History YMMV / PlagueInc

** Many Mega-Brutal strategies favor Necrosis, since it allows the deceased to act as a transmission vector, allowing you to start killing much sooner than you normally would[[note]]The usual strategy of "Stay under the radar until everyone's infected, then hit the kill switch" tends to fail in Mega-Brutal due to random check-ups exposing the disease, prompting accelerated cure research, so time is of the essence.[[/note]]. The set of symptoms that leads to it -- Rash, Sweating, Skin Lesions -- also gives a decent amount of Severity and Infectivity overall.

** Two years after this game was released, an '''Ebola outbreak''' occured.

** Before the developers patched the "Where Is Everyone" scenario to fix the GoodBadBug, the Simian Flu [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMluOE61vZ4 was able to make to mode a breeze,]] to the point where even Mega-Brutal can be beaten in less than a year in-game. All thanks to the fact ape numbers hadn't been tweaked, so they massively outnumbered humans from the very start.

** With the exception of a few plague types, the strategy is to pretty much spread the disease with no symptoms so no one notices it, then when the entire planet is infected, flip the kill switch. This is probably why the newer additions to the game give the disease some severity by default to prevent this from happening and Mega-Brutal makes it flat-out impossible to do.

** Many Mega-Brutal strategies favor Necrosis, since it allows the deceased to act as a transmission vector, allowing you to start killing much sooner than you normally would (the usual strategy of "Stay under the radar until everyone's infected, then hit the kill switch" tends to fail in Mega-Brutal due to random check-ups exposing your disease, prompting accelerated cure research, so time is of the essence). The tree that leads to it--Rash, Sweating, Skin Lesions--also gives a decent amount of Severity and Infectivity.

** With the exception of a few plague types, the strategy is to pretty much spread the disease with no symptoms so no one notices it, then when the entire planet is infected, flip the kill switch. This is probably why the newer additions to the game give the disease some severity by default to prevent this from happening.

* ThatOneAchievement: There are a few achievements that are virtually impossible to get. Most of them will require SaveScumming (and that's not even possible on the original mobile version)

* ThatOneAchievement: There are a few achievements that is virtually impossible. Most of them will require SaveScumming (and that's not even possible on the original mobile version)
** Not Another Zombie Game (kill everyone in Necroa Virus without using zombies) was pretty hard until it was debuffed. And it's ''still'' pretty hard, mainly because the cure is researched at lightning speed, as the scenario is built with the idea zombies are utterly incurable in mind, so you need both complete subterfuge and a lot of luck. Want an easy way? Pretend your virus is a form of rabies, then devolve Zootonic Shift. Sounds easy? Well, before that you need to trigger two rabies-related events. Each has its own difficult moments. GuideDangIt indeed.
** Mr. President requires you to beat Shut Down Everything with all 11 plagues on at least Normal. Ok. So far, sounds simple. It requires you to get 3 Biohazard symbols for all of them. Ok. Slightly harder but still easy. Wait, as a reminder, some plagues already have issues trying to easily spread (We're looking at you Fungus and no, your Spore Burst is a bit too random at times) on a normal playthrough. Well, with most countries closing off their borders before your plague can reach them the moment you get spotted, it's not going to be easy.
** Disease Master requires you to beat [[HarderThanHard Mega-Brutal]] for all 11 Plagues. See ThatOneLevel below for the plagues involved in this achievement.

** Not Another Zombie Game (kill everyone in Necroa Virus without using zombies) was pretty hard until it was debuffed. And it's ''still'' pretty hard, mainly because the cure is researched at lightning speed, as the scenario is built with the idea zombies are utterly incurable in mind, so you need both complete subterfuge and a lot of luck. [[spoiler:Want an easy way? Pretend your virus is a form of rabies, then devolve Zootonic Shift. Sounds easy? Well, before that you need to trigger two rabies-related events. Each has its own difficult moments. GuideDangIt indeed.]]

