Want to help make the world’s most fun smartphone fitness game? We’re looking for people to fill four fully-remote roles across our team:

• Assistant Audio Producer
• Associate Producer
• Senior Mobile Developers (iOS and Android)
• Senior Web Developer

You’ll find all the details you need above, along with pay ranges and how to apply!

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About Six to Start

We make content for absolutely everyone

At Six to Start we believe in everyone’s right to exist and be seen. We tell diverse stories in our app with caring, idealistic characters that our players love. Our workplace reflects this mission with our commitment to equality, inclusion and mutual support. Here’s what some of our players say:

“I love this beautiful inclusive world you’ve created that you’ve allowed us to be a part of. Zombies, Run! has helped me through a lot of trying times and I don’t know what I’d be doing without y’all.”

“Zombies, Run is an exercise app, but its ALSO an incredible audio podcast where u are the main character. has lovable diverse cast of chars. and motivates you IRL to exercise at any pace you prefer! its literally the only thing thats ever made me exercise for fun and i love it.”

We are not a startup

We think “hustle” is code for overwork. From the way we plan projects onward, we do everything we can to ensure people work 40 hours a week even in release-heavy months. We also support part-time working and extra flexibility for meeting needs and challenges like caring for others, crisis and personal health.

We build better processes

We believe in creating thoughtful, sustainable processes that make our work easier, rather than relying on volume of effort to get the job done. We’re committed to constant self-scouting and continual improvement as a way of ensuring as stress-free and sustainable a work life as we’re able to create.

Are you a ZR 5K Training player? The National University of Singapore is conducting research on gamified apps and they need your help! Ten 1-Year Abel Runner’s Club vouchers are up for grabs (worth $35 USD each) as part of a random drawing of participants!

Read on for the survey details!

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There has been significant interest in examining the potential health consequences of gamified therapeutics such as the Zombies, Run! 5k Training app. In fact, in line with WHO recommendations, video games are being prescribed as a recommended treatment for homebound existence brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to understand user experiences pertinent in gaming to investigate how and when to elicit such experiences in gamified therapeutics. Your participation will help to improve the overall positive impact of these technologies. 

You can contribute to these efforts in the following ways:

• Participate in the survey. 
• Read the survey questions carefully.  
• Process all the given alternatives carefully.   
• Be honest and candid. 

All responses will be kept confidential. It is your personal opinions that are important. Only your personal experience or knowledge is required to answer the questions.

Survey Link: https://nus.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eVCgqTQ1UTkgDVY

For more information or questions about this research, you may contact Oteng at dison@nus.edu.sg

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Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

All Runners 5 will know about the emails from Abel Township residents like Sam, Jody, and Janine after a mission. We love writing and designing these, and from today, you can revisit them at any time on ZombieLink! So if you’ve lost or deleted a “milestone email”, or you just want a better way of exploring them, look no further than their ZombieLink mission page.

Almost every ZR mission and New Adventure episode is on ZombieLink, with full scene descriptions, audio playback, run logs, and now, milestone emails – and there are more improvements to come…!

Ever been on a mission from Abel Township and wondered when it was time to turn back home? Then you’ll love our new audio notifications, out now in our 9.3.0 update on Android and iPhone!

We’ve added four ways to hear about your progress while you’re running:

• Rolling Pace: Pace for your most recent mile or kilometer
• Overall Pace: Pace for your entire run so far
• Remaining Progress: Amount of time or distance left until your mission is complete
• Halfway Through: Triggers when you’re halfway through your set run duration, which for most runners will be when you’re halfway through a mission

These options will work slightly differently (or won’t apply) on different game modes – for example, Supply Missions, Interval Training, and Airdrop won’t play the “Halfway Through” announcement. But we hope you’ll find them useful while you’re out saving the world!

You can find all of these options in the More > Settings screen in the app, and they’re available to both free and paid subscribers.

