Destroying Trust with Humans vs. Zombie’s Limbo Mini-

Game

• GROUP MUSEABILITY• Mike Maether, Deion O’Garro,

and Nithin Anand Gangadharan

Project Objective

• In this study we have decided to observe the operations of the Humans vs. Zombies game. We have looked into the artifacts that are being used and the ways in which they are used.

• To ensure that there is a way to keep players engaged.

Key Findings

• Learning Curve Aside from learning the rules, students need to understand what items to get and how to use them.

• Communication. There are hundreds of students playing the game for a week. Only a handful of moderators control them, with all of the information being on their website.

• Limbo When a human gets tagged, they don’t immediately become a zombie, they’re put in limbo.

Abstract Data

Data Quote 1

“I would add a second life to humans, so they could get tagged twice to become a zombie. It would be a little more interesting if humans had less to lose.”

Data Quote 2

“Respawn time to a full day and change the way people become zombies because in the movies the person has to [be] bitten so I think that they should make it harder to be tag[g]ed.”

Data Quote 3

“I would integrate the metagame of working with either Overlord and whoever the human equivalent was. I can only imagine how awesome it would be to have a dedicated group of 5 or so people fielding phone calls, text message, and keeping track of player locations on a Risk-style map. Obviously it would still remain optional as it is now, but I would have loved to know about it sooner in the game.”

Data Quote 3

“I would integrate the metagame of working with either Overlord and whoever the human equivalent was. I can only imagine how awesome it would be to have a dedicated group of 5 or so people fielding phone calls, text message, and keeping track of player locations on a Risk-style map. Obviously it would still remain optional as it is now, but I would have loved to know about it sooner in the game.”

Persona

Walt White• Freshman student• Male• Impressionable• Trying to make friends• Shy• New to campus life

Design Constraints

The Rules!

State Requirements

• From our research we have concluded that the best solution for the Limbo state is to create a new mini-game that can be played by the humans who have just gotten tagged. This will allow the player to continue playing while adding a new dimension to the game – trust.

The Limbo Mini-gameThe following are the steps required:1. When a human player gets tagged, he removes his

bandana and gives the zombie his ID card. 2. The zombie enters in the human’s identification

number on the HvZ website, changing the player’s status to Limbo state.

3. The moderators send out an email to all of the students in Limbo. They tell them the time and location to meet the witch.

4. If the Limbo player wants to be changed back into a human, they must convince another human player to walk with them to the witch. Deception is the likeliest tool.

5. If the Limbo player doesn’t want to offer a sacrifice, then he/she doesn’t need to.

6. Once the human sees the witch, the witch has to shoot the human to turn him or her into a zombie. If successful, the Limbo player turns into a human.

Rules for the New Zombie

• The human who was shot by the witch becomes a zombie immediately, but can’t attack anyone for five minutes.

• The zombie can not sacrifice a human to become a human. This is only reserved for Limbo players.

• They can only use a cure to become a human again.

Requirements

• The HvZ website has to be able to compile a list of players who are in Limbo.

• An email needs to be sent out to the list of Limbo players.

• A witch needs to be at that location, ready for sacrifices.

Conclusion

The main problem we discovered during our study was the Limbo state. Our proposed solution is to create a new mini-game that can be played by the players in the Limbo state. We want the player to be even more consumed in the game, and unfortunately the Limbo state removes them for just a little while. By creating a scenario that calls into question trusting your teammates, we’ve created a mini-game that begs the players to question everything and everyone. By adding this extra dimension into the game, Humans vs. Zombies becomes a true schizophrenic fight for survival.

Future Work

• User Feedback• See if people like this idea• See if they find problems• Talk to the president of HvZ• Do a test run

Destroying Trust with Humans vs. Zombie’s Limbo Mini-

Game

Questions or Comments?