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Last year’s hit game of Humans vs. Zombies returned to Dordt College this year, but instead of the battle against the undead being limited to North and East Hall, this year’s game included participants from all across campus. Allowing everyone to participate changed the game in a number of ways. The most prominent change was the number of players, nearly doubling last year’s 174 to 340. More players also meant that moving from building to building was much more difficult.

“I think it was a good idea,” said sophomore Penni Matthews. “It got everyone involved together in one thing on campus. Plus, some of us were upset that we couldn’t play last year.”

More players also resulted in more “original zombies.” Last year, junior Micah Applegate was named “the Chosen One,” while this year there were eight originals in order to spread the infection faster and to all parts of campus.

“It really was an honor to follow in the footsteps of such a giant [Applegate] in Humans vs. Zombies as one of the originals. It was like Aaron Rodgers taking over for Brett Favre,” said sophomore RA and zombie staff member Jake Byma.

The gameplay was the same as last year; if you’re a human, don’t get touched by a zombie. If you become a zombie, go get humans and turn them into zombies. Humans (marked by the green band on the arm) were able to defend themselves by throwing socks at zombies (green band on the head), stunning them for 5 minutes and rendering them unable to hunt for humans. If a human got tagged by a zombie, they had to give the zombie an ID card with information that needed to be entered on a specific website.

By the end of the four days, the ratio of zombies to humans had shifted to nearly 2:1. Freshman Tyler Couperus led all the zombies with a record of more than 30 infections, while freshman Mark Dykstra held the most memorable attempt to get from the bathrooms to his room. Those who survived the whole time didn’t get any physical prize, but the bragging rights and knowledge of being untouchable was a big enough reward.

Humans vs. Zombies was a bigger success this year than last year, and Byma attributes this to two major appeals. First, it was a way for students to relax and take their mind off of academics for a while. Second, it built a sense of community.

“There is a sense of pride and camaraderie in being associated with either group, and you team up with different people you may not know to carry out missions or get to class, and that is kind of cool,” said Byma.

Justin Pastoor, Staff Writer