The Zombie’s may be less visible now that the name tags are gone but for a few days partcipants had the opportunity to get to know each other through a well tested game aimed at bringing students together and inspiring team work. Perhaps you even noticed students wearing name tags that said either human or zombie. Well, that is because they took part in the annual Humans versus Zombies (HvZ) tag game.
Katie from SOU’s RHA office said that “over 100 students signed up this year.” The sign-up for it began on Sunday, October 19 and ran through Wednesday, October 22. Any student could register, but it was was especially geared toward the ones living in student housing.
Participating students began playing the game at 8 am Monday, except for one representative from each resident hall designated as an ‘original zombie’, everyone started off as a human. The goal of the game is to tag as many human name tags as possible, turning the people into zombies, while keeping your own name tag from being tagged.
According to the official HvZ website, the game offers a fun, free way to work on team-building that people of all ages can play. A license under the Creative Commons allows the free use of this game. People from all over the world play HvZ in one form or another, depending on the setting. A high percentage of college and universities participate because in addition to team-building, it builds a sense of community. In two different educational research journals, G.D. Kuh indicates that “[s]tudent interaction with peers can positively influence overall academic development, knowledge acquisition, analytical and problem-solving skills, and self-esteem.”
SOU’s HvZ game ended on Friday followed by an after party starting at 5:30pm, offering all students Halloween-themed movies and free candy. If you missed out on playing this year, just remember you have the opportunity next year to play the game that helps players learn to build
teams, support systems, and/or alliances.
