Your mission is to get medical kits and bring it back to base camp. Oh but by the way, THERE IS A ZOMBIE RIGHT BEHIND YOU.....RUN!!!!! You can hear them breathing and stuff. All I know is my neighbors probably think I am the biggest nut ball on the planet because I will be running along normal and the next thing you know I am high stepping like a Mo Fo trying to get away from the zombies.....

So it all depends on if you care what others think of you. Have fun!

 

[EMHDad]

how do you find the app? What is its name?

 

[groovygirls]

iTunes- Zombies, Run! Its so much fun!

 

[irishsymphony]

I just burst out laughing, while out walking might I add, at the "running normally then highstepping like a mofo" part!!

Will have to look into this although it sounds traumatic!!!

 

[goofeygirl]

Sounds like some Phoebe (from the show Friends) moments...if you saw the episode where she ran like a nutjob.


I don't have an I phone or I pad...I barely even use my cell phone. But it does sound different.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Hahahaha, yeah I'm addicted! Seriously addicted. Extra runs when I'm injured and it's 105 degrees out style addicted.

It's an app for iPhone/iPod touch and Android phones, and it is so much fun. I'm not a horror movie fan (the most intense zombie movie I've ever seen is Shaun of the Dead!) but I can handle Zombies, Run! with no problem. Probably because there is no real peril involved - if you get "caught" by the zombies, you just "drop" a bunch of the items you've "picked up" to distract them, and you escape. Oh, and there's the guilt of knowing that your communications operator (the guy who is talking to you and telling you where the zombies are and where you're fictionally going) will be really sad if you die. Yeah, that's why I run like a crazy person.... not making a fictional character sad. Did I mention that it's super addictive and immersive??? The characters and storyline are all really good, and the voice acting is stellar.

More than that, I've actually seen a huge increase in my speed and cardio ability since I started playing the game in April. I hate speed work, but I will sprint up a hill in 100 degree weather if it means that the zombies don't get me.

Anyway, if you start playing, my name is Sarah_Rose on ZombieLink - friend me! Did I mention that it's super addictive???

 

[dreams91]

I have it and it's kind of a fun app. I dont play it all the time though. You have "missions" you go on and in your headphones you hear the team talking to you about where you need to go. Like the abandoned hospital 2 miles away. Your mission is to get medical kits and bring it back to base camp. Oh but by the way, THERE IS A ZOMBIE RIGHT BEHIND YOU.....RUN!!!!! You can hear them breathing and stuff. All I know is my neighbors probably think I am the biggest nut ball on the planet because I will be running along normal and the next thing you know I am high stepping like a Mo Fo trying to get away from the zombies.....

So it all depends on if you care what others think of you. Have fun!

This is hysterical! I may have to load it now. Anything to keep moving like a "mo fo"

 

[ZellyB]

Anyway, if you start playing, my name is Sarah_Rose on ZombieLink - friend me! Did I mention that it's super addictive???

I purchased it after you mentioned it on the marathon thread. I haven't made an account yet on ZombieLink, but I plan to mess with it some this week, so I'll look for you.

I really like it! We've just done two of the missions in season 1 so far, but it makes the run go really fast. We ran yesterday with another person who hasn't run with DH and me before. I was wearing the iphone, so it really only mattered how fast I went and on the last zombie chase I left DH and our friend in the dust. She thought I was crazy. We were trying to sort of figure out just how much we needed to speed up to escape the zombies. DH thought we only had to speed up a little, so on the last chase I tried that, but the beeps and moans got really loud, so I freaked out and took off. I was so relieved (and tired!) when it finally told me "Zombies evaded." Phew! Anyway, I recommend it as well. We've also found our overall time has been faster and I definitely get a better cardio workout during those sprints. I wouldn't want to use it for my long training runs, but for my shorter midweek maintenance runs, it's great.

As far as how long they last, you have a choice in the setup to make them either 30 or 60 minutes. We've been choosing 30. The story segments are the same regardless, but in between the story segments, the app plays your music from a selected playlist. (I created a special playlist just for Zombies, Run). Anyway, it just uses more of the music in between story segments if you choose 60 minutes (or at least I assume that is what it does). And, even once you complete the mission, the app switches to what it calls "radio mode". You then get the radio operator who sort of acts like a DJ and talks some about Abel township (the home base for your operations) while playing more of your playlist. I didn't realize though when we first did this, that you will continue to get zombie chases while in radio mode even though the official mission is complete. You also continue to pick up supplies. So, if you don't stop the mission, be prepared for that!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I purchased it after you mentioned it on the marathon thread. I haven't made an account yet on ZombieLink, but I plan to mess with it some this week, so I'll look for you.

