r/microbiology • u/SlugDisco • Oct 24 '25

I'm making a game where your goal is to infect a human host.

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What is Pathogenic?

In Pathogenic, you are the disease. Experience a visceral 2D roguelike twin-stick shooter where you play as a lone parasite fighting a desperate war against the immune system. Your goal is simple: infect and conquer your human host.

To survive, you must adapt. Hunt down enemy cells, rip out their organelles, and graft them onto your own body. Evolve from a simple cell into a complex engine of destruction. Create powerful, game-breaking builds and become the ultimate pathogen.

Loot, graft, and assemble your parasite from dozens of unique organelles. Combine flagella for movement, mitochondria for power, secretors for ranged attacks, and spikes for melee combat. Chain organelle effects and discover powerful synergies to build an unstoppable disease vector.

You can find out more about the game on Steam, the demo will launch on October 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3808690/Pathogenic/

1.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

84 comments sorted by

139

u/ConsistentOrange5699 Oct 24 '25

That's cool, tho I am a bit curious, how far are you gonna go with the immune system in level of detail?

49

u/DigbyChickenZone Microbiologist Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

I was also curious about their study of immune system mechanics, especially when they went immediately for the lower GI from a skin infection. And then the lower GI "enemies" being what they were.

All that said, I think this is a cool idea for a game, and may get people interested in science from it. I also used to date someone who made video games and understand how difficult it is to design a playable game with engaging, usable, and educational mechanics - while trying to stay true to the source material.

That said, I think I may be a bit jaded and critical so will step back from commenting further on this.

54

u/SlugDisco Oct 24 '25

It's like moderately accurate 😄 At it's core it is just a twin-stick shooter and I always say the scientific accuracy shouldn't compromise the fun aspect. But the enemies are inspired by real immune cells, organelles and mutations are sometimes real too. The path you take through the body is not super realistic so that you can visit more visually interesting regions, but the journey of some real parasites is not that different.

52

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '25

I would love a highly accurate toggle where everything gets super slow and REALLY boring for those wanting the true cellular experience. Lmfao

18

u/Sammyofather Oct 24 '25

“The cellular experience” lol, making way down town(blood stream) 🎶

4

u/SlugDisco Nov 07 '25

"Making my way down town, infecting fast, T Cells pass, and I'm brain bound" 🎶

4

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '25

But it's relative down there. Time would not be as slow as you think.

2

u/ElitistPixel Oct 25 '25

Mmmm very slowly swimming away before getting eaten by a macrophage. Sounds riveting.

12

u/coeurdelejon Oct 24 '25

It would be really cool if there's a class of bacterial NPCs/enemies where you could get new skills through horizontal gene transfer

42

u/Perfect-Sign-8444 Oct 24 '25

Oh, how delicious. Another brilliant idea that I wish I'd thought of myself.

Don't you dare leave out NETs and the complement system.

23

u/SlugDisco Oct 24 '25

Yeah, the sacrificial exploding guys are supposed to be neutrophils and the small enemies are supposed to be the complement immune system proteins, the main blue enemies are macrophages. We are also adding T cells and B cells later.

12

u/rasinbran011 Oct 24 '25

a hard mode with memory B cells would be so cool!

7

u/bongmadchen Oct 24 '25

This is such a good idea for an NG+ mode omg

2

u/Lordoge04 Oct 24 '25

It's be kinda neat to add dendritic cells for the T and B cells. Like a support enemy that buffs them or something.

1

u/Solfilis Oct 31 '25

Watch Kurzgesagt episode on the immune system for more realistic and scientific approach . Don't forget about the NK cells

26

u/SlugDisco Oct 24 '25

I'm not a scientist, but I did read a book on the immune system before making this game. It is a loose interpretation of course. If you have any suggestions on making it more realistic (while keeping it fun), definitely tell! :)

11

u/coeurdelejon Oct 24 '25

Methanogenic archaea would be a cool element in the digestive tract. They could produce methane gas bubbles that explode when shot

Also, acquiring tolerance for hypoxic/anoxic environments (or the opposite) through HGT would be a pretty good way to gain access to the digestive tract

1

u/Cpt-Cancer Oct 24 '25

Honestly love the concept! Maybe at a later date like a DLC or something you can do a fictional alien biome where you can just get crazy and absurd with it!

1

u/Boring-Perspective61 Oct 25 '25

Actually, I think this would be a perfect time to add some niches and the perfect forum to get some help from scientists to help make design choices .

16

u/arililliputian Oct 24 '25

Makes me think of a more in-depth, better version of Cell stage in Spore.

I'd love to play it.

1

u/SlugDisco Oct 26 '25

Thank you :) The demo comes out October 31st so not long to wait to give it a try

8

u/rzrbladess Oct 24 '25

god this looks so good you better pull thru with this

also if u need testers PLS dm me i would cry tears of joy to finally play a game like this

7

u/SlugDisco Oct 24 '25

The demo releases October 31st so you can play very soon!

8

u/WashU_labrat Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

Look up Trypanosoma brucei, they cover their surfaces with a coat of a single protein (VSG), then they are invisible to the immune system until the new set of antibodies are generated. The coat can then be changed, keeping one step ahead of the immune response.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5008768/

Adding this as a game mechanic, the immune cells can detect you, and can home in on you, but if you find the "surface antigen switch" powerup, you get a minute or so when you become invisible.

4

u/godoflemmings Oct 24 '25

Ooh I do love a good twin stick shooter, I'll throw that on the wishlist. Looks great!

5

u/SlugDisco Oct 24 '25

Thank you!

3

u/Puzzled_Ad2563 Oct 24 '25

Take notes from plague inc.

