Panic Stations! It’s The Great Flu Game!

In recent weeks we’ve come into contact with someone who knows someone who knows someone who has the swine flu. And now the pandemic has spread to the digital world. In an effort to raise more awareness, Dutch researchers and Ranj Serious Games have created The Great Flu, a video game where you play as a member for the fictitious World Pandemic Control Agency desperately trying to control the spread of a deadly virus.

“It is actually what is happening now, what is happening in the real world,” said Albert Osterhaus, head of virology at the Erasmus Medical Center, who designed “The Great Flu” game with colleagues.

Watch the intro video below.

Pick a strain (each colour has its own difficulty rating) and jump straight into the game. The display lets you see how many people are infected, keep tabs on your budget, navigate the world map (20 regions), and react to global events and messages. You have variety of tools available to fight an outbreak, but choosing the appropriate course isn’t necessarily the easiest. Your budget is limited too –  I spent my money with reckless abandon, and that had, um, fatal consequences.

Play the simulator at www.thegreatflu.com.

[via Kotaku]