Zombie Infection

**Zombie Infection** is a game mode that was removed from Mope.io, in which the player aims to avoid being infected with a zombie virus that weakens and eventually kills infected animals, rather similar to the mechanics of Viral Pandemic mode. Once a player has been fully infected, their animal becomes zombified, altering their appearance (see the gallery) and capabilities (e.g. inability to climb on hills or rocks).

Zombie Infection was briefly introduced in the Halloween Update on October 27, 2018, and was removed a month later on November 23, 2018. It did see a re-addition to Beta in October 2019, but was discontinued a few months later. KOA stated in July 2022 that the game mode will be added back in late 2022, although he did not name a specific date. His promise has yet to be met.

## Technical

### Infection

* When infected, players will see a red infection bar above their Health Bar.
	+ When it is completely filled up, the player's animal will become a full-fledged zombie.
* Zombies, regardless of what tier they were prior to infection, can bite and damage all animals on the food chain, but can also be bitten back by them in return.
* When two zombies touch each other, they heal. Zombies also have a superior Health Bar compared to their non-zombie counterparts.
* Similarly to the Cobra's "Venom Spit" ability, zombies can shoot red “infection orbs” that increase the infection bar of all animals touched by them.
	+ When a zombie shoots infection orbs, their “infection bar” would drop slightly; when the infected bar gets too low, they can no longer shoot orbs, to avoid the player losing all of their "zombie essence".
* Zombified animals cannot climb on hills or rocks, but have the Passive Abilities of faster movement than normal on dry land, but decreased movement in water. The opposite applies to Ocean-dwelling zombie animals.
* Zombified animals will randomly and uncontrollably say "RAAAAUUUUGHHHH!" in the chat.
* All Berry Bushes and Plankton Bushes will also produce infection orbs along with their usual berries/plankton. However, the infection orbs are produced at a much higher rate than the bushes’ usual loot, so it is not recommended to attempt eating berries/plankton from bushes in this game mode.

### Cure

* Animals can reduce their infection bar and avoid becoming a zombie by healing from a Healing Stone, gradually removing the infection rate.
	+ However, animals that are zombies will not be able to do this, and can only remove infection by progressing to the next tier or by killing another zombie.
	+ The disease can additionally be cured by eating Lotus Flowers to prevent regressing into a zombie. Lotus Flowers spawn in all biomes, and are not hard to find.

## Strategy

* Pigs and Foxes can knock zombies out of Hiding Spots.
* Shooting water at Zombies stuns them for 1.2 seconds.
* Players can cure infection by eating a Lotus Flower.
* If a Toucan flies out of an infection spot, it will throw an infection orb when it lands.

## Gallery

### Assets

Zombified meat.A zombified Shrimp.A zombifed Pigeon.A zombified Squid.A zombified Turtle.A zombified Toucan.A zombified Bear.A zombified LionA zombified Crocodile.A zombified Falcon.A zombified Giant Spider.A zombified Dragon.A zombified T-REX.A zombified Kraken.A zombified King Crab.A zombified Yeti.A zombified Phoenix.A zombified Black Dragon.
### In-game

A zombified Trout attacks a Dragon.A Berry Bush in the arctic making berries and infection orbs.Two zombified Elephants.
## History

 October 27, 2018: Halloween Update | * Added.

## Trivia

* When initially released, the servers were extremely full. This was because the zombie bots counted as players, so the servers quickly got filled.
* There has been confusion surrounding the re-addition status of Zombie Infection. KOA said in the November 1, 2020 changelog entry and on a YouTube post that Zombie Infection was planned for the near future (presumably either late 2020 or early 2021). This claim is yet to come to fruition.
	+ He announced in August 2021 that some game modes were planned to be implemented again after the February 1, 2022 "*Season 2*" update, but made no mention of Zombie Infection mode. However, a discord message from KOA on July 9, 2022 revealed that Zombie Infection is under development, suggesting that it will be added before 2023.

## Footnotes

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://discord.com/channels/508469597209362433/624618472713879572/995048151591440466 (screenshot)
2. ↑ https://youtube.com/post/Ugx5tfu1CoGf667no0Z4AaABCQ (November 1, 2020). Retrieved on November 3, 2020.
3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/mopeio/comments/oxmwvz/wild\_mope\_postponed\_in\_favor\_of\_season\_2/ (August 4, 2021). Retrieved on August 6, 2021).

* Removed

 **Normal mode •  Beta •  Team Mode •  1v1 (sub-gamemode) •  1v1 Redemption (sub-gamemode) •  Developer Mode •  Wild Mope**