I never thought I would have so much fun strategically killing millions. Don’t worry, it was all in the name of fun.
Plague, Inc. has been one of my favorite games for a while now, and it always surprises me how few know about it! It is available for 99 cents on Apple’s app store and for free on Google Play, but the entertainment is easily worth the dollar. Probably based around the board game Pandemic, Plague is a game that will make you strategize to achieve one final objective: to wipe out the entire world with a disease you create—which is actually quite daunting!
The app is all about tactic right from the get-go. Players are presented with a world map and must select a country to start the disease in. You can also choose a disease type, such as a virus or a parasite, each with a little description about what makes them different. There are a total of twelve disease types available and while you can choose to purchase them, you can also unlock them by beating the original disease types on “Brutal”- if you’re up to the challenge. By infecting people, and eventually killing them, you start to earn DNA Points which can be used to evolve your plague. There is a “Disease” button on the map page, and when you click into it you are presented with three options: transmission, symptoms, and abilities.
Transmission is how you get your disease to spread featuring options like boats, planes, and even birds. Symptoms will help your disease progress within the people, and while at first symptoms are mild, like a cough or nausea, eventually this is what you will be using to kill the world off. Sometimes, the game will automatically evolve your plagues symptoms to create a bigger challenge! Abilities refer to what your plague can do, and allows you to make it more effective. As you spend your DNA points on evolving your plague, more options become available at higher prices.
While that sounds easy enough, there are some catches. Once your symptoms become noticeable, people will start working against the plague for a cure! While you can try to pop their cure bubbles to slow them down, they can really work fast. This leaves you to decide if you are at a place where you need to keep trying to spread it, or start trying to kill everyone off! You really have to try to predict how things will effect your plague, and make strategic decisions from there.
I am a huge fan of this app. It’s been around for a couple of years, so all the bugs or glitches have been ironed out. The user interface is super simple and well laid out. There is also a tutorial, if you need it. While I could see how one might get bored, since the graphics are minimal and there isn’t a lot of variety in the screens you’re looking at, with the twelve disease types and three levels for each, Plague is a game that can suck you in for hours. Although if that’s not what you’re looking for there is also a quick play option.
Because of all the variety associated with Plague, (choosing your start location, disease types, and symptoms) I see it as much more in-depth than Pandemic. With Pandemic, once you get your strategy down there isn’t a whole lot of reason to revisit the game. Plague, however, has a really great replay value. You don’t need to worry about getting addicted and racking up your phone bill either, as Plague doesn’t use your data very quickly at all.
Plague has received over half a million 5 star reviews on the app store. You can
download it on Google Play,
Amazon, the
iTunes App Store, or for your
Windows phone. There is also a computer and console version, and the company recently
completed a Kickstarter for a
board game.
Click here to learn more about the game.]]>
