Outrun the Dead is a free zombie runner game you can play online at ArcadeBean, right in your desktop or mobile browser with no download. A horde chases you through a fallen town at sunset. Jump barricades and cars, slide under signs, stomp the zombies in your way and see how far you can run before they catch you.
Game Info
- Developer
- ArcadeBean
- Genre
- Arcade
- Platforms
- Web browser on desktop, phone and tablet
- Controls
- Keyboard and mouse, or touch
- Orientation
- Landscape (portrait supported)
- Saving
- Each run lasts until the horde catches you. Your best distance and score are saved in your browser.
- Released
- Price
- Free
- zombie
- runner
- endless
- arcade
Screenshots
How to Play Outrun the Dead
| Action | Desktop | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Jump | Space, ↑ or W (hold to jump higher) | Tap the right side of the screen or JUMP (hold to jump higher) |
| Slide | ↓ or S | Tap the left side of the screen or SLIDE |
| Drop fast | ↓ or S while in the air | SLIDE while in the air |
| Stomp a zombie | Land on its head | Land on its head |
| Pause / mute | Esc or P / M | Buttons in the top-right corner |
How the Chase Works
The bar at the top of the screen shows how far ahead of the horde you are. You start at 60 out of 100. Every second you run cleanly, you win a little distance back. Hitting a barricade, a car or a sign costs 24 and makes you stumble for half a second, during which you gain nothing. Running into a zombie costs 30. When the bar reaches zero, the horde catches you and the run ends.
The game gets harder the further you go. You speed up steadily until about 2,570 metres, where you reach top speed. The distance you win back each second also shrinks, from 2.5 at the start to 1 at 3,000 metres, so late in a run every mistake hurts for longer.
Obstacles and Power-Ups
Barricades appear from the start and are cleared with a short jump. Wrecked cars join at 80 metres; they are long, so hold the jump button to stay in the air longer. Closed signs hang across the street from 150 metres and are too tall to jump, so you have to slide under them. Zombies walk toward you from 250 metres: jump over them or land on their heads. From 800 metres, a barricade can be followed straight away by a sign, so you need to jump and then slide quickly.
Cans lie along the street and over obstacles. From 400 metres you can also find sprint shoes. They last six seconds. While you wear them you win back 10 points of distance per second and smash straight through anything in your way.
Scoring
You get one point for every metre you run, 10 points for each can, 50 for each zombie you stomp and 25 for each obstacle you smash with sprint shoes. A marker appears every 500 metres. Your best distance and score are saved, so each run is a chance to beat your record.
Game Features
- Endless zombie chase with a live distance bar between you and the horde
- Jump, slide, drop fast and stomp zombies on their heads
- Four obstacle types: barricades, wrecked cars, closed signs and walking zombies
- Sprint shoes that let you smash through obstacles for six seconds
- Speed and pressure rise steadily the further you run
- One-thumb touch controls for phones in landscape or portrait
- Sunset city with parallax skyline and synthesized sound effects
- Your best distance and score are saved in your browser
Tips & Strategy
- Hold jump for cars. A quick tap clears a barricade, but cars are almost three times as long. Hold the jump button as you take off: holding it for up to a fifth of a second makes the jump higher and longer.
- Slide under signs, never jump. Closed signs reach too high to jump over. Slide as the sign's posts reach you. A slide lasts about two-thirds of a second, which is enough to pass under one sign.
- Use the fast drop for jump-then-slide combos. After 800 metres a sign can come right after a barricade. Press slide while you are still in the air: you drop straight down and go into a slide as you land.
- Stomp zombies for points and safety. Landing on a zombie's head is worth 50 points and bounces you back up. Running into one costs more distance than any other obstacle, so if you are not sure of the stomp, jump clear over it.
- Win the gap back early. In the first few hundred metres a clean stretch refills the bar quickly. By 3,000 metres the refill drops to less than half its starting rate, so build a big lead while you can.
- Run straight through with sprint shoes. While the shoes are on, anything you run into is smashed instead of costing distance, and each smash is worth 25 points. Stop jumping for those six seconds and plough through the barricades and cars instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this zombie runner game free?
Yes. Outrun the Dead is completely free to play on ArcadeBean. There are no purchases, no sign-up and no account needed.
Can I play it on my phone?
Yes. It works in mobile browsers like Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android. Tap the right side of the screen to jump and the left side to slide, or use the JUMP and SLIDE buttons. Landscape gives you the widest view.
Do I need to download anything?
No. The game runs directly in your web browser using HTML5. Press Run and it starts in a few seconds on any modern desktop or mobile browser.
How does saving work?
Each run lasts until the horde catches you. Your best distance and best score are saved automatically in your browser, so you can try to beat them next time.
Does the game ever end?
No. It is an endless runner: the run continues until the horde catches you. Speed stops rising at about 2,570 metres, and the distance you win back each second reaches its lowest point at 3,000 metres.
Why did the horde catch up when I did not hit anything?
Something hit you earlier and the bar never fully recovered. Late in a run you win back only 1 point of distance per second, so a couple of stumbles close together can be enough.
What are some similar games?
If you like Outrun the Dead, try other endless runners, platformers and zombie survival games. Our zombie games page lists every zombie game on ArcadeBean.