Also in 9.3.0…

On Android:

• You can now adjust run durations by 0.1 km/mile or 1 minute increments
• We’ll remind you to sync to ZombieLink if you aren’t logged in

On iPhone:

• The Home Screen now loads much faster!
• We now require iOS13 or above

We hope you’re ready, Runner 5: Jack & Eugene’s World Tour is three times bigger than our normal virtual races, and their epic journey to Abel Township is starting Thursday 29th April! Here’s the full lineup for Part 1:

AMBIENT MODE 1 📻
An experimental new prelude…
29 April

TRAINING MISSION 1 👟
6 May

TRAINING MISSION 2 👟
13 May

5K + 10K RACE 🏁
20 May

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. And you’ll run!

All VIP members will get instant access to Jack & Eugene’s World Tour as soon as it’s out, along with all 11 past virtual races.

Upgrade to VIP today by tapping More > Membership in the app, or buy a gift code online from just $49.99!

A Special Message from Jack and Eugene

Hello from beautiful Alderney, Runner Five! How are you doing? I really hope this care package has arrived in one piece, and that it didn’t take too long to get to you. Never thought I’d have so much nostalgia for the post, of all things! 

Gene and I are doing really well at the moment – we’ve finally got our space set up just the way we like, and it feels really good to be a bit more settled, even if it is weird having so much room to ourselves. Even though it was cramped and the generator was always half a second away from dying or catching fire, I have to admit, I think I’m always going to miss our studio at Abel. It was home for such a long time, you know?

Speaking of, we actually found one of your old mix tapes you made for Radio Abel back in the day, and I have to say, you’ve got some absolute bangers on here! It’s been really nice relistening to it and thinking of you guys.

I hope you’re doing well and staying safe, Five. Make sure Janine doesn’t work you too hard, yeah? We miss you.

Love, 

Jack and Eugene

Join your favourite radio hosts, Jack & Eugene, on their epic journey to Abel Township. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll run! 9 missions. 3 races. 1 glorious adventure.

That’s right: Jack & Eugene’s World Tour is three times bigger than any of our previous virtual races, and will run throughout 2021! (and it won’t even be the only virtual race we run this year – but that’s a story for another time…)

The race is available to all VIP members, and if you haven’t signed up yet (or you want to treat your friends!), check out our new twin-pack and 6-month VIP membership gift options! You can also sign up to VIP in your app by tapping More > Membership.

Grab the J+E Pack…

Since this is our biggest race, it was only fitting that we make our biggest souvenir pack ever! 

Whether you’re a first time caller or a long time listener to Radio Abel, you’ll love the gorgeous double-sided medal, all-new Affirmation Cards, temporary tattoo sheet (with shippo!), button badges, running bib, and so much more!

Sure, it might seem a bit odd for the boys to be assembling these, but self-care’s an essential part of survival, even during a zombie apocalypse…

…And Get the Gear!

Tell the world you’re definitely not a zombie with our fantastic tech shirts and tank-tops! Decorated with Jack and Eugene’s trademark ‘Radio Abel’ flair, you’ll be met with open arms by their fans and friends during your runs across the country.

And don’t miss our tote bag for all the tour merch you’ll collect, plus a mug for that early morning or late night Radio Abel listening!

New Ways to Buy and Gift VIP

Sign up or give the gift of VIP starting from just $49.99 – now available in twin packs and 6 month durations! It’s the best way to bring your crew on Jack & Eugene’s World Tour and show them what they’ve been missing with our 11 other virtual races!

Earlier this year we launched The Home Front, our free series of home bodyweight workouts for everyone around the world in lockdown. These workouts have been played hundreds of thousands of times and we’re incredibly proud of what we accomplished by repurposing the app’s “run engine” for new kinds of storytelling and exercises.

But we wanted to do even better – so with our 9.2 update, we’re introducing a brand new dedicated Home Workout mode!

Home Workout mode lets you view all the exercises you’ll be performing, with clear step-by-step instructions and gorgeous illustrations by our artist, Kascha Sweeney. And these instructions aren’t just visible before you begin, but also during your workout!

Adding these instructions directly in the app gives us much more flexibility for future storytelling. In The Home Front, our characters had to give you exercise instructions out loud – this worked for Ministry broadcasts that told you how to work out indoors, but it wouldn’t work for different kinds of stories where there’s less reason for people to tell you how to exactly do a wall sit or mountain climbers!

