COVID SIMULATOR: A First Look

Originally written on January 24, 2022

A game about the pandemic for those living through the pandemic — is this a new level of copium? COVID Simulator is an open sandbox game that visualizes how COVID-19 spreads through the workplace using real-life scientific data.

Covid Simulator was created by indie developer Cold Rice Games, which is based in Portland, OR. The game is set to release on January 25th and will be available on Steam.

Vintage Visuals

At first glance, COVID Simulator has an undeniable retro charm that will most definitely appeal to older gamers. There’s something about retro-styled graphics that takes children of the 70s, 80s, and 90s back to a time when they felt safe and carefree — which couldn’t be more contradictory given the subject matter of the game.

In a modern-day gaming culture that’s hyper-focused on high frame rates and realer-than-life graphics, COVID Simulator focuses more on the message of the game and less on the visuals. This has been a successful strategy in recent years when you consider games like Undertale, Deltarune, and Stardew Valley, which too, have gone the opposite direction of current graphic standards and focused more on storytelling elements which no doubt helped contribute to their popularity. 

Science-Based Storytelling

COVID Simulator takes a hard look through a scientific lens at how the Coronavirus is spread in the workplace, all while using a dark sense of humor to help numb the very real pain that non-remote workers feel day in and day out. Despite the controversy and political polarization of the pandemic, COVID-19 is — and has been — devastating especially now amid the peak of the Omicron wave. 

COVID Simulator was created with the intent to showcase how inadequately placed health and safety measures in the workplace can affect employee culture and efficiency. Using real-time data, the game reveals the benefits that mask-wearing, quarantining, and vaccines have in preventing the spread of illness. Anecdotal evidence is also provided, of course, but in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.

Gameplay

For those gamers that love a good business sim, COVID Simulator promises to be able to design your own workplace. You can build bathrooms, work areas with cubicles, and even place décor like plants and shelves. There are a surprising amount of customization features for an indie game that costs less than five dollars. 

Adding or removing health measures and protections is also possible to prevent or expedite the pandemic in whichever way you’d like to play. And with that, half of the gameplay is then watching the workplace drama unfold through the choices of the player’s actions. 

To Buy or Not To Buy?

As a lover of gaming sims and all things retro-styled and dark-witted, I know I’ll eventually give this a buy once it’s available on Steam. I also like supporting indie developers whenever I can, as their budgets are more limited, and direct sales help encourage future game development.

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Do you like simulation games? Which genres, or indie developers, are your favorite? Comment down below.