Zombie I Scream is an upcoming iPhone game that is in the works. I had a chance to sit down and talk shop with the developers to hopefully give you more of an idea of what to expect when the game is available!

Buy Zombie: So how would you describe Zombie I Scream to someone who is just finding out about the game?

Zombie I Scream is a 2D first-person shoot ‘em up game where you, a brilliant farmer-turned-scientist, have to beat back the zombie plague you inadvertently created with only and government-supplied souped up ice cream truck and your courage.

The truck is capable of many things, but most importantly, it allows you to scan incoming zombies and hurl medically enhanced ice cream cones at them, which then returns them to human form. If you can ‘return’ enough zombies, you can save the city and move on to your next location. That’s why the tag line for the game is “Serve, Save and Survive.” The game requires you to be fast on the ice cream flipper, aware of the recipies, and ambitious enough to save the world.

Buy Zombie: Where did you get the idea of coming up with Zombie I Scream?

Our company—formally Thefty Jack, LLC—were dedicated to developing a game and we thought it was funny to have an ice cream truck be the star. We briefly had a concept of an ice cream truck that needed to use the iPhone’s shake feature to shake off bad kids who got on it as it was pulling away. For obvious reasons we rejected that idea, but when we realized it could be zombies instead, we knew we had something.

Buy Zombie: Everyone loves Ice Cream, how did the idea of mixing ice cream with zombies come up?

We knew we wanted the ice cream truck and zombies. The secret to making something great is always to include what you love. Then at an editorial meeting, we asked “Why would zombies want ice cream?” That’s when we came up with the idea that the ice cream is what turns the zombies back into humans. That facet makes Zombie I Scream unlike any other zombie game, where all you do is kill zombies. Aside from being focused on saving the zombies, we are working with an Artisan ice cream company called Jane’s Ice Cream—who is actually going to make some of the flavors we invented like “Minty Eyeball” and “Vein-illa Oblongota. “

Buy Zombie: We’re huge fans of the artwork in the game. Did the artwork help push you towards a specific game style or did the game style push forward the style of art you used?

We came up with the game idea first and then built the backstory. We found Ciaran Lucas, a brilliant Illustrator from Ireland who not only captured the ideas from our heads in his artwork, but vastly improved concepts we had given birth to. From then on, the artwork and the ideas grew as one. As proud as we are of every part of the game, we still look at the artwork with a sense of pride and amazement. We are hoping people like it as much as we do; we made T-shirts for ourselves already, and the response (to the art) has been intense and gratifying.

Buy Zombie: What are your favorite zombie films?

We took a vote, and these are our top five:
Zombieland
28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead (original and remake)
Shaun of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead

Buy Zombie: If you were stuck in the middle of a zombie outbreak which 3 celebrities would you want to be stuck with and why?

Another vote, but a very easy question. It would have to be Woody Herrelson, Milla Jovovich and Maria Menounos. Obviously, the hope is that Woody gets busy killing zombies while Maria, and Milla can help focus on repopulating the world.

Buy Zombie: What are your favorite zombie games and why?

When we’re not playing Zombie I Scream, we like Plants vs. Zombies. The rest of the games are okay, but we’re often drawn to games like Mika Mobile’s Zombieville USA and Infect Them All by AQ Systems.

Buy Zombie: Are there currently plans to make an Android port of the game?

If our iPhone game does well, we would certainly port to Android, Windows, or any other platform where we feel there’s an audience. It’s always about the audience.

Buy Zombie: The eternal debate – slow zombies or fast zombies?

In games we like fast zombies—or as in our game—slow zombies and that either get faster or increase in numbers. In movies, we like slow zombies. It’s frightening enough that they came back from the dead, but they shouldn’t be able to run, or have vampire-like “instant speed.” Many of them have been embalmed and have rotted or rotting flesh, some with broken bones or missing limbs; it just doesn’t make sense that they can bolt along fast. Final answer: slow zombies. Let’s see if “World War Z” changes our opinion.

Buy Zombie: Anything else?

Yes, we are looking to get the game into the iStore before Christmas. If anyone
wants to support us they could go to our kickstarter page here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/90758652/zombie-i-scream-the-iphone-app.