Plague Inc. is a strategy/simulation game where you try to wipe out humanity by selectively evolving a new disease. For 99¢, there’s a lot for your money.

Plague Inc. lets you name your disease and drop it in a starting country. As it spreads, you get DNA points to spend on upgrades in three categories:

• Transmission: Increases your Infectivity. Makes your disease more likely to mutate, which gives free upgrades.
• Symptoms: Makes it harder for governments to research a cure.
• Abilities: Customizes your disease against harsh climates, makes it harder to cure, etc.

The large number of evolution choices gives many strategy options, though if you’re looking for suggestions, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide with strategy, tips, and tricks.

The world fights back in various ways. The most straightforward and noticeable is the Cure, represented by a meter on the main world map screen. This is the most dangerous means of opposition, because if the Cure reaches 100% before you infect and kill off everyone, you lose.

The more subtle ways of humanity refusing to die are communicated via news popup boxes. For example, if a country starts killing rats, then the Rodent upgrade you purchased will be less effective in that country. So if that country is one in which you still need to infect a lot of people, you’ll want to look at the country’s attributes and make sure you have an alternate evolution in place that can transmit in a different way.

Once you’ve beaten the game, there’s more to see, because you will unlock other types of diseases, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Plague Inc. is currently at the top of the app store, and it’s easy to see why. For the price, you’ll get solid entertainment.

Played on an iPod Touch 4G. Also available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.

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