The other evening, as I was quietly strolling through town, I was accosted by a zombie.
A wailing, ashen-faced, gore-oozing zombie.
I swear blind I’d not had one too many glasses of Lambrini. It really was a real live (so to speak) zombie!
Fortunately the zombie soon realised I wasn’t really intended to be the latest recruit to the living dead and let me go on my way. With a friendly apology. Phew!
It wasn’t until later on until I found the whole thing was a game. Part of the up-and-coming urban games craze apparently.
And then it occurred to me…
This new ‘urban games craze’ has all the makings of a brilliant biz opp!
You see, not all businesses make or sell something. Or involve sitting working away at a computer. Lots of money is made from organising and providing entertainment. And you’ve got to agree this would really take the biscuit as an exciting, novel business opportunity.
Here’s how this particular urban game works. It’s a kind of variation on the idea of the old treasure hunt or paper chase…
There are a series of locations around the city which hosts the game. The players must find their way to each without being caught by the ‘zombies’ that prowl the streets. At the start you are given the first location and a map. If you make it there you will encounter a survivor with a story to tell. They will give you the next location, where you will meet another survivor, and so on, until you make it to the end. Here you are scanned for infection. If you are clear you can enter.
If the scan shows you’ve been tagged by a zombie you must join the zombie horde.
More details of how it all works here: 2.8 Hours Later
So OK, this is not the sort of business for you if you want to work from a desk, or are a bit boring. But if you’re outgoing and are looking for something really different it wouldn’t be too difficult to organise in your area. Perhaps with a group of friends to help you.
It wouldn’t necessarily need to be zombies and victims either. You could do something similar with your own original twist. Such as: Cops and robbers. Cowboys and Indians. Foxes and hounds. Cats and mice. Angels and devils. Spacemen and aliens from outer space. You get the idea.
This is really an opportunity for the young, or young at heart. Now, I can’t exactly see grannies queuing up to join in a game like this. It would work best of all in an area where there are a lot of young people. I read a report the other day that says regular players of computer console games often tread a very fine line between fantasy and reality. This sort of entertainment would be perfect to lock into that kind of market.
So it might be a good business to run in a town or city where there are a lot of students. Maybe link up with a student’s union and run it as a fundraiser? Or you could maybe do a tie-up with a school and turn it into an educational game, with something to learn at each stage.
Another twist you could incorporate is to make use of smartphones and social media as part of the game. That would really keep it on trend with your target audience. (And would also be a good way of promoting and marketing your business.)
So what sort of money could you make from organising urban games like this?
Well, there’s probably a lot more profit potential in this sort of thing than you might imagine. Tickets to join in as players in this particular game cost £25. If you managed to sell anything from 50 to a few hundred tickets you could do very nicely just for organising it. Especially as the game is played in the public realm for free. There are no overheads to speak of apart from marketing (and a few zombie masks!) You could also do a profit-sharing deal with pubs, clubs and bars along or at the end of the route, as this particular game does, to generate more income.