August 20, 2010: No Brains For Mama! No Brains For Everyone! No Brains For Children!

Working for the Hidden Masters as I do, I often get to sneak a peek behind the curtain at what other parts of the conspiracy are doing. Shortly after I purchased a shiny new iPad last April, I became part of the beta-test team helping with the Zombie Dice app for the iPhone.

Of course, I acted as any responsible parent would in possession of a prototype game where one gets to be a member of the brain-eating dead: I showed it to my three-year-old son. Since I'm tech-savvy, I recorded a video of him playing it. I'm also a post-millennial sort, so I agreed to have that video put online for the world to see.

Thus, without further adieu, may we present Sam Vrtismarsh -- brain-eating zombie.

Sam picked up on the basics right away -- keep trying to eat brains, and eventually you'll get shotgunned. (He's been reading for almost a year, so he could follow the on-screen action himself pretty well.)

For those horrified viewers wondering, "How could his mother let this happen?!," I share your concern. Please, don't worry; I realize that this video proves he's not a Zombie Dice expert. However, his mom, Nikki Vrtis (editor and production artist extraordinaire for e23), has been teaching him the required strategy when he plays the physical dice game. He's much better at the cup-and-dice version, although I suspect that's because it doesn't "reward" overreaching with a blood-scattered screen and a taunting "YOU GOT SHOTGUNNED!"

-- Steven Marsh