I’ll admit to have been guilty of pro-gamer apocalypse thoughts. I figured that in the event of surviving an apocalypse that gamers, traditional tabletop roleplayers, would be good to people to associate with.
Why? Roleplayers tend to have a wide knowledge of tips, tricks and tactics when it comes to weird situations, survival and travel. A roleplayer wouldn’t be that one guy who refuses to believe the biting, stumbling, survivor ahead in the road is a zombie. A roleplayer would probably be that guy to already have thought of were food supplies, medicine and other essentials are. The truth is that RPG fans also tend to know quite a lot about weapons too.
Does everyone agree with this assessment? To support MAGE Company’s Kickstarter for Raid & Trade, a board game set after the apocalypse and in which you’re trying to survive and enter the golden city, Geek Native ran a competition which asked people who would you want around after the apocalypse.
Gamers didn’t win the multiple choice. Nearly 100 people entered and while that doesn’t make the incentivised survey any more scientific it does make for interesting reading. Here’s the options competition players could pick from;
- A gamer for their problem solving skills
- A hunter for their ability to find food
- A martial artist for their ability to keep you safe without weapons
- A mechanic for their ability to fix machines
- A medic for their ability to look after your health
- A model for their ability to brighten up your day
- A thief for their ability to sneak around and ‘borrow’ helpful things
There are two things to note. The competition didn’t mention what might have caused the apocalypse; no mention of zombies, machines rising up, mutants, nukes or fast food chains taking over the world. Secondly; it is safe to assume that a high ratio of gamers entered the competition.
So, we already know that gamers didn’t win – but how well did they do?
Gamers came in third with 16% of the votes, just beaten to second place by the handy medics who took nearly 20%. The clear winner was the food providing hunter.
As for the pretty faces among us – not so much luck. Models trailed in absolute last with less than 4% of people picking eye candy ahead of usefulness.
How would you have voted?
Image credit: Delphine / GinL.
