Outbreak on Your Screen: A Game That Lets You Step Into the Epidemic

Remember those "choose your own adventure" games?

Imagine you’re sitting at your desk when the first report hits your inbox: a handful of patients in rural Cambodia are showing up with strange symptoms—confusion, seizures, and in some cases, sudden death. You don’t know what you’re dealing with yet, but the whispers of bat exposure and pig farms bring back memories of past outbreaks that didn’t end well.

That’s how your journey begins in Nipah Outbreak: 2042, a choose-your-own-adventure-style game I’ve built to help folks experience what it’s like to investigate a real epidemic from the inside. You play the role of an epidemiologist—a disease detective—trying to understand and contain an outbreak that the Nipah virus might cause.

Now, just to be clear: this scenario is fictional. But it’s inspired by real public health challenges. Nipah virus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumps from animals to humans. It’s caused outbreaks before in South and Southeast Asia. In fact, the World Health Organization has listed it among the diseases that could trigger a future pandemic according to their R&D Blueprint. That’s not because it’s new, but because it’s deadly, hard to predict, and there’s still no approved vaccine or specific treatment.

So, in the game, when you choose whether to send samples to a regional lab or fly to the outbreak site yourself, you’re stepping into decisions real epidemiologists wrestle with. Do you go public early and risk panic? Or stay quiet while you gather more information? In one scene, you might be weighing whether to alert the World Health Organization or wait for more lab results. And yes, I’ve thrown in fictional colleagues with mixed attitudes—some cooperative, others burned out, and one who thinks bats aren’t that interesting. (He’s wrong.)

Every path you take changes the outcome. In one version, you might contain the outbreak with minimal loss of life. In another scenario, a series of missteps—such as skipping contact tracing or underestimating community mistrust—can lead to the worst-case outcome. Game over.

While the situations are made up, the public health strategies in the game are grounded in reality. I built it based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on outbreak investigation. I drew inspiration from historical case studies, such as the 1998 outbreak in Malaysia or the 2023 Nipah response in Kerala, India, for insights into what might go right or wrong.

I also wanted the game to show what’s behind the headlines. Public health isn’t just lab coats and graphs. It’s messy, political, and emotional work. People don’t always cooperate. Rumors spread faster than viruses. And sometimes, even when you make all the “right” moves, the disease still wins. That’s not failure. That’s real life. And it’s why preparing for outbreaks takes more than science. It takes people, trust, and communication that reaches folks where they are.

Also, yes, I let you name your character. You can be Dr. Rivera, Dr. Najera, or Dr. Banana if that helps you think through your decisions.

Whether you’re a student just learning about public health, a teacher looking for an interactive classroom tool, or just someone who likes strategy games, this little simulation invites you to try walking in the shoes of someone tasked with protecting others. It’s not always easy. But it’s meaningful work. And now, it’s your move.

You can play the game directly here. I’d love to hear what ending you got—and whether you managed to keep your career intact. (And let me know of any bugs you find, of course!)