Cure Mode is a game mode, in which the player will be playing as an international health organisation attempting to save the world from a deadly disease outbreak. In a realistic and powerful simulation inspired by real-world pandemic responses.[1]
Investigation: Track the spread of disease and try to find patient zero.
Control: Raise awareness to help the world through the crisis. Determine the best way to slow the disease and preserve your Authority.
Quarantine: Lockdown countries or entire continents from borders to airports with heavy handed responses; without popular support, these will have significant consequences.
Research: Study the disease and work towards a vaccine. Decide how much time you have to test its safety and efficiency.
Economic Support: People won’t comply with poorly designed quarantine/lock down measures; use furlough schemes and other policies to drive community support and consensus.[2]
The Task Force is the equivalent of the Genetic Code for the Cure Mode, players can recruit one of the members from their Task Force before they start their game. These advisers can help the vaccine development to be faster, better control the lockdown, prevent the plague from spreading to other countries.
Traits
Quarantine
Continent Alerts
Trait
Description
Countries
North America Alert
Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.
USA, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Caribbean
South America Alert
Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.
Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, C. America
Europe Alert
Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.
UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Baltic States, Central Europe, Balkan States, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey
Asia-Pacific Alert
Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.
Japan, Korea, China, India, S. E Asia, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand
Africa Alert
Announce concerns over disease spread here. Focus on this continent and prepare to implement disruptive quarantine measures.
Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, South Africa, Madagascar, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Middle East
Travel Restrictions
Trait
Description
Close Air Access
Shut airports down if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Close Sea Access
Shut down ports if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Close Land Borders
Shut down land borders if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Force Lockdown
Enforce mandatory isolation if a country reports infection. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary. Can be disabled at any time
Specific Quarantine
Trait
Description
Targeted Quarantine
Force a target country to shut border connections and lock down for 1 month. Non-Compliance will increase if the public thinks it is unnecessary.
Soft Targeted Quarantine
Targeted Quarantine now only shuts border connections. Softer restrictions more acceptable to the public
Response
Infection Prevention
Trait
Description
Resources
Hand Washing
Promote good hygiene practices by making sure people regularly and effectively wash their hands. Reduce Infection
6
Public Awareness
Promote personal responsibility on the spread of the disease to encourage people to follow official advice. Reduce Infection
3
Disinfectant Supplies
Distribute bleach and other disinfectants to eradicate the disease from surfaces. Reduce Infection
5
Self-Isolation
Symptomatic people must not leave their homes or interact with others for at least 2 weeks. Reduce Infection
5
Social Distancing
People must stay 2+ meters away from others and avoid badly ventilated spaces. Reduce Infection but slightly increase Non-Compliance
9
Local Lockdowns
Lockdown any neighbourhood that registers a case of the disease by force. Significantly reduce Infection but slightly increase Non-Compliance
20
Mask Wearing
People must wear masks when social distancing isn't possible. Significantly reduce Infection
1
PPE Package 1
Distribute basic personal protective equipment including medical masks, face shields, goggles and hand sanitiser. Reduce Infection and slightly reduce Fatality rate
7
PPE Package 2
Distribute advanced equipment including respirators, gloves and long sleeved gowns. Reduce Infection and slightly reduce Fatality rate
13
Improve Supply Chains
Protect supplies of essential goods by stockpiling raw materials and maintaining transport links. Reduce Infection and increase Vaccine Manufacturing speed
17
Death Prevention
Trait
Description
Resources
Emergency Preparation
Improve Infection Prevention and Control practices at hospitals and care homes, brief staff, and stockpile PPE. Reduce Fatality rate and slightly reduce Infection.
8
Clinical Treatments
Use common treatments and essential medicines to treat core symptoms of the disease. Slightly reduce Fatality rate
3
Staff Expansion
Deploy medical students, bring staff back from retirement and retrain other professionals to increase medical capacity. Reduce Fatality rate
7
Critical Care Management
Rigorously identify and share novel intensive care best practices with medical professionals. Reduce Fatality rate
5
Ventilators
Provide patients suffering respiratory distress with machinery to help them breathe. Reduce Fatality rate
7
New Infrastructure
Build new critical care hospitals and external triage centres to increase medical capacity. Reduce Fatality rate. Reduce Authority loss caused by high numbers of infected
12
Treatment Efficiencies
Improve the treatment of infected patients with Pre-Triage assessment and Specialist Treatment units. Reduce Fatality rate
13
Steroid Modification
Provide drugs like Dexamethasone to decrease severe inflammation and redirect the immune system to fight the disease. Significantly reduce Fatality rate
9
Triage Protocols
Apply strict criteria for hospital treatment to focus resources on patients with the highest chance of recovery. Significantly reduce Fatality rate but reduce Authority
6
Surge Protocols
Cancel all elective surgeries and reallocate outpatient departments. Video calls used for all consultations. Reduce Fatality rate and Infection
14
Interferon Treatment
Provide interferon-β proteins administered via inhalers, to trigger an immune response in the patient's lungs. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research Speed
11
Convalescent Plasma
Use the anti-body rich plasma of patients who have recovered from the disease to help treat others. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research speed
5
Monoclonal Antibody Treatment
Clone cocktails of specific neutralising antibodies to significantly reduce symptoms in the patient. Reduce Fatality rate and Vaccine Research speed
16
Contact Tracing
Trait
Description
Resources
Contact Tracing 1
Set up Test and Trace department to identify symptomatic people and notify their contacts. Once established, significantly reduce infections in small outbreaks.
