DO YOU HAVE THE SKILLS TO SURVIVE ALL OF US ARE DEAD?

Jokes aside, many of these are crucial life skills that you must have.

Should I be even asking you if you have watched All Of Us Are Dead?

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Given how this Korean thriller series has been rocking the charts ever since it was released less than a week ago (January 28th 2022 to be exact) on Netflix, it’s very likely you’ve already watched it…or are planning to watch it.

I’m gonna ask a different question - could you make it out alive if you were placed in that scenario?

In other words, do you have the skills necessary to survive All Of Us Are Dead?

Quick summary/recap of the series

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Here’s the 411…

Things start normally enough at Hyosan High School on the fateful morning.

Then suddenly, a student gets bitten by something in the science lab…

And if you’ve watched George A Romero films, the Resident Evil films, Train to Busan and so on, you know what happens next.

Within minutes the student starts acting strangely, contorting into unusual positions, and trying to bite anyone approaching her.

Yep, it’s a zombie outbreak.

Phone and internet lines are cut off. A group of students bands together to try to make it out alive.

So, what skills would be needed to survive in such a situation?

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I’ll try my best not to reveal any spoilers from the show, just in case you’re yet to watch it.

That being said, there are two things I should make clear.

These aren’t Night of the Living Dead type zombies that can barely lumber and stagger along. These zombies can run fast.

This is a school, not a police headquarters. So the chances of there being the odd gun stash lying around for you to shoot zombies in the head are pretty slim.

So…what skills do you think would help you survive?

Team spirit

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Yep. The most obvious one.

As a group of survivors who have banded together to try to make it out alive, you’re all in the same boat.

And if you support one another as a team, you stand a much higher chance of succeeding.

• If that means supporting someone you ordinarily don’t particularly like, yep, you gotta do it.

• If that means supporting someone that seems to be weaker or less capable than you, yep, you gotta do it.

For example, in the show you have students Mi-jin and Ha-ri who don’t think very highly of each other.

But given the situation they’re in, they have to set aside their differences.

That’s what cements the bonds in a team and gives all of you a better chance of winning.

Teamwork

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You might be thinking…hang on, we just discussed team spirit, didn’t we? So why refer to “teamwork” here?

Is team spirit different from teamwork?

Well, it depends on the context.

I’m bringing up teamwork as a different skills because I’m referring to teamwork as the capacity of finding ways for the team to work as one cohesive unit.

Because the members of a team can complement one another’s work, a team always emerges as more than the sum of its members.

Teamwork is the skill of being able to complement one another, especially in a crunch situation.

For example, if you have to barricade yourselves inside a room,

• Would it be better if everyone scrambled to find things in the room to set against the door, or

• Would it be better for some people to find things and push them near the door while one or two people stack them against the door?

Working that out while thinking on your feet and then doing it is what teamwork is all about.

Creative thinking

Like I said.

Cut off in a school compound, with no ready way to communicate with the outside world.

It’s obvious you’ll need serious out of the box thinking to survive.

There are things scattered all around the compound…from the regular tables, chairs, whiteboards and so on…

…through whatever kids may have stashed away in their lockers…and what’s there in the labs.

You’re gonna have to innovate and craft tools to defend yourselves, and outpace and evade the zombie hordes.

Observation

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You’ll need to keep your eyes opened.

Be able to spot things that might come in useful. Things that are not immediately obvious.

Physical fitness

Remember I said these aren’t zombies like you’d expect in a George A Romero film?

These zombies move fast, and are capable of skilful movement.

To evade them, you’ll need to be agile.

Zombie survival skills in an escape room?

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Can you pick up all of these skills in an escape room?

For most of them, the answer is yes.

Escape rooms are well known for boosting team building skills. In other words, whether it’s team spirit or it’s team work, you can sharpen those skills in an escape room.

Creative thinking and observation are two more skills that are essential for winning an escape room game.

You need to be able to spot clues as fast as possible, and then make out what they mean equally quickly, to win.

Surviving All Of Us Are Dead

So…do you have the skills to survive an All Of Us Are Dead scenario?

How far do you think you would make it before you’re overtaken by the zombies?

And finally, if you’ve binge-watched all twelve episodes, and now don’t have a lot to do…

You should think about trying to beat Chicago’s best escape room games while you wait for news of Season II.

Or, if escape games don’t appeal to you right now, here’s some other things you can do in Chicago this February.