Zombies, Run - the review

If you remember way back in January, I set out to try a couple of apps to see if they would help improve my fitness, motivation and inability to put down the cake. Finally I have time to let you know how that went. First, Zombies, Run:

I downloaded the Zombies, Run 5K edition for the bargain price of 69p (now £1.49, sorry!); 

quite a big step for me as I have never bothered to pay for an app before as I find that there are a great many good free ones so I am not affected by not having whichever paid apps are trending this week. However, something about Zombies, Run spoke to me and, throwing caution to the wind, spent my 69p on it. 

Having played it for a few weeks, 5K really does seem to be a training app in the best

sense of the word. The idea is that it sets you up with different workouts that get a little harder and a little longer until you can complete 5 kilometres, all with an exciting zombie-based storyline delivered direct to your headphones. All you have to do is put on your trainers, leave the house and follow the instructions!

As you progress through the game, new workouts are added to the screen. Copywrite Six to Start and Naomi Alderman,
original artwork by Estee Chan.

As with the full Zombies, Run app (more on this to follow), the first screen is a lovely series of pictures as an introduction and tutorial. However, where the full app has a mini-game, 'codex' where information on people, places and objects can be looked up, and a text-format mission list, the 5K version has a simple one-screen cork-board where your completed missions are posted. 

The first week is easy. I cannot stress this enough. Anyone could do it, even my 90 year old grandma. Well, maybe not as she recently had a hip replacement and would forget where she was going within a few minutes but you get my point. In the first week you do three repetitions of the same workout: 10 minute walk, 1 minute walk followed by 15 second slow run (ten times), followed by a ten minute free form run. 'Free form' here doesn't mean 'running around waggling your arms above your head, screaming that the zombies are coming' but 'jog if you can, walk if you can't'. Shame. Still, even without the theatrics, it's not the most active 36 minutes I've ever spent!


As you progress through the weeks, the workouts get harder. But this is at a gentle pace, spread out over 8 weeks with several repetitions of each workout so you can be confident that you know how do do each one. 

One thing to beware of, however, is the setting of your phone and whether your GPS is working! Check out the picture -->
Can you spot the problem?
At 8:16pm the storyline started, the radio operator told me what I had to do and the story began. At 8:27pm I checked to see whether my 10 mins was up and it happily told me that I had completed 3 minutes....
For the rest of the session I made sure to stop my phone from sleeping and, since I've made sure to use GPS every other time, I've not had this problem since. I only had to do an extra 10 minutes because of this glitch!
The only other problem I have is that the storyline voiceovers cut in over the top of whatever you are listening to instead of pausing the track. This isn't a problem when Sam and Dr Myers are talking over Rita Ora or Rhianna but I have a habit of listening to The Infinite Monkey Cage whilst running and it's a bit irritating when you can half hear Brian Cox explaining something or Tim Minchin making a joke and know that you are missing out!

Anyway, I found that I liked the concept of Zombies, Run so much that I wanted to see what other features the full version had.

Estee Chan's introductory artwork.

As before, the first screen is a tutorial. I am quite in love with these illustrations since I noticed - while compiling and cutting them together for you - that the pictures lead into each other. Love it!

Estee Chan (as part of the SixToStart group) designed this.

So what's new? Well the storyline is different. You are no longer a new arrival training up to be of use but a 'Runner' in your own right. And, as you run, the text-to-speak man (think Siri) tells you that you have picked up various items including insulin, first-aid kits, an axe and underwear. How I can carry all that when I have just fallen out of a helicopter crash I do not know! These items you use to upgrade various building in your base which then expand and change and also give you new missions. For example, on my first run I collected enough items to upgrade my hospital to Level 2. This has unlocked story missions 2, 3 and 10. 

So the verdict? I can't type any longer, I need to go and get more supplies for Abel Township. Are you coming? See you on the other side.

P.S. Don't ask about MyFitnessPal. The calorie counter is too much for me at the moment: it fainted when it registered how much cake I have been eating.... maybe I'll try again in the future.

119 days to go!