Pandemic
Design a disease, release it on one country, and try to infect the planet before anyone works out a cure.
Dark Realm Studios released Pandemic in 2007, years before Plague Inc made the same idea famous. You spend evolution points on how your disease spreads, how deadly it is and how well it resists treatment, then watch it move across a world map.
The central tension is that lethality is counterproductive. A disease that kills quickly burns through its hosts and stops travelling, while a mild one spreads everywhere unnoticed. Winning means staying boring long enough to reach every country, then turning deadly only once there is nowhere left to hide.
Controls
Mouse only: click the map and the upgrade panels
Tips
- Buy transmission first and lethality last. A disease that kills early never reaches the next country.
- Island and cold countries are the hard ones, so make sure you have the right transmission type before you start killing hosts.
- Research speeds up once symptoms are visible, so staying symptomless is effectively buying yourself time.