I really like it! We've just done two of the missions in season 1 so far, but it makes the run go really fast. We ran yesterday with another person who hasn't run with DH and me before. I was wearing the iphone, so it really only mattered how fast I went and on the last zombie chase I left DH and our friend in the dust. She thought I was crazy. We were trying to sort of figure out just how much we needed to speed up to escape the zombies. DH thought we only had to speed up a little, so on the last chase I tried that, but the beeps and moans got really loud, so I freaked out and took off. I was so relieved (and tired!) when it finally told me "Zombies evaded." Phew! Anyway, I recommend it as well. We've also found our overall time has been faster and I definitely get a better cardio workout during those sprints. I wouldn't want to use it for my long training runs, but for my shorter midweek maintenance runs, it's great.

As far as how long they last, you have a choice in the setup to make them either 30 or 60 minutes. We've been choosing 30. The story segments are the same regardless, but in between the story segments, the app plays your music from a selected playlist. (I created a special playlist just for Zombies, Run). Anyway, it just uses more of the music in between story segments if you choose 60 minutes (or at least I assume that is what it does). And, even once you complete the mission, the app switches to what it calls "radio mode". You then get the radio operator who sort of acts like a DJ and talks some about Abel township (the home base for your operations) while playing more of your playlist. I didn't realize though when we first did this, that you will continue to get zombie chases while in radio mode even though the official mission is complete. You also continue to pick up supplies. So, if you don't stop the mission, be prepared for that!

Glad that you're enjoying it! I think mission 9 is the mission where everyone suddenly realizes that they're HOOKED - don't want to spoil anything, but there's suddenly a climax moment where universally every single person who has ever played the game (they do statistical analysis on speeds vs what is happening in the game) speeds up even though they don't have to, because of what is happening in the plot. Yup, they've got us.

Apparently you need to speed up 20% to evade the zombies. I tend to just run as fast as I freaking can. You can turn off the zombie chases, so I tend to do that for long runs. There are also 5K, 10K and 20K race missions that use distance instead of time, and those have the zombies turned off by default.

And yeah, Radio Mode!!! Jack and Eugene (the radio DJs) are fan favorite characters and have almost a cult built around them. I do my runs with my younger German Shepherd and then swap out dogs and do a 1 mile cool down with my 10 year old dog. I remember that first run where I was plodding along with my old arthritic German Shepherd and suddenly heard "warning, zombies detected". That poor dog hadn't run like that in YEARS!

 

[wiigirl]

I just burst out laughing, while out walking might I add, at the "running normally then highstepping like a mofo" part!!

Will have to look into this although it sounds traumatic!!!

 

[belle2211]

Can you run for longer than 30 mins? My Thursday and Sunday runs take 41 & 51 ish minutes but not long enough for the 60 mins

 

[Raenstoirm]

Ok you convinced me. I just downloaded it. I have to finish my audiobook first before I try it though.

 

[bumbershoot]

The recent postings Sarah has done about this have made me look it up. The long version requires me to upgrade my iphone 4's OS, ugh. But this is the FIRST thing that has made me feel like doing that. And might I mention that I lost my entire Contact List over a month ago because I hadn't upgraded (harumph...since when does an OS stop being supported a year or two after its creation? never, that's when. darned Apple doing something like this.), and I'm still so annoyed with Apple I haven't created a new Contact List. (side effect = I'm starting to learn the phone numbers of friends and relatives, which I hadn't done in YEARS b/c of cellphones and caller ID)

But this Zombie thing has made me interested in upgrading. Not sure if I should thank you guys or not!


And then today at the gym, every time I saw someone smiling on the treadmill I figured they were using the app. They weren't speeding up or screaming or taking peeks behind them, so I figure that they were smiling for some other reason, but I could be wrong.

 

[ZellyB]

Can you run for longer than 30 mins? My Thursday and Sunday runs take 41 & 51 ish minutes but not long enough for the 60 mins

It will keep playing until you stop the mission. It's just that once the mission is completed it switches over to that radio mode I mentioned. So, no more story, but DJ type chatter and more of your playlist along with supply pickups and zombie chases. Once you finish the run, you just click on Stop Mission to finish up.

