Hybrid World Adelaide recap: Could you survive a Zombie Apocalypse?

Ever thought about how well you’d survive in a Zombie Apocalypse? Love dressing up as your favourite characters or seeing others become them? Or maybe designing and building in Minecraft is more your thing, Hybrid World had it all.

Hybrid World is Adelaide’s technology festival that ran from Wednesday the 4th of October until Sunday the 8th. The festival was jam packed with events showcasing the state’s and the rest of Australia’s latest technology. As a glimpse into the future, the Tonsley innovation district in Adelaide was host to the 5 day festival with interactive exhibits and unique experiences each day. There were free LAN events including League of Legends, run from Thursday to Saturday and Minecraft interactive sessions on Sunday where ticket holders got to become the innovators of tomorrow. Hosted by Mr Crayfish and Wyld, a map of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital was built to act as a template for the kids to build something they would like to see built in the real life location. From technology and business orientated offices to cafés and playgrounds, they built it all, young and old, experienced or new to the creative game. The sold out event was definitely a hit and we look forward to seeing more like it in the future.

Also on the Sunday was the cosplay parade that saw some amazing talent up on stage with thousands of hours put into all the costumes. From beginners starting young in Pikachu onesies to the experienced in a selection of video game and anime characters including League of Legends champion skins and an intricate wood paneled Samurai Warrior. Cosplay or Costume Role-Play has been around for a long time, fans of movies, TV shows and videos game have put their craft towards becoming their favourite characters with stunning results. Making use of materials including PVA foam, leather and even wood to create realistic costumes that you would almost always mistake for real armor or the real character come to life. After being presented and interviewed about their costumes by Bajo and Rad from Spawn Point, all parade participants made their way from the main stage to the gaming stage in time to introduce the final Minecraft session.

If you’ve ever wondered how you’d fair in a zombie apocalypse maybe coming on Saturday for Zedtown could have been more up your alley. More than 200 players started out the day as survivors split into the two factions of the divided city, against each other and the undead. From seasoned veterans of the game to first timers and families, anyone could take part and enjoy the day even if it was 25 degrees. Once a surviving player was tagged by a zombie player they must hand over their dog tag with their individual code and return to the zombie spawn point to respawn as one of them. Once a zombie you could go to the makeup tent to transform into a realistic undead zombie with bleeding sores and scratches across your face and body. Each team had a series of objectives to complete sent to them through the Zedtown app throughout the day until evacuation, while also fighting off the opposing team. Out of a total of approximately 200 players to begin with only about 5 players made it out alive after the 4 hours to evac. From many of the players I heard that being on the zombie side was almost more fun that trying not to become one, showing that even in a giant game of tag, getting tagged in no way means you’re out of the game or out of the fun. The next Zedtown event Last Haven, will be held in Sydney on December 9th.