New Android and iPhone app takes an undead approach to fitness craze

A new app to be released for the iPhone and Android devices is threatening to bring a whole new approach to the relatively new world of fitness gaming.

The new app is called Zombies, Run! and is seeking funding to be launched globally.

The idea is very simple – upon downloading the app, each time you opt to go out for a run you load up the game that presents you with a ‘mission’. Each mission is set in a game world where Earth has been overrun by zombies.

The player is one of the last few surviving humans who has volunteered to take on the role of ‘Runner 5’, a hardy soul who is brave enough to venture into the zombie wasteland to pick up vital supplies and complete other missions for the benefit of what remains of humanity.

Each run undertaken equates to a new mission within the game and the app encourages you to hit your checkpoints within a stated time. This allows you to pick up medical supplies within the game and to complete each mission successfully.

If you go too slowly however, you will be able to hear the unearthly sounds of zombies closing in on you in your earpiece, which may act as a spur to redouble your efforts and pick up the pace.

Each mission lasts for between 20 and 30 minutes and developers have announced that there is to be around 30 missions in the first version of the game.

The idea is that each time the user runs, they will unlock a new aspect of the story and the storyline will emerge through their running, which will not only encourage people to run more frequently, but allow them to develop their pace.

The app will also use devices’ GPS to let the runner know how far they have run, the time they took and the calories they have burned.

Zombies, Run! is due for launch on iPhone in February 2012, with a version on Android slated for release in May of the same year.