* FridgeLogic: Trojan Planes can fly anywhere... [[LoopholeAbuse even to countries without airports.]]
** FridgeHorror: They crash, maybe?
** Or make belly landings. Who says the Worm can't control people to be skilled pilots?
** You don't need a runway to land a plane, just a sufficiently long, flat stretch of land.
** The weirdest part is the fact that nobody seems to care about a plane landing even after the borders are closed.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: The [[PuppeteerParasite Neurax Worm]], for its [[GameBreaker game slaughtering]] abilities and [[UglyCute oddly cute appearance]].

** Z-COM can feel like this when playing as the Necroa Virus. They'll appear the moment zombies start appearing, lock down one of the least infected nations in the world almost overnight and if you don't pin them down immediately with zombies, [[IncreasinglyLethalEnemy they'll start spreading and building bases around the world]]. They lock down countries quickly and once a country is locked down, even throwing millions of zombies at the problem doesn't seem to dislodge them without considerable effort. If the cure has already been found and Z-Com starts spreading, you might as well restart.

** Z-COM can feel like this when playing as the Necroa Virus. They'll appear the moment zombies start appearing, lock down one of the least infected nations in the world almost overnight and if you don't pin them down immediately with zombies, [[IncreasinglyLethalEnemy they'll start spreading and building bases around the world]]. They lock down countries quickly and once a country is locked down, even throwing million of zombies at the problem doesn't seem to dislodge them without considerable effort. If the cure has already been found and Z-Com starts spreading, you might as well restart.

*** Extremophile gets you a minor bonus in every environment type (arid, humid, rural, urban), which many players believe is better than a major bonus in only one like the other environment genes give you.

** Several players have a starting country that they swear by.

** Similarly to countries, many players swear by one set of genetic traits at the beginning of the game.

** Many players tend to prefer playing as the Neurax Worm or Necroa Virus in the normal game and Scenarios that allow them to pick a pathogen, as they're usually seen (and effective in the latter's case; see GameBreaker below) as the most interesting and most of the other plagues are viewed more as BoringButPractical, while not having the pronounced difficulty of the Simian Flu or Shadow Plague.

** Total Organ Failure and Coma tend to be the go-to symptoms when it comes the time to finally kill everyone. Total Organ Failure is a very lethal symptom, while Coma helps in slowing down the cure. Best of all, they're both connected to each other in the symptom tree, making it almost impossible to not pick both of them up.
*** Many Mega-Brutal strategies favor Necrosis since it allows the deceased to act as a transmission vector, allowing you to start killing much sooner than you normally would (the usual strategy of "Stay under the radar until everyone's infected, then hit the kill switch" tends to fail in Mega-Brutal due to random check-ups exposing your disease, prompting accelerated cure research, so time is of the essence). The tree that leads to it--Rash, Sweating, Skin Lesions--also gives a decent amount of Severity and Infectivity.
** If a Scenario lets the player pick the plague type, 9 times out of 10 it'll be the Neurax Worm (See GameBreaker below).
** Many players of the game tend to prefer playing as the Neurax Worm or Necroa Virus as they are usually seen as the most interesting and most of the other plagues are viewed more as BoringButPractical, while not having the pronounced difficulty of the Simian Flu or Shadow Plague.

** With the exception of a few plague types, the strategy is to pretty much spread the disease with no symptoms so no one notices it, then when the entire planet is infected, flip the kill switch. This is probably why the newer additions to the game give the disease some severity by default to prevent this from happening.

*** Another common one is Genetic Mimic, which flat out makes the plague harder to cure. Good for Mega-Brutal strategies where every second you can delay the cure counts.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukHCh8TmUt0 The Neurax Worm]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFDcAxbKBxQ Adverse Reactions]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMWcUPQQ4DQ Flatten The Curve]], the theme for playing Cure Mode in ''Evolved''. It fits incredibly well as an opposing theme, with a mix of heroic solemnity and frantic desperation that emphasizes your struggle to contain and cure ThePlague before it's too late.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: With some diseases, you have to wonder: is everything you make naturally occurring? Or was it engineered? Some players have a headcanon in which the virus they made was created by a country as a form of population control GoneHorriblyRight.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: With some diseases, you have to wonder: is everything you make naturally occurring? Or was it engineered? Some players have a tendency to have a headcanon in which the virus they made was created by a country as a form of population control GoneHorriblyRight.

