COVID Control Simulator
Tags: Serious Game Team Collaboration Data Visualization
Date: Jan. 2020 - Jun. 2020
My Role: Lead Designer and Developer.
Team Size: 3
A serious simulator that reflects how city administrators can affect pandemic control and prevention. The game involves information collected from actual news sources and scientific data, and the team's positionality as native Wuhan city residents. It was featured in WPI News.
Based on our team's experiences and positionality as native Wuhan city residents, we designed the game to immerse players in balancing the preservation of human lives and economic stability during a deadly viral outbreak. The game also challenges players to act responsibly and devise strategies to prevent and control the virus with minimal losses. The core objective is to allow players to experience the complex dilemmas faced by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing how careless or reckless decisions could lead to catastrophic outcomes for the affected population.
Game's interface in Unity3D
COVID Control Simulator
We have also prepared various endings based upon the strategies players choose in the game while they battle the novel coronavirus pneumonia. For example, players can choose strategies to achieve “herd immunity,” which may be considered more laissez-faire, or adopt a strict quarantine policy at the beginning; each would have a totally different experience and outcome.
The goal of our game is to offer a platform where players can explore and reenact the strategies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, presented within a serious game format. My team and I aim to highlight the critical role mathematics plays in controlling a pandemic, emphasizing its importance over political or economic considerations. Through this project, we seek to demonstrate that games can transcend mere entertainment and serve higher purposes, such as education and raising awareness.
The Game Trailer