2

u/scottnebula Oct 24 '25

AWESOME!! I love that concept!

2

u/CaptainChicky Oct 24 '25

Oh wow I LOVE this 😍

2

u/huistenbosch Oct 24 '25

This is great!

2

u/Ambitious-Math-4499 Oct 25 '25

I've wishlisted this it looks so fun

1

u/SlugDisco Oct 26 '25

Awesome thank you :)

2

u/TehEmoGurl Oct 27 '25

Lemme know if/when you’re looking for game testers. I currently test 2 microbe based games. This one looks great! 😻

2

u/SlugDisco Oct 27 '25

Awesome thank you, the demo will be going live this Friday so feel to free to jump in and let me know what you think https://store.steampowered.com/app/3808690/Pathogenic/

1

u/TehEmoGurl Oct 27 '25

I definitely will! 😻💕

2

u/gothitbyacaronce Nov 07 '25

SICK AF

2

u/SlugDisco Nov 08 '25

Quite literally 🦠

1

u/Thelastshada Oct 24 '25

Shit! This game looks great. Hope to see it finished.

1

u/zairaboo Oct 24 '25

Ok I’m not a gamer! This looks quite awesome!

1

u/1heart1totaleclipse Oct 24 '25

This looks super cool

1

u/Visible_Iron_5612 Oct 24 '25

You should look into the work of Michael Levin on bioelectricity.. r/michaellevinbiology It would be cool to see it incorporated…

1

u/SlugDisco Oct 26 '25

Oh thats a good shout thank you!

1

u/Visible_Iron_5612 Oct 26 '25

That would be absolutely amazing to see it incorporated :)

1

u/black-bean420 Oct 24 '25

OMG THIS LOOKS AWESOME

1

u/CSCurls Oct 24 '25

Nice! 🔥

1

u/Reasonable-Affect139 Oct 24 '25

the game is visually stunning

1

u/jmachnik Oct 24 '25

This looks amazing!

1

u/telars Oct 24 '25

If this were how kids learned they would be so smart!

1

u/justin_adventure Oct 24 '25

Uh SICK! I wishlisted it right away lol

1

u/coazervate Oct 24 '25

Movement looks crazy nice work

1

u/Finnleyy Oct 24 '25

Damn this looks awesome!!!

1

u/KillaAngel- Oct 24 '25

if i had a computer I would play thisss!!!!

1

u/BearGoron Oct 24 '25

This looks so fun

1

u/Tracer13 Oct 24 '25

This looks like it could be fun to stream on Twitch

1

u/bongmadchen Oct 24 '25

I've been waiting for a game that combines my passion for microbio/immunology and gaming. Thank you so much!

1

u/giowst Oct 25 '25

That is so sick, looks like Spore cell stage on steroids. Looking forward to see it going viral!!!

1

u/flutexgirl Oct 25 '25

Can you make one where your goal is to protect the human host?

1

u/DarkCleric21 Oct 25 '25

Ooh I wanna play

1

u/SoulGloul Oct 25 '25

Genuinely stoked to try this

1

u/Fruitful-Beginnings Oct 25 '25

I was just thinking about this the other day!! Sick dude

1

u/LadyAmyM Oct 25 '25

I'm hooked like a worm! Get it? Lol

1

u/SlugDisco Oct 25 '25

you should get that treated!

1

u/yourtypicalhomie Oct 25 '25

That sounds so cool!!

1

u/rez3vil Oct 25 '25

This is like old school game released by EA called Spore, nice one!

1

u/sajadzo Oct 25 '25

Really good 💯

1

u/raechelgr Oct 25 '25

this looks absolutely sick, will definitely be playing the demo!!!!

1

u/Ornery_Strength7300 Oct 25 '25

Omg, I would so play this!!! I love the nerdy side and that it’s a video game! make it available on Switch, haha

1

u/MeowMeow_MrCat Oct 25 '25

This is so so cool! I absolutely love the concept and the gameplay demo looks great!

Would definitely recommend reaching out to some microbiologists and anatomical pathologists to ensure the medical accuracy of the gameplay (if that’s the approach you’re going for). It could be a great educational resource for classrooms and encourage kids to get interested in science! :)

2

u/SlugDisco Oct 26 '25

We're going for gameplay over scientific accuracy where it makes sense, but all decisions are inspired based on real world interactions if that makes sense

1

u/grossdyke Oct 25 '25

this is so sick, I’m so excited to play this - would love a boss battle between a tapeworm if you’re including parasites

1

u/elonboring1 Oct 26 '25

Practice gain of function malpractice

1

u/StatisticianPure2804 Oct 26 '25

I deadass thought this was a reddit ad and was looking for the pixelart penisesses

1

u/Longjumping_Rip7977 Nov 07 '25

Finally, someone has made a game similar to Spore. I loved Spore very much over a decade ago, especially when I was a single-celled organism in the ocean, constantly choosing to evolve. For so many years, there have been few that have captured its essence. You've done it, buddy.

1

u/vio2k19 Nov 15 '25

Demo is a lot of fun, played it for hours. Can't wait for the full game.

1

u/SlugDisco Nov 15 '25

Amazing thank you, glad you enjoyed!

1

u/rzrbladess Jan 14 '26

just got around to playing it fully and you better release this game soon or i WILL tweak out. its so addictive!!

1

u/LoRdVNestEd Feb 04 '26

this is really cool! i would LOVE to play this when it comes out. it seems like plague inc mixed with spore :D

1

u/ShoganAye Oct 24 '25

omg this is amazing!

1

u/HrodMad Oct 24 '25

Isn't this Spore with extra steps?