(Scientific) Video Game Review: Plague Inc: Evolved
You may be familiar with Plague Inc as an iOS, Android and Windows mobile phone strategy game. Developed by Ndemic Creations, Plague Inc was downloaded on over 25 million devices, and it was a runner up in the IGN Game of the Year 2012 awards for 'Overall Best Strategy Game'. In 2013, it was the 5th most downloaded paid iPhone game in the US (Source). Because of its remarkable success on mobile devices, Ndemic released Plague Inc: Evolved on to Steam for PC, Mac and Linux in February of 2014. Plague Inc: Evolved is a fully redeveloped and redesigned version of the popular mobile app.
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In Plague Inc: Evolved, you are a new disease that has infected patient zero in the country of your choosing. Your goal is a simple one: infect the world and destroy (or enslave) humanity. To begin, you choose from a variety of plague types: Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Parasite, Prion, Nano-Virus, Bioweapon, Neurax Worm, Necroa Virus (for those of you who want a zombie apocalypse) and Simian Flu (yes, based on the new Planet of the Apes movies). Each disease type has its own advantages and disadvantages; for example a fungus may produce spores that spread the disease over a massive distance, while viruses mutate wildly, making them more difficult to cure. Select your disease and choose a country you believe it may thrive in (based on temperature, humidity, population density, and other biotic and abiotic factors). Your race to destroy the world has begun.
Once patient zero is infected, you must evolve the transmission properties of your disease to ensure it begins spreading. Begin with traits that will best enable it to survive and spread in your country of origin. Will your disease be airborne (more successful in arid environments) or waterborne (thriving in humid regions )? What animals might transmit your disease; rats spread the plague through large cities, while farm animals can wreak havoc on rural communities. How will humans pass on the plague (Saliva? Blood Transmissions?)? As you infect more people, you will be rewarded with additional DNA which you can use to unlock new abilities for your plague. Once your country of origin is conquered, begin reaching for distant nations; birds, planes and boats are the perfect vectors to spread far and wide!
Now it is time to start evolving symptoms for your disease (it may have already mutated on its own). There are a HUGE variety of different symptoms, some unique to certain diseases. They usually begin fairly mildly, such as coughing, sneezing or fever. It is up to you to pick the symptoms that will best enable you to thrive and spread (sneezing and coughing is a great way to spread in densely populated areas!). However, once you evolve your symptom, you will be noticed. Doctors will identify the new disease shortly after you evolve symptoms. If you are relatively mild or benign, they will simply observe your plague, but take no immediate action. For now, it is best to continue evolving transmission methods and mild symptoms to ensure your disease is making its way around the planet.
Now you need to focus on your end goal: killing everyone. To do this, you need to evolve your symptoms to be more lethal by working your way up the symptom tree. You will be notified when the first person dies as a result of your disease; as people begin dying, you will be rewarded with more DNA for evolution. Become deadlier by evolving the most brutal symptoms possible, such as organ failure, tumors and catastrophic brain damage. The humans are not going to take this lying down; as soon as deaths begin piling up, they are going to attempt to make a cure for the disease. A blue progress bar will appear in the lower corner, showing the progress of the cure. You must infect and kill every single human before the cure is completed and spread to the world. You can slow this progress by mutating or evolving special skills that make you more difficult to cure, but the progress will never stop. It is crucial that you spend your DNA wisely between your symptoms, transmission and skills; the more lethal you become, the harder the humans will work to cure you.
The game end in victory when you successfully destroy the human race, and in defeat if your disease is wiped out by the completed cure. There are a couple variations on these conditions for a few diseases. The neurax worm, a brain parasite capable of mind control, can win either by destroying the human race or enslaving them. The necroa virus raises zombies that will not only kill all the humans, but attempt to reanimate as many as possible (in addition to fighting the cure, you will have to evolve the abilities of your zombies to fend off human soldiers). And the simian flu must not only wipe out the human, but also enhance the abilities of primates, allowing them to take over the world. Regardless of the disease you choose, the end result for humans is pretty bleak.
Plague Inc: Evolved was received incredibly well by critics and the public.
"Killing billions has never been so fun". IGN Source
But most surprisingly, (and hence why I tagged this game under 'science'), the game received a lot of positive attention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Because the game uses a complex epidemic model with a realistic set of variables to simulate the spread, severity and lethality of the plague, it paints a realistic picture of how an advanced disease might actually spread throughout the real world. It takes into account human movement, animal vectors, atmospheric conditions and other factors to project the rate at which such a disease might burn through the population. In March of 2013, developer James Vaughan was invited by the CDC to speak about the model behind the game, and how such a model could be used to educate the public about the spread of infectious disease (so you can LEARN while you kill billions!). After the conclusion of his presentation, the CDC said that they were interested in Plague Inc because "it uses a non-traditional route to raise public awareness on epidemiology, disease transmission, and diseases/pandemic information. The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics". Source
I personally love Plague Inc: Evolved for its realistic complexity. It can be extremely challenging as no two run-throughs are the same; different events, different mutations and different strategies to combat the cure can have radically different outcomes on the game (so replayability is high!). Each disease type requires its own unique strategy; what is wildly successful for one type may be incredibly detrimental to another so it is up to you to try to find the combination that works best. This is a brutal strategy game that can be quite punishing and very difficult to beat (which I suppose is a good thing in reality), and you need to hit hard and fast to take out the humans before you are destroyed. Another plus is game length; each round is fairly quick and can be completed in a relatively short time. You can fast forward and increase the rate of transmission if you are feeling a little impatient, so this is a fantastic strategy game that is not a slow burn like most of its kind.
What is the future of Plague Inc: Evolved? Well, new content is still being added to the game on a regular basis. Shortly after release, Ndemic released the new Necroa Virus and Simian flu to increase the number of disease types. A PVP mode was released that allowed players to go head to head in their quest for world domination, adding a fun but challenging twist to the game. Special challenges have been added to test players abilities to adapt (such as spreading the plague in a world with closed borders). Most recently, Ndemic added a disease editor allowing players to create their own plague with unique symptoms and qualities that they can share on the steam workshop. If you get tired of playing the provided levels, there are plenty of unique disease out there on the workshop!
So check out Plague Inc: Evolved if you are looking for a fun challenge or even to learn a little bit more about infectious diseases! This simply game hooks players immediately and provides easily understood glimpse into the world of epidemiology! ....and you get to wipe out the human race, always a plus!
I beat everything except the zombie virus on mega brutal :'( I could never beat that one but this game is lit
The original was a great mobile game. Played it for hours. Is evolved an app or pc game?
PC, Mac and Linux. It does cost a little bit more than then mobile game (as would be expected of a PC game), but the content is well worth the price.
Cool, I will keep that in mind.
I bought the mobile version of this years ago and obsessed over it. Why is causing mass extinction so much fun?
+1 :)