 

[ZellyB]

The recent postings Sarah has done about this have made me look it up. The long version requires me to upgrade my iphone 4's OS, ugh. But this is the FIRST thing that has made me feel like doing that. And might I mention that I lost my entire Contact List over a month ago because I hadn't upgraded (harumph...since when does an OS stop being supported a year or two after its creation? never, that's when. darned Apple doing something like this.), and I'm still so annoyed with Apple I haven't created a new Contact List. (side effect = I'm starting to learn the phone numbers of friends and relatives, which I hadn't done in YEARS b/c of cellphones and caller ID)

But this Zombie thing has made me interested in upgrading. Not sure if I should thank you guys or not!


And then today at the gym, every time I saw someone smiling on the treadmill I figured they were using the app. They weren't speeding up or screaming or taking peeks behind them, so I figure that they were smiling for some other reason, but I could be wrong.

Funny what motivates us isn't it? My sister just downloaded it to her Android, but couldn't get the playlists to come up. Some searching found that not all droid music players are compatible, so she had to download a different music app and then it worked. We probably spent 45 minutes trying to figure it out.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Can you run for longer than 30 mins? My Thursday and Sunday runs take 41 & 51 ish minutes but not long enough for the 60 mins

The "missions" are 30ish or 60ish minutes - it really depends on how long the songs are on your playlist. If your songs run shorter than average, then you will be under 30 minutes, and if your songs are longer than average you will run over 30 minutes. I've had missions last anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes - season 1 seems to run a bit short, but they've fixed that to a certain extent with season 2. But as ZellyB said, the app just goes to Radio Mode once the official mission is over, and then you have Jack and Eugene to keep you company for the rest of your run. And to be perfectly honest, some of the Radio Mode stuff if more entertaining than the actual missions. Jack and Eugene are ADORABLE!

The recent postings Sarah has done about this have made me look it up. The long version requires me to upgrade my iphone 4's OS, ugh. But this is the FIRST thing that has made me feel like doing that. And might I mention that I lost my entire Contact List over a month ago because I hadn't upgraded (harumph...since when does an OS stop being supported a year or two after its creation? never, that's when. darned Apple doing something like this.), and I'm still so annoyed with Apple I haven't created a new Contact List. (side effect = I'm starting to learn the phone numbers of friends and relatives, which I hadn't done in YEARS b/c of cellphones and caller ID)

But this Zombie thing has made me interested in upgrading. Not sure if I should thank you guys or not!


And then today at the gym, every time I saw someone smiling on the treadmill I figured they were using the app. They weren't speeding up or screaming or taking peeks behind them, so I figure that they were smiling for some other reason, but I could be wrong.

Hahahahaha..... DO IT!!!

I swear I've converted like 20 people to ZR! in this week alone - I am now a pusher. My super secret (LOL!) motivation behind this is that for every person who pays $4 for the app, we are one step closer to the developer being able to pay their voice actors for season 3.

 

[aliron]

Has anyone used it while running a race? Seems like it would be great to run the 5k or 10K. Would be great if they put in a half version.

I only started yesterday with Season 1 mission 1 so I will see how I get into it.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Has anyone used it while running a race? Seems like it would be great to run the 5k or 10K. Would be great if they put in a half version.

I only started yesterday with Season 1 mission 1 so I will see how I get into it.

There is a 20k race mission. A half is 21k, so pretty close. I wouldn't use it for a bigger louder race, but it could be good for a smaller one. I would worry about hearing people around me (so to not become a road hazard) and being able to pay attention to the game and not miss things. The characters talk over your music in the race missions so it can be hard enough to hear them. Also, the race missions build on each other so you want to do them in order. Also, they reference the race missions in season 2, so it's best to finish them before starting season 2 to avoid a 'what the heck, when did we learn that!' moment.

I ran a small local half in May and I had the 20k queued up for it, but I ended up making a friend at the start line and we ran the whole race together. I think it would have worked fine, though. There are no zombie chases in the race missions, so you don't have to worry about that and can just focus on the story.

 

[ZellyB]

I swear I've converted like 20 people to ZR! in this week alone - I am now a pusher. My super secret (LOL!) motivation behind this is that for every person who pays $4 for the app, we are one step closer to the developer being able to pay their voice actors for season 3.

And by your extension, you've converted my sister and I'm working on a few others. I posted about it on Facebook to my running group as well, so who knows how many of them might try it!