*** A good second pick is Russia - plenty of people to infect before it becomes noticeable gives some useful cold resistance, and they're one of the few ports that reliably visit Greenland.
*** China is also a really good pick - access to a seaport and an airport, home to 1/7 of the world's population, and shares a border with Russia.

*** Saudi Arabia is a popular choice for the heat resistance and having an airport that visits ''a lot'' of other countries, as well as a seaport that visits some good places, including the other major headache island, Madagascar.

** '''Greenland'''. Boats rarely travel there, and in normal cases, it's nigh impossible to reach without special perks. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the Pirate Plague scenario description: "...How will anyone get to Greenland now?". This is compounded by Greenland's low population density and cold climate, which makes it very slow to infect, even once you do get there.

** '''Greenland'''. Boats rarely travel there, and in normal cases, nigh impossible to reach without special perks. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the Pirate Plague scenario description: "...How will anyone get to Greenland now?". This is compounded by Greenland's low population density and cold climate, which makes it very slow to infect, even once you do get there.

* MemeticMutation: On videos about the Neurax Worm, it’s very common to see people [[BlackComedy praising the Worm.]]
** It’s also quite common to joke about COVID-19 being started by Area 51 agents [[TooDumbToLive playing Plague Inc. on the wrong tablet.]]

* {{Narm}}: The [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Necroa Virus]]'s [[MultipleChoicePast various origins]] are usually quite [[NightmareFuel/PlagueInc creepy]]... Unless said origin involves [[IncompetenceInc PfiGlax]], which initially created the virus as a cure for AIDS, but instead it mutated the patients into zombies. Let me repeat that: A pharmaceutical company tried to create a cure for AIDS, and it [[IncompetenceInc failed so badly that it wound up]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis zombifying. The. Patients.]] EpicFail doesn't even begin to describe it.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel_coronavirus_(2019-nCoV) In late 2019, a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in China]] (the first suspected case was discovered the 31st December). Then, the game was put on sale a couple weeks later, while the disease was still raging. The reason the game was on sale? Lunar New Year Sale (in other words: the sale celebrating ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice the Chinese New Year]]''). Soon after, the game was [[BannedInChina pulled from the App Store in China.]]
*** As the COVID-19 crisis has spread worldwide, there's been a seriously spooky parallel between the game and reality. Before, watching notices like a country banning gatherings, shutting down public buildings and services, and locking down borders go by meant your game was progressing. Seeing all of it play out in reality, though, is putting a whole new face on otherwise mundane game mechanics. [[ShownTheirWork It shows how much detail they put into the game on being as realistic as possible.]]
*** In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ndemic Games released a "Cure Mode" DLC where you play as an organization trying to stop the plague. Lockdowns are indeed at your disposal, but they come with an increased risk of Non-Compliance where people will just decide to ignore that plan and go about their life, and this costs you Authority. If your Authority drops to zero, you lose, presumably because there's no-one to stop the plague from destroying humanity now, all because people didn't want to listen and do what was right.
*** Though it should be noted that while COVID didn't turn out to be anywhere as life-threatening as the world made it out to be with a 99% survival rate, the disease you're trying to prevent from exterminating humanity starts off much worse and only gets even worse than that as it progresses. A disease like that, if it became a pandemic in real life, would have EVERYONE voluntarily minimizing their movement and contact, and the very few people that choose not to wouldn't do any serious enough damage to put massive populations at risk.

*** Though it should be noted that while COVID didn't turn out to be anywhere as contagious or life-threatening as the world made it out to be with a 99.6% survival rate, the disease you're trying to prevent from exterminating humanity starts off much worse and only gets even worse than that as it progresses. A disease like that, if it became a pandemic in real life, would have EVERYONE voluntarily minimizing their movement and contact, and the very few people that choose not to wouldn't do any serious enough damage to put massive populations at risk.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: The [[PuppeteerParasite Neurax Worm]], for it’s [[GameBreaker game slaughtering]] abilities and [[UglyCute oddly cute appearance]].