Pandemic II
Deals with biology // disease // drugs
  Infectious Disease, Research, Pathogenic mechanisms, control of disease spread,
Intended for middle school // high school // university
Available on Web
Cost free
   
Developed by Dark Realm Studios (external)
Website at https://www.addictinggames.com/strategy/pandemic-2 (external)
Play this game!
on its own website

Pandemic II

Similar to a board game, action is imagined but clear and moving! This game is all about strategy! Various versions of the game are available for PC and Mac desktops/laptops. We are describing the web version here.

You are a pathogen. You can choose to be a bacterium, virus or a parasite. Your goal is to kill everyone in the whole world. You must avoid letting humans find a cure against you. You must avoid detection. etc. You do this by choosing traits for your pathogen-self that allow you to spread unnoticed until it's too late... for example. Which country you choose to start in, what kind of pathogen you are, etc. all affect your success and require different strategic maneuvers.

And yes, there is another game that is very similar to this one. This game Pandemic came out first, in 2008. The new game that you can play on iPad or Andoid is called Plague Inc. The new game, plague is more easy to pick up and play: so if you have a class of 5th graders and some tablets, Plague Inc. is your game. Additionally, Plague Inc. makes it more clear how changes in pathogen's characteristics affects spread of disease. There are numerous reviews that compare both games, and discuss how copycat games can improve a game... for kids who may want to become video game developers in the future, these two game are a good study. Technology development is a standard in most states. Why not consider how the existence and reasonable success of one product makes another one simpler to develop. A rather straight forward teaching opportunity I think... Arguments? Ideas?



Screenshots of Pandemic II


Scorecards

Expert Reviews
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Player Reviews
By everyone else (and you!)
14 / 15
Fun
5 / 5
Learning
4 / 5
Science
5 / 5

Player Reviews

Prospect M.S 2

Prospect M.S 2
Player

The game Pandemic 2 is kind of hard to play but I enjoyed playing it. Pandemic 2 takes some time and thinking to play successfully. I would play this game again. There is a tutorial you can watch before playing the game. You don’t have to learn science to master the game. It just takes a lot of strategy. You learn about what type of bacteria, viruses, or parasite can lead to other sickness. You can also learn about symptoms of diseases, and whether or not people will die from the disease you have released. You can lose this game if the government finds a successful vaccine for your disease.You can win by killing everybody in the world. It is important to know you geography to locate the infected regions.

Fun rating: 5 out of 5

Learning rating: 5 out of 5

Science rating: 5 out of 5

Total:

15 / 15

This review has 0 comments.


Prospect M.S. student 1

Prospect M.S. student 1
Player

Pandemic 2 is pretty easy to get the hang of, and once you do it’s a lot of fun. I always look forward to playing it when my teacher says I can. It is a good learning game because it not only teaches you science, but also geography. For example it might say, “you have now infected China.” At that point you can go and find China on the map to see how many people you have infected.

Because of the different game options and stories, Pandemic 2 is always a different game every time you play it. The changeable game modes and strategies give you plenty of choices. I also enjoy how it takes time to earn points and you have to wait to add new traits to the disease.

Some people may find Pandemic 2 a little confusing at the beginning when they are trying to work out the object of the game. I would recommend that there be a message saying, “infect as many people as you can.”

Fun rating: 4 out of 5

Learning rating: 4 out of 5

Science rating: 5 out of 5

Total:

13 / 15

This review has 0 comments.


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