Educational simulations and games about diseases and medical responses to maladies. These resources are intended for educational use; DO NOT use them to obtain medical advice! I have just started this list and plan to add to it throughout the spring of 2020. This list is a subset of my larger list of simulations, games and virtual labs for STEM education.
Annenberg Disease Lab
The Habitable Planet curriculum includes an interactive Disease Lab simulator. The lab includes four diseases: Kold, a caricature of the common cold; Impfluenza, which resembles influenza; Neasles, with the high transmission rate of measles; and Red Death, a fast-spreading epidemic with a high mortality rate.
- Creators: Annenberg Learner (Annenberg Foundation)
- Cost: free
Bio Inc. – Biomedical Plague
Bio Inc. is a simulation game in which players assume the role of a disease that is trying to kill a patient. Select diseases, risk factors, and factors that inhibit recovery to make your victim as ill as possible. The Windows PC version also allows you to role-play the doctor that tries to save the patient.
- Creator: DryGin Studios
- Cost: free app for iOS and Android mobile devices; $13 for Windows version on Steam
Game Doctor
Game Doctor is a Scottish-based studio focused on developing games and interactive technology for science and health education. Their games include Killer Fungus: Evolution (for iOS, Android, and Mac & Windows computers), Bacteria Combat (for iOS and Android), and Fungal Invaders (for iOS and Mac & Windows computers).
- Creator: Game Doctor (with the University of Aberdeen)
- Cost: free
Infection Bio War
Players become the disease in Infection – Bio War as they try to wipe out the world’s population before a cure is found. This app for iOS mobile devices (iPads and iPhones) allows players to choose traits for their disease, helping it to spread.
- Creator: Fun Games for Free
- Cost: free
Pandemic Board Game
Pandemic is a cooperative board game for 2-4 players. Each player assumes the role of one of seven specialists who work together to try to halt the spread of a global pandemic. Several expansions and spinoffs have been developed since the publication of the original game in 2008.
- Creator: Z-Man Games
- Cost: $40
Plague, Inc. – Ndemic
In Plague, Inc. the player takes on the role of a disease and attempts to infect and wipe out the entire population of the world before humans can develop a cure.
- Creator: Ndemic Creations
- Cost: $1 for the app for mobile devices; $15 for the computer or console version
Rice Web Adventures – Health & Medicine
Games in the Web Adventures series enable players to explore medical and health topics, including microbiology, body systems, neuroscience, and forensic science. Web Adventures include: MedMyst (infectious diseases), CSI: The Experience (forensic science), Reconstructors (substance abuse & neuroscience), Virtual Clinical Trials (medical research), and Neuropolis Squad (alcohol & body systems).
- Creator: Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning & School Mathematics Project
- Cost: free
Solve the Outbreak – CDC
Become a CDC Disease Detective in Solve the Outbreak and try to save lives as you solve clues and stop outbreaks of disease. Level 1 has twelve outbreak scenarios, while level 2 has eight more.
- Creators: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Cost: free
Several authors have written articles or produced videos showing animations and other visualizations that illustrate the spread of infectious diseases. Check out this list of simulation visualizations!
Here are more items and lists I’ve discovered. I have not yet vetted these or written reviews about them. Use at your discretion.
- Biotix 2: Phage Evolution (iOS app)
- Infection Protection (iOS app)
- Bacterial Takeover – Idle Game (iOS app)
- Cambridge Infectious Diseases – list of games
- Five Games To Play After Watching Contagion (Smithsonian)
- Outbreak, the Game (AAAS) possibly old, 2012
- Check for examples done using: Scratch, Logo or NetLogo or StarLogo (or StarLogo Nova), AgentSheets or AgentCubes, Etoys, Tynker
- FoldIt