Plague Inc.

Plague Inc.
App Store icon
Developer(s)	Ndemic Creations
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release date(s)	iOS May 26, 2012 Android October 4, 2012
Genre(s)	Strategy, simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Digital distribution

Plague Inc. is an iOS and Android strategy video game, developed by one-man developer 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 PC and Xbox One version is entitled Plague Inc: Evolved, which includes adjustments and additions to gameplay.

It has been downloaded over 25 million times^[1][2] and was a runner up in the IGN Game of the Year 2012 awards for 'Overall Best Strategy Game'.^[3] Overall, it was the 15th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2012 in the U.S.^[4] and the 5th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2013 in the U.S.^[5] In February 2014, Ndemic Creations released Plague Inc: Evolved, for PC, Mac and Linux onto Steam.^[6] The game continues to have an active community and is regularly updated.

Gameplay

The loading screen.

Plague Inc. is a strategy-simulation game in which the player controls a plague which has infected patient zero. The player can choose between various game-modes, plagues and viruses, 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 population with a pathogen, enslaving the world's population with the "Neurax Worm" or converting the world's population into zombies with the "Necroa Virus".^[7] However, there is a time pressure to complete the game before humans, the opponent, develop a cure for the plague.^[8]

The developer has said it is "a bit like the film Contagion except you are on the other side".^[9] The game was inspired by Pandemic 2, a browser-based Flash game released in 2008 by Dark Realm Studios.^[10]

Development

In July 2014, Ndemic 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.^[11]

Release

Since the launch on May 26, 2012, a number of updates (called 'Mutations' by the developer) have been released:

• 1.0 (May 2012)- Original version of the game.
• 1.1 (June 2012) - added iPad support - making game universal^[12]
• 1.2 (June 2012) - added Accelerated Unlock (IAP) & iCloud support^[13]
• 1.3 (August 2012) - added Neurax Worm plague type^[14]
• 1.4 (October 2012) - added genetic modification ability^[15]
• 1.5 (February 2013) - added Necroa Virus plague type ^[16]
• 1.6 (July 2013) - added Speed Runs and official CDC content ^[17]
• 1.7 (November 2013) - added Scenarios including real life diseases and altered world states ^[18]
• 1.8 (April 2014) - added Mega Brutal difficulty, 4 new scenarios and 3 new cheats ^[19]
• 1.9 (July 2014) - added the Simian Flu, a Dawn of the Planet of the Apes-themed update.^[11]
• 2.0 (December 2014) - added Santa's Helper scenario and one other, harder AI and a completion menu. More achievements and bug fixes.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appearance

In March 2013, James Vaughan, the developer of Plague Inc., was invited to talk at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about Plague Inc.^[20] 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.

Following the talk, the CDC said that it was interested in Plague Inc. as "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".^[21]

In Plague Inc

In the game the CDC gives updates on their version of a news banner and some achievements such as "Patient Who", which involves the CDC hunting the patient zero.

Reception

Critical Reception

Wired.com considered Plague Inc. as a notable independent developer success story as it "bucked the system by staying near the top of the charts in numerous countries for the entirety of its existence, pulling in millions in revenue while competing with the big players".^[1] It was #1 paid app for both iPhone and iPad in the U.S. for two weeks after launch ^[22] IGN said that "Killing billions has never been so fun".^[23] Toucharcade said that "Plague Inc. will snag your attention in all the right ways and keep it there"^[24] In December 2012, Plague Inc. was one of five games nominated for Best Strategy Game in IGN's Game of the Year 2012, both for mobile and for all platforms. It also won the 'Players Choice' award for best Mobile Strategy Game of 2012.^[3] Overall, Plague Inc. was the 15th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2012 in the U.S. (and 18th on iPad). It was also the 76th highest grossing game of 2012.^[4] In March 2013, the game went on to win multiple categories of the Pocket Gamer Awards, including Overall Game of the Year.^[25] It was the 5th most downloaded paid iPhone game in the US in 2013.^[5]

Player Reception

The game currently has a user reception of 7.6 on Metacritic and a 8.1 from the community on IGN.

Pandemic 2 developer

Dark Realm Studios initially complained on Twitter with IGN reviewer Justin Davis about the Plague Inc. release, saying that the game was "just an attempt to cash in on Pandemic 2.5" because of similarities in gameplay between the titles; the reviewer, though, wrote an article defending Plague Inc. and saying "there’s no denying that it bears a close resemblance to Pandemic, but there is also no denying that it improves on that basic disease-spreading premise"^[26] Plague Inc. developer James Vaughan also rejected the cash-in accusation.^[27] In 2013, Dark Realm Studios said they did not consider Plague Inc. to be a clone and they "regard the situation as a learning opportunity" ^[28]

References

External links

• Official website