The Typing of the Dead
Type or die: the zombie apocalypse demands perfect spelling.
The Typing of the Dead is a 2000 spin-off of Sega's light-gun shooter The House of the Dead 2, developed by WOW Entertainment and published by Sega. It replaces the original game's gun with a keyboard, tasking players with typing words and phrases to defeat zombies and rescue survivors. The game was initially released for arcades in Japan before being ported to Dreamcast, Windows, and later platforms, gaining a cult following for its absurd premise and challenging typing mechanics.
- Original Release
- 2000 (Arcade, Japan)
- Platforms
- Arcade, Dreamcast, Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, iOS, Android
- Developer
- WOW Entertainment
- Publisher
- Sega
- Genre
- Typing / Rail Shooter
- Notable Recognition
- Listed among the weirdest games by Game Informer
- Re-releases
- Included in The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (2013)
Quick Facts
- Title
- The Typing of the Dead
- Developer
- WOW Entertainment / Smilebit
- Publisher
- Sega
- Director
- Masamitsu Shiino
- Producer
- Rikiya Nakagawa / Shun Arai
- Composer
- Tetsuya Kawauchi
- Released
- Arcade / JP · DreamcastJP · March 30, 2000 · NA · January 23, 2001WindowsJP · December 7, 2000 · NA · September 23, 2001PlayStation 2JP · December 22, 2004iOSNA · May 10, 2012
- Genre
- Educational
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Arcade, Dreamcast, Windows, PlayStation 2, iOS
- Arcade System
- Sega NAOMI
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In The Typing of the Dead, players assume the role of G, an agent of the AMS, as he battles through a zombie-infested city. The narrative mirrors The House of the Dead 2, but with a twist: instead of shooting, players must quickly type words that appear on-screen to destroy enemies, heal allies, or trigger environmental effects. Each zombie has a word or phrase assigned to it, and failure to type correctly results in damage or death. The game's absurdity is heightened by its voice acting, which delivers dramatic lines like 'Die, you zombie bastards!' while players frantically type.
Reader's Guide
The Typing of the Dead is significant as an early and successful fusion of typing practice with a popular arcade shooter, demonstrating that educational software could be commercially viable and critically respected. Its humor, difficulty, and originality were praised by mainstream critics, and the PC version sold 120,000 units in 2003. The game spawned sequels based on later House of the Dead titles, as well as a language-learning variant for the Nintendo DS and an iOS remake. Its legacy includes being named the weirdest game of all time by Game Informer, and it remains a cult classic for its absurdist premise and effective execution. The game's influence can be seen in later typing-based games and in the continued interest in repurposing existing game mechanics for educational or novelty purposes.
Did You Know?
- The arcade version featured a custom keyboard with a trackball for cursor movement, but home ports used standard keyboards.
- A cheat code in the Dreamcast version allows players to type 'GOD' for invincibility, referencing the original game's cheat.
- The game was re-released as a mod for The House of the Dead 2 on PC, allowing players to type instead of shoot.
- In 2013, Sega released The Typing of the Dead: Overkill, a full-length typing game based on the House of the Dead: Overkill universe.
More in Typing video games 1-22
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