4
Contact Tracing 2
Use smartphones to allow self-reporting and partially automate contact tracing. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.
5
Contact Tracing 3
Deploy local teams to track potentially exposed people and ensure they follow guidelines. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.
8
Contact Tracing 4
Mass produce self-testing kits to allow people easily and quickly determine if they are infected. Contact Tracing better at reducing infections.
12
Testing Capacity 1
Ensure large quantities of testing reagents and other key materials available for laboratories. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks
6
Testing Capacity 2
Train additional staff and improve logistics to ensure tests are processed rapidly. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks
7
Testing Capacity 3
Acquire and provide state-of-the-art equipment to allow testing with very high sensitivity and specificity. Contact Tracing effective in larger outbreaks
9
Border Monitoring
Trait
Description
Resources
Border Monitoring
Begin disease surveillance at borders. Try to identify and rapidly trace infected travelers from high risk countries.
4
Airport Screening
Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at airports for disease. Significantly reduce Air Transmission
8
Land Border Screening
Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at land borders for disease. Significantly reduce Land Transmission
11
Port Screening
Implement targeted travel restrictions and screen arrivals at ports for disease. Significantly reduce Sea Transmission
10
Operation
Trait
Description
Investigate Outbreaks
Set up teams of investigators worldwide to search for local disease outbreaks, gather resources and coordinate our response
Government Partnerships
Coordinate with local government officials to more rapidly approve the setup of investigation teams that will detect local disease outbreaks
Outbreak Intelligence Unit
Authorise dedicated unit that will more rapidly set up monitoring stations that will detect local disease outbreaks
Field Research
Deploy scientific researchers. Field Operatives upgraded to research Vaccine when present. Particularly effective in disease origin country
Deploy Field Operatives
Form a mobile team of investigators that can be deployed to target countries to enhance disease surveillance and response. Slightly reduces infections when present
Infection Control
Deploy disease containment experts. Field Operatives upgraded to reduce Infections and improve border monitoring when present
Emergency Care
Deploy medical specialists. Field Operatives upgraded to reduce the Fatality rate when present
Vaccine Development
Trait
Description
Vaccine Research
Start to develop a vaccine. Identify potential antigen candidates, assess clinical impacts and conduct human testing. Required for Vaccine Manufacturing
Accelerated Research
Implement emergency hiring protocols, repurpose laboratories and switch to round the clock working. Increases Vaccine Research speed
Global Research Treaty
International agreement delivers transparent knowledge exchange and efficient distribution of resources. Significantly increases Vaccine Research speed
Vaccine Production
Trait
Description
Vaccine Manufacturing
Establish the infrastructure, personnel and equipment necessary to create mass quantities of vaccine. Can begin before Vaccine developed
Accelerated Manufacturing
Use emergency staffing measures and advanced production facilities to increase capacity, speed and efficiency. Increase Vaccine Manufacturing speed
Global Manufacturing Treaty
International agreement creates factory networks, ultra cold chains and rapid sharing of manufacturing resources. Significantly increases Vaccine Manufacturing speed
Economic Support
Trait
Description
Furlough Schemes
Protect jobs by paying salaries of staff disrupted by Quarantine actions and boosting unemployment benefits. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Adapt Society
Adjust to the new normal by providing funds and resources to maintain education, wellness and human rights. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Mortgage and Rent Relief
Freeze all mortgage/rent payments and ban evictions to prevent people from losing their homes. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
National Stimulus
Support economies with training programmes, tax cuts, business loans/bailouts and infrastructure spending. Decreases Non-Compliance from Quarantine measures
Targeted Economic Aid
Send significant financial aid package help a country struggling with Quarantine measures. Decrease Non-Compliance in target country
Debt Relief
Work with international creditors to secure debt moratoriums. Economic Aid now significantly decreases Non-Compliance
Authority
Trait
Description
Authority 1
Brief world leaders on the importance of rapidly identifying and responding to the pandemic. Slightly increase Authority
Authority 2
Broadcast global plea for international cooperation and coordination to successfully contain the pandemic. Significantly increase Authority
Authority 3
Emphasise the global threat facing humanity and urge everyone to do whatever it takes to contain the pandemic. Very significantly increase Authority
Censorship
Heavily restrict communications to prevent public criticism of disease control strategy. Authority frozen for 1 month. Increases Non-Compliance
Fake News
Create and disseminate misinformation to disguise strategic failures. Authority frozen for 1 month. Increases Non-Compliance
Special Operations
