The popular strategy game Plague Inc. allows you to replay a pandemic triggered by the Corona virus. Now there is a sequel where you rebuild the world destroyed by the virus – because the first game came too close to reality.
What is Plague Inc.? Plague Inc. is a strategy game from 2012 for smartphones. In the game, it is your task to eliminate the world population as a pandemic. You can choose from seven different pathogen types. These include viruses, fungi, parasites, as well as nano-viruses and biological weapons.
Meanwhile, Plague Inc. is not only available for mobile but also via Steam for PC as Plague Inc.: Evolve. Now the direct sequel comes, where you are no longer on the side of the plague but on the side of humanity.
The reason for this, according to a developer, is partly because of how similar the gameplay of Plague Inc. has come to reality.
Because your game of the pandemic was so similar, there is now an optimistic building game
What do you do in the sequel? After Inc. plays after a Plague Inc. scenario where the pandemic has indeed affected large parts of the world population. However, some people have survived the plague, and you now help them to survive and repopulate the Earth.
In doing so, you build outposts, choose leaders, explore the surroundings, and collect resources. Cold winters and zombie attacks stand in your way, which must be defended against.
What does the developer say about After Inc.? In a report from Game File, the game designer of Plague Inc. and After Inc. James Vaughan talks about the games: Some people have been concerned that our games can predict the future.
He is likely referring to the increased popularity
of Plague Inc. during the Covid-19 pandemic (The New York Times; Paywall)
This has influenced his game design decisions for After Inc.:
I tried to make a happier and more optimistic game this time. The world is lush and beautiful. Although the survivors have to endure tough times, they are alive and can rebuild everything. The only problem is the zombies, but that’s nothing that can’t be solved with a few nails on a baseball bat.
Vaughan was also asked if it was a good idea to offer After Inc. for just 2 Euros in the app stores. Many other strategy games of this kind, like Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter, are free and finance themselves through microtransactions.
In fact, the game designer is not sure whether the one-time price instead of free was the right decision:
No – absolutely not – it’s a big risk! The only reason we can even consider releasing a premium game is that we have our existing crowd-pullers Plague Inc. and Rebel Inc. that will help players find our games – and also show that there is still an appetite for intelligent, demanding strategy games on mobile. Without the help of Plague Inc., any game [of ours], no matter how good it is, would have a very hard time being noticed.
Whether After Inc. will be as successful as its predecessor Plague Inc. remains to be seen. After Inc. is currently available for €1.99 in the Apple App Store as well as in the Google App Store. The game has also already been announced for PC via Steam, where it is set to release in 2025.
If you generally enjoy strategy games, there are a whole series of games you might like. If you want to fill the time until the PC release of After Inc., we have a few game suggestions for you. In our list, you will find the 15 best strategy games for PC.
