Plague Inc

[NANO]

Plague Inc is a real-time strategy simulation video game, developed and published by UK-based independent games studio Ndemic Creations. The player creates and evolves a pathogen in an effort to destroy the world with a deadly plague. The game uses an epidemic model with a complex and realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of the plague.

The Steam and console version is entitled Plague Inc: Evolved, which includes adjustments and additions to the gameplay.

It has been downloaded over 85 million times and was a runner up in the IGN Game of the Year 2012 awards for 'Overall Best Strategy Game'. Overall, it was the 15th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2012 in the U.S.and the 5th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2013 in the U.S.The game continues to have an active community and is regularly updated.

In 2017, the developer released a physical board game based on Plague Inc. called Plague Inc: The Board Game.$355,000 was raised for the board game on Kickstarter.

Plague Inc. is a strategy-simulation game in which the player indirectly controls a plague which has infected patient zero. The player can choose between various game-modes and pathogens and complete the objective set by the game-mode by evolving the plague and adapting to various environments. The objectives include, but are not limited to: Infecting and killing the world's po[CENSORED]tion with a pathogen, enslaving the world's po[CENSORED]tion with the "Neurax Worm" or converting the world's po[CENSORED]tion into zombies with the "Necroa Virus".However, there is a time pressure to complete the game before humans, the opponent, develop a cure for the plague.

The developer has said it is "a bit like the film Contagion except you are on the other side".The developer has said the game was inspired by Pandemic 2, a browser-based Flash game released in 2008 by Dark Realm Studios.

The player can play as many different types of pathogens, each with its own perks which influence evolution decisions. Initially, the player may only select bacteria. Subsequent pathogens are unlocked by winning the game with the previous one on Normal or Brutal Mode. These include virus, fungus, parasite, prion, nano-virus, and bio-weapon. There are also special plagues such as the mind-controlling Neurax Worm, the zombie plague Necroa Virus, the 'Simian Flu' from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the vampire themed Shadow Plague.

In July 2014, Ndemic Creations partnered with 20th Century Fox on an update themed as a tie-in to the film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Players cultivate the film's "Simian Flu" virus, which kills humans while making apes more intelligent. Players spread the virus to eradicate humans while helping apes survive and advance.

In March 2013, James Vaughan, the developer of Plague Inc., was invited to talk at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about Plague Inc.He spoke about how he had modeled the spread of infectious disease inside the game as well as how games like Plague Inc. can be used to inform and educate the public.