Virus
Trait
Description
Public Warning
Emphasise that this is much more severe than the seasonal flu. It is a novel virus that needs to be taken seriously. Increase Authority
Public Alert
Re-emphasise how dangerous the novel virus is and beg people to take it seriously. Reduces Non-Compliance
Parasite
Trait
Description
Medical Aid 1
Provide aid packages to poor countries to support efforts to control the disease. Reduce bonus infection rate in poor regions
Medical Aid 2
Provide comprehensive aid packages to poor countries to support efforts to control the disease. Remove bonus infection rate in poor regions
Fungus
Trait
Description
Micron Ventilation Filters
Use micrometer filtration systems. Significantly reduce the frequency of fungal spores spreading infection
Antifungal 1, 2 & 3
Deploy high altitude anti-fungal aerosols around the world to reduce the fungal bloom. Reset fungal infection bonus
Advanced Antifungals
Provide a range of experimental treatments that target symptoms and the underlying pathogen. Reduce Fatality rate and increase Vaccine Research speed
Prion
Trait
Description
Rapid Analysis
Study existing prions for similarities with the pathogen. Significantly speed up initial disease analysis
Neural Enhancers
Use neurological enhancement drugs to reduce cognitive decline in Infected. Help infected countries continue to develop vaccine
Reassure Infected 1
Reassure infected people that the prion will be cured before they die from it. Reduce Authority loss from Panic
Reassure Infected 2
Emphasis the 'incredible' research discoveries being made by vaccine researchers. Reduce Authority loss from Panic
Extend Incubation 1
Administer lymphotoxin blocker injections for the infected. Extend the time before disease becomes terminal
Extend Incubation 2
Improve lymphotoxin blocker injections. Extend the time before the disease becomes terminal
Nano-Virus
Trait
Description
Develop Kill-Code
Start to develop nano-virus kill-code. Required to remotely shut down the machines
Kill-Code Supercomputing
Offload kill-code decryption to dedicated supercomputer networks. Significantly speeds up kill-code development
Special Codes
Identify backdoors in code to hijack nano-virus functions. Warning - firewall will lock after intrusion detected
Emotion Dampening
Remotely inject command code level 065117116104111114105116121. Significantly reduce Authority loss from infected and dead
Identify backdoors in code to modify core routines. Warning - firewall will lock after intrusion detected
Cycle Suspension
Remotely inject command code level 068101108097121 Halt all nano-virus activity globally for one month
Cryptomining
Remotely inject command code level 099121098101114109105110101 Utilise the nano-virus to siphon additional resources over time
Bio-Weapon
Trait
Description
Declare Armageddon
Warn the world that humanity faces an extinction level threat from the pandemic. Significant increase in Authority
Expectation Management
Explain that it is impossible to protect every single country. Limit the authority damage per country. Reduce Authority
Extreme Measures 1
Deploy 'private contractors'. Field Operatives will take extreme measures to stop the spread of infection. Reduce Authority and increase Non-Compliance
Extreme Measures 2
Deploy black ops soldiers. Field Operatives will take large scale extreme measures to stop the spread of infection. Reduce Authority and increase Non-Compliance
Government Actions
<Country> sets up disease investigation teams
<Country> universally distributes facemasks
<Country> creates military containment zones
<Country> stockpiles aprons at hospitals
Plastic bags used as DIY gloves in <Country>
<Country> decontaminates imported goods
<Country> conducts nationwide blood tests
<Country> recommends hand washing
<Country> starts public awareness campaign
<Country> provides hygiene guidelines
<Country> begins disinfecting urban areas
<Country> recommends mask wearing
<Country> makes mask wearing mandatory
<Country> distributes hand sanitiser
<Country> isolates infected patients
<Country> cancels public events
<Country> recommends working from home
<Country> issues pandemic alert
<Country> closes non-essential businesses
<Country> closes universities
<Country> uses 'proximity sirens' in parks
<Country> deploys water cannons filled with bleach
<Country> approves use of 'disinfection robots'
<Country> imprisoning symptomatic people
<Country> puts hospitals on high alert
<Country> builds Advanced Vaccine Research Center
<Country> creates shielding guidelines
<Country> reviews medical stockpiles
<Country> rations essential supplies
<Country> starts central corpse disposal
<Country> uses mass graves
<Country> burns corpses
<Country> puts curfews in place
<Country> recruits retired doctors
<Country> seeks to recruit more medical staff
<Country> accelerates medical student training
<Country> uses hotels as hospitals
<Country> prioritises care for millenials
<Country> forces vets to operate on humans
<Country> deploys hospital ships
<Country> sets up Airbridges to protect supply chains
This mode was created with the help of infectious disease experts, including CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations).[3]
While scientific input was garnered from CEPI and other infectious disease experts, it is worth highlighting that Plague Inc: The Cure does not provide 100% accurate or realistic scenarios to the steps needed to be taken to end a pandemic threat, and the speed and scale at which they can be achieved. It is a game, not a scientific simulation.[2]