Blog
The Reckoning
by Ed Anderson First a little background. Survivor Z was released in Fall of 2014, and for almost six years, players have been strategizing, competing, and killing for their digital lives in the first text-based multiplayer online role-playing game. Survivor Z was an evolution of Ed Anderson’s original game “ZDAY Survival Simulator” which was a very well-received release on the iTunes Store in Spring of 2012. Now, on to this idea of the reckoning. What players may know about Survivor Z is that it keeps track of your decisions, and it presents gameplay options based on the choices you make. What many of them may not understand, is to what a degree some of these decisions are being tracked and recorded. The intention in the case of Survivor Z was always to come to some kind of conclusion about every player, and at that point give them some kind of resolution. When I first starting writing for Survivor Z after writing Simulator the first thing I realized was that there was almost no limit to how much content I could produce for this game, and that really other than thematic limitations there was no limit other than my own ability to avoid burning out writing zombie-themed game content. So I realized that I needed at some point to let players know that they were being watched the whole time, and that every choice of consequence that they made was recorded, and that someday there would be an omnipresent being come down from the clouds and give them all their day of reckoning based on all the things that they had done, good, bad and ugly. Tracking these invisible decision “tokens” is easy, but we also have all the other data to go with it to give us a complete picture. For example, I can look at everything a player owns, what challenges he or she has completed, what special items they have collected, how they have treated various NPCs along the way and a myriad of other virtual breadcrumbs that they have left that paints a very nuanced picture of where they are in the Survivor Z Universe. So the next phase in the Survival Z Series is likely the most important one. Several new challenges that will take into account all the player’s previous choices and give them each an outcome that is unique to their experience. I hope that all players will accept these challenges, it will give them a great sense of closure, and may even make them want to start over and play all over again. The first of these special release challenges will be released soon, so keep watching our website, Twitter, and Facebook for...
read moreSurvivor Z 3.0.3 update
Update 3.0.3 has been approved and is now live in the App Store. This latest update will address various bug fixes in the previous update from March 5 and will make Survivor Z compliant with new requirements set forth by Apple. Facebook log in has been removed. Players who originally set up their accounts to log in using Facebook can request that their log in type be changed to email log in by sending a request to service@mongadillo.com.
read moreSurvivor Z back online!
After a long hiatus and multiple server issues, we are back online. Still planning new content for both Survivor Z and a radical new adventure for ZDAY Survival Simulator. Players are encouraged to share the fact that we are back online and win free downloadables such as grenade packs and awesome weapons.
read moreAnnouncement: New game in the works at Mongadillo Studios
Ed Anderson of Mongadillo Studios announced today that a new sequel to Survivor Z is in production.
read moreWhy “The Walking Dead” doesn’t exist in our universe
I was talking to my brother-in-law yesterday, and he brought up a good point when he noted that it’s weird that the characters in ‘The Walking Dead” don’t ever use the word “Zombie”. When the creators created their story, they made a choice not to use the word, but instead to avoid it completely, which creates a disconnect between the world that Rick and the gang live in and ours. Evidently in this parallel universe where the not only the word ‘zombie” doesn’t exist, but the entire history and culture that exists around zombie lore doesn’t exist either. That means none of the 19th and 20th century literature, art and movies that refer to zombies exists. I know this may seem insignificant to some people, but when I watch the show, it seems as if in avoiding the word they bring more attention to the fact that they are NOT saying it than they would if they just acknowledged that the word exists. As a writer, I know objectively why the creators didn’t want to acknowledge the lore of zombies in their story. They wanted to write a story that wasn’t ABOUT zombies, but about people, and how they deal with the loss of humanity and civilization, and it’s too easy to get all caught up in the lore that exists if you acknowledge that it exists. Zombie mythology is such a huge part of popular culture the writers would have too much baggage to deal with if they opened that box. Obviously it’s a little late for the Walking Dead writers to start using the word, they are committed to never say the “Zed Word”, which I think they never thought would be a big deal when they were writing the comic book, but now that their little comic has become a cable TV juggernaut, the lack of acknowledgement of “zombie” places them in an awkward position. And for some, breaks the 4th wall a little when it comes to making us suspend our disbelief. It bugs me a little, but I’ll keep watching the show about an alien planet that looks a lot like Earth that has a serious zombie...
read moreA note from Survivor Z creator about player inventory
Ed Anderson, the creator of Survivor Z discusses the strategic disadvantage of accumulating too many inventory items in Survivor Z.
read moreMongadillo to re-release Joe Keatinge’s “Comic Con Z” for SDCC
To celebrate San Diego Comic Con Mongadillo Studio’s plans to re-release Joe Keatinge’s 2013 “Comic Con Z” challenge for Survivor Z for one week only.
read moreSurvivor Z 3.0 release goes live on iOS
Survivor Z 3.0 update is live on the App Store and features clans and in game messaging!
read moreSurvivor Z 3.0 update is a game changer
Survivor Z update will add clans, communication, and travel!
read morePublic Beta of ZDAY Writing tool released
Players can now write their own challenges using the zday writing tool.
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