Stay Safe At Home and Cure Your Boredom.Â
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge of interest in both pandemics themselves and how human societies react to them. Apparently, the fascination extends to simulated pandemics as well. Two months after the developers of the popular pathogen simulator Plague Inc. said they would be adding a ‘Save the World’ mode to the game, two other indie developers announced their own COVID-19–inspired pandemic simulation games today.
Both COVID: The Outbreak (by Polish developer Jujubee S.A.) and Corona Simulator (by German solo developer Markus Failer) are strategy games in which the player must take on the mantle of a global leader in the midst of a pandemic and try to formulate the best crisis management response.
In addition to being a real-time strategy crisis simulator, COVID: The Outbreak will also provide education information on effective actions individuals can take during real-life epidemics to protect themselves and their loved ones. According to the press release, this part of the content is informed both by data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the advice of experts and consultants.
COVID: The Outbreak is out already on PC via Steam and GOG for $13.99, with a 10% launch discount. The developer has stated that 20% fo all net sales in May and June will be donated to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and other charities supporting the fight against the current pandemic.
On the other hand, Corona Simulator is set to release next month, also for PC, via Steam, Itch.io, and GameJolt. Corona Simulator will be a round-based strategy game (as opposed to real-time strategy), but will also feature simulation elements of resource and infrastructure management, as well as research strategy and policy response.
The game will set you back $12.99 for the normal edition, and $18.99 for the Savior Edition. And, likewise, 20% of the revenue from the Savior Edition will go to the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Source: Press release