Tech Tip: Zombies, Run!
With all the fitness apps and gadgets nowadays, we are spoiled for choice. From tracking sleep, calories in your food, to recording every move you make, the quantified self movement is taking off not only in the US, but also in Asia.
To continue the theme of fitness in this issue of page five, we hunted around for the perfect app to showcase that would get me off my butt and into my cross trainers. Being a bit of a geek, I tried almost every app there is out there. from meditation yoga apps to ones that track my run, like RunKeeper. Nothing, however, caught my attention until I saw Zombies, Run!.
In Zombie, Run!, a cross between your typical running app and a role-playing game, you play as a runner from a camp of survivors from a zombie apocalypse. Instructions are given through your earpiece, for you to run (in real life and in-game) and look for game items.
My favourite bits of this game, and in my opinion, the best parts, are the zombie chases. In between missions, you get to run to the tune of your chose playlists. At random portions of your run, growling and groaning will be heard over the music, which signals you to the zombies that have caught onto your scent and you'll have to sprint fast enough to get away. It has been such an adrenaline rush for me whenever I manage to outrun the zombies.
If you want a bit more interactivity with your game, you can even log on to the game's online community on a computer and see how other Runners are doing. The virtual items you collect can also be used to upgrade your in-game bases.
For an unconventional way to keep yourself jogging, Zombies, Run! is fun, engaging and would keep you entertained enough you wouldn't even notice that you are exercising!.