Health and Medicine
PUBLISHED
1
Zombie apocalypses might be the stuff of horror films, but they’ve got nothing on smallpox pandemics.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.“The Collapse” is a web-based simulator that details the journey of you – “patient zero” – infected with smallpox. After putting in your address, you have to find your way around the local area on a map, attempting to survive while trying to minimize the amount of people you infect.
The game prompts you to make decisions, such as which hospital to go to when you start to feel unwell. With each move, you follow a story and get fed some pretty interesting – if not utterly terrifying – facts about pandemics and smallpox. Throughout the game, you’re given a running update on how quickly the virus is spreading.
According to Ubisoft, the whole simulator uses Open Street Map, NASA open source data, and IATA Flight routes, along with data from the World Health Organization.
The game has been released as a promotion for the new Ubisoft third-person shooter game “The Division,” where players are immersed in a virus-ridden apocalyptic New York. The game is available on March 8.
