"Is Zombie Apocalypse Gaming Sci-Fi?" Topic

Now up on the blog.

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My view is it is Sci-fi, it takes a plausible event that a virus, organism or something from out of this world that changes the dead.
Never played a zombie game but do like movies and mabe get Brandon Fisichella'book coming out about a zombie apocalypse in black powder age

Try this:

Wiki – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – STEERS 2016

Depends – are the zombies caused by a scientific or a supernatural reason?

I'm with 20th, but I can't for the life of me understand what difference it would make.

I always thought of it as a scientific thing – a virus, or side-effect of a new wonder drug.

As someone who knows a thing or two about anaerobic metabolism, I call is straight out fantasy

I was thinking about this the other night. Zombicide has standard zombies based on modern settings. They also have a pure sci-fi version and a pure fantasy version of the game. (I own most of the 1st edition sets.) What this proves, I don't know.

Yes, I would consider it in the Sci Fi area.

IMHO yes

Even if the necromancer reanimates them?

Frederick +1

It really doesn't matter how they dress it up, a decaying corpse cannot get up and walk around, even without massive holes in its body. It's like expecting a gas-powered car to be drivable without a functioning transmission.

So in that sense, it's all fantasy.

But I've got no problems with a game/movie/novel that ignores reality and treats it as SF.

On the other hand, actual Voodo zombie-ism, which is a case of trickery, creative poisoning, and culturally-enhanced psychological manipulation— that's certainly a potential SF situation, as would be technological mind-control, hypnotic suggestion, drug-induced fugue states, etc., etc.. Nobody's actually "undead" or a walking corpse, they're just deluded by whatever plot premise is applied.

PS: There's a fun episode of Castle where a zombie is the prime suspect, caught on video! How this is all resolved is quite clever and believable, with a plausible real-world explanation that doesn't involve any actual undead.

I think "Horror" is the more appropriate genre type.

Horror works for me, but also partly sci-fi. As for anerobic, I've read several zombie books that use the premise of a virus or something causing some sort of brain malfunction that causes a rabies-like state where the zombie only wants to attack other living things.

I'd normally think of it as "horror", but it may depend on what else is there. Is the place being zombie apocalypsed full of hovercars or elves? If so it's probably sf or fantasy respectively.

(The genres are not necessarily mutually exclusive.)

Alien comes to mind.

Horror, definitely. There are several types of horror in zed milieux, independent of what other genre it might fit into.

In some sense, in a wargame, all magic is technology. If a fireball has a range of 30', a Ph of 83%, does 3d6 damage @ -2 damage per foot from the point of impact and 2d5' of knocbakc @ -4' per fot from the point of impact, is that fundamentally different than a self-guided rpg that has a range of 30', a Ph of 83%, does 3d6 damage @ -2 damage per foot from the point of impact and 2d5' of knocbakc @ -4' per fot from the point of impact?

So, to the above points, to an extent it is dressing. Just don't tell the Historical players that Tuetoborg Forest is the same as an LOTR battle, or vice versa to the Fantasy players.

Even stuff like "kill the necromancer and all the zeds are nerfed" could be "destroy the mind control device and all the zeds die".

I would categorize it by what is around the zeds, not the zeds themselves.

Plan 9 From Outer Space = SciFi

Sugar Hill = Fantasy (Baron Samedi though, not really apocolypse, but can't pass up a chance to recommend it!)

But those are just hyphenated flavour additives. Horror is the primary genre.

I'm comfortable with impurity in genre. A little bit of sci-fi in my life, a little bit of horror by my side, a little bit of fantasy's all I need …

Sure? Why not?
The term "sci-fi" is pretty open ended.
If "Earth Abides" and "Starship Troopers" can coexist under the sci-fi umbrella…

Frankenstein is certainly sci-fi. Think about the similarities. 🤔

What a great and wonderfully silly discussion. I have enjoyed all of your inputs, thank you for indulging me. I have very much enjoyed reading your responses.

+1 to Oberlindes for the Mambo No. 5 reference.

(I own most of the 1st edition sets.) What this proves, I don't know.

I have a friend who collects 15mm Napoleons.
As for myself, I have 3 Maguas and 8 Long John Silvers.
2 Joseph Brant
2 Headless Horsemen . Could he/they be considered zombies? 🤔

Not to mention George Washingtons.

And if I see any more of the above…. Take my $$$!

I once did a miniatures version of the Awful Green Things from Outer Space where the creatures were zombie like. Zombies on a space ship -- SciFi?