So yes, that means we will be using Home Workout mode beyond the epic 35-part Home Front story. Stay tuned…!

We’ve got great news: we’ll be releasing the first 15 missions from Season 9 in Spring 2021!

Earlier this year, we decided to delay the release because it wasn’t safe for us to record in person and we weren’t satisfied that we could reach the high audio quality you deserve by recording remotely.

Since then, we’ve levelled up our remote recording capabilities through our work on the Home Front and New Adventures. Most of those scripts were designed for remote recording, with fewer actors per scene, but over time, our Head of Production Matt Wieteska and Sound Designer Mark Pittam have pushed the limits of what we can do, with the 5-episode, 27-actor Nellie Bly a fantastic demonstration of how far we’ve come.

Remote recording is still more time-consuming and expensive for Zombies, Run!, however – that’s why we’re starting with just the first 15 missions of Season 9. But we’re as eager as you are to continue the Abel Township saga and find out what’s next for Runner 5, so we’ll aim to do as much as we can as circumstances permit.

Keep your headset tuned and stay safe out there, Five, because Season 9 is on the horizon!

Our big Holiday Sale has arrived! You can get 10% off everything in our official store, including amazing new merch and even deeper discounts, but first…

We’ve launched our first-ever gift VIP subscription, and to celebrate, we’re taking $10 off the normal price until November 27th! 🎉

VIP comes with unlimited access to hundreds of thrilling missions, workouts, and 11 virtual races across Zombies, Run!, ZR 5K Training, and The Walk. It’s the perfect present for any budding Runner 5!

10% Off All Merch! 👕

Looking for your next running outfit, or just keen to complete your Abel Township lifestyle? We’re offering 10% off everything in our official store – just use code HOLIDAY2020 at checkout!

This code is valid until Friday November 12, so move fast!

NEW: Sam Yao is My Operator! 🎧

Who could ask for a more loyal, funny, brave, and hopeful operator than Sam Yao? Give him a shout-out every time you leave the house with our new shirts, tote, and mug designed by artist Leslie Strock!

NEW: I Am Runner Five 🔥

Show your colours and declare to the world: I Am Runner Five! Back by popular demand, these shirts are a new Blendtech fabric that dries faster and wicks sweat better than normal cotton.

We’ve heard you – you want Runner Five masks. Grab our dual-layer mask with space for an optional filter today!

Even More Discounts! 🎁

There’s more?! Yes: we’re offering $10 off Train to Oban and Escape from Runaway Fairground virtual race shirts, plus $5 off Runner Five socks! 

Only limited quantities are available, so move fast if you don’t want to miss out!

Believe it or not, but a lot of our players don’t always run with Zombies, Run! Our game is designed for running, jogging, and walking outside and on treadmills, and we have new modes like The Home Front tailor-made for bodyweight fitness (with a dedicated Home Workout mode coming soon!), but we often get asked if you can play our hundreds of running missions without running.

And the answer is: Yes!

Thanks to our Simulate Running mode (previously called Constant Pace), you can set up a simulated running speed and you’ll still hear our awesome story and collect all the supplies and materials and artefacts you need to rebuild Abel Township! Just tap the Tracking button below “Start Mission”.

(You can also use No Tracking if you’d rather not have simulated distances appear in your Run Logs and Statistics.)

Here are some ideas of how you can simulate running as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere!

If you’re on a rowing machine, why not speed through a 2000m distance with a quick simulated running pace and a short mission duration?

Prefer exercise bikes or spinning? Turn on back-to-back Story Missions for a long ride through the zombie apocalypse!

You can even do home workouts or bodyweight fitness or even household chores while “running”!

You won’t get zombie chases with Simulate Running or No Tracking, but you can still speed up or intensify your exercise when characters tell you to move – as they often do in our story.

Stay safe out there, and keep it up, Runner 5!

Photo Credits

Rowing by Victor Freitas on Unsplash. Gym bike by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash. Sit up by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash