Pharmageddon - Antibiotic Card Game *In Development*

[Jaundice101]

Pharmageddon is a card game I am currently developing in order to provide a more enjoyable and engaging way to learn antibiotics than simple flash cards. The core mechanic has been developed and play tested with friends and family who, shockingly, all gave their nods of approval. In search of a more honest and also appropriate audience I've created this thread as a "Work In Progress" home for the various stages of its ongoing creation. A similar thread is also available at boardgamegeek to get input from more of a gamer and game designer audience.

For those who are interested a Print and Play file is available is attached in addition to the rule book. From these files the basic game can be play tested by anyone willing to spend a few minutes printing and cutting it out. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Questions are welcomed as well. Thanks!

Here're the basics:
There are two decks of cards: Bug Cards and Drug Cards. Each player uses Drug Cards to slay Bug Cards which are laid out in a 3 x 3 square. If you successfully match an effective Drug to a susceptible Bug you get to keep on going matching more. If you fail, play moves on to the next player. Each drug has its own sides effects and flora costs, though, so choose your Drug Cards wisely. Players may also use their Drug Cards to play for Drug Resistance against opposing players when pertinent (i.e. play your Ciprofloxacin on an E coli that your opponent is playing their Levofloxacin on to knock out the entire fluoroquinolone class). Game ends after 7 rounds and player with the most killed Bug Cards is the winner!

Play Count: 1 – 4 players
Playing Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Complexity: light – medium

Post play test survey: Pharmageddon Feedback

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[Goro]

I think these people might be interested:

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Suggest adding preconditions in patients (like drug allergy in a patient) with so 2nd line drugs have to be played,

You could probably develop an expansion kit to play with other conditions, endocrine disorders, or heart disease.

 

[stickgirl390]

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Jaundice101]

I think these people might be interested:

BoardGameGeek

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Suggest adding preconditions in patients (like drug allergy in a patient) with so 2nd line drugs have to be played,

You could probably develop an expansion kit to play with other conditions, endocrine disorders, or heart disease.

Heh, yeah, I actually started a Work In Progress thread on Boardgamegeek as well. It might be harder to find the target audience since you need a bit of a baseline knowledge in pharmacology, but I'm hopeful those who do will share their game developing insight.

And, yep, later versions will definitely have some "Patient" Bug Cards added in which will tweak a rule for that round (i.e. a drug allergy that limits use of a drug class or a prolonged QT interval that penalizes use of azithromycin and the fluoroquinolones.) 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

This is great. Good work.

 

[esob]

I like it. Even though I know my sketchy cards very well I found myself struggling to recall the correct treatment. I think something like this can help students figure out where their weaknesses are.

 

[Jaundice101]

Thanks esob. Eventually I intend to add little superscripts for 1st line, 2nd line, and drug of choice treatments to the antibiotic key (as applicable) to highlight which antibiotics are preferred. It may make the cards too cluttered, though, so we will see.

 

[Jaundice101]

One player mode is coming along and likely will be ready for sharing in the next week or two once I have a little bit more time to update the rules and a few things on the Print n Play.

In the meantime here're previews on some additions to the Bug Card deck. In addition to the Bug Cards and Syndrome Cards there will now be some Patient Cards mixed in which modify play for the one round they're drawn. Check 'em out. 🙂








Other Patient Cards pending include: Kiddo, Nursing Mother, Epilepsy, Prolonged QT Syndrome, and a couple variations of allergy cards. Also considered Myasthenia Gravis and Diabetes, amongst others, but the number of antibiotics which can go haywire in patients such that those is too limited for game play purposes so they've been axed so far.

Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions on additional Patient Cards??

 

[Jaundice101]

A 1 player mode is now available for trying out. It and the new Patient and Event cards mentioned above are available in the Print n Play file attached to the original post at the top of the thread. Here's a brief summary of game play for the 1 player mode:

• Most rules and cards play the same
• Players still play with a 3 x 3 Bug Card grid
• Game play is now, however, a test of survival against a slowly increasing microbe horde
• Choose your level of difficulty to determine beginning Bug Card deck size
• Use timely 1 player bonuses to recover precious Life
• Survive enough rounds to come out on top!

As always let me know your thoughts. How long is a game taking? How is checking Drug Card / Bug Card matches working out? Too much analysis paralysis?

 

[Jaundice101]

A few new tweaks and additions including (1) Antibiotic Police Bug cards, (2), an advanced scoring option for those who want to play not only an effective card but the BEST card, and (3) simple player sheets to keep track of the score easier.

Here's an example of an Antibiotic Police Bug Card:

The advanced scoring system rewards players with:

• +1 if they play a 1st line antibiotic for a pathogen (as indicated by a "1st" above the Rx in the Bug Card's antibiotic key)
• +2 if they play the drug of choice for a pathogen (as indicated by a "DOC" above the Rx in the Bug Card's antibiotic key)

The Player Sheet:

Updated Print n Play and Instructions at the top of the post!

 

[Jaundice101]

Making progress. Was doing some good play testing with friends locally till the corona struck. Moving a bit slower now for obvious reasons so if anyone wants to share any thoughts from their own fiddling with the cards let me know.

Now for a brief, Poll the Audience!

The front of each Drug Card looks something like this:

As can be seen there's a good gap right in the middle begging for content. Could be an image, could be more facts and tips for the antibiotic, a pie chart, a pie, the skies the limit. I'm leaning towards a miscellaneous facts or tip for the antibiotic (recall that side effects and general microbial coverage are on the back already). Any suggestions??

 

[Jaundice101]

Brief update: a post play test survey is now available to standardize feedback. It's available at: Pharmageddon Feedback

Hope everyone's doin' alright during these turbulent and challenging times.

 

[Jaundice101]

Presenting a third playing mode: 2 player co-op.

It's basically a hybrid of the multiplayer and solo modes, but players will work together to slay the bacterial beasts instead of against each other. Draw and play Drug Cards to keep the various Bug Cards at bay while keeping healthy Flora and Health life trackers. If a player runs out of life or the team gets overrun by microbes then that could be the end.

Uses the same card decks as before, but the new Instructions can be downloaded at the top of the thread. Thanks!

 

[Jaundice101]

Update: Hoping to move towards production of a professional product in 2021. Budgeting, finding manufacturers and distributors, and talking with artists. Any additional feedback or suggestions regarding game design or play testing is always appreciated in the mean time. The Print n' Play .pdfs and Tabletopia free online versions have also been updated. Pharmageddon can be played remotely by anyone with the link, no account needed. I'm also happy to walk anyone through a game as well 😀:

Let’s play Pharmageddon on Tabletopia for free!

Play Pharmageddon online with friends for free

tabletopia.com

Thanks!

 

[Jaundice101]

Update: Simplified the 1 player solo and 2+ player co-op modes based on feedback. Now there are more difficulty options based on your training level and less low value complexity. Always appreciate more feed back if any one wants to give it a go. Check out the free Print n' Play which can be downloaded at:

Pharmageddon

 

[GradVantageRx]

Really cool concept!!

Sorry if I've missed it within the thread, are you willing to share what language you used to code this?

Best!

 

[Jaundice101]

Final draft of Pharmageddon: Bug vs Drug's print n' play is up on the website for anyone interested in a card game to learn antibiotics and microbiology. I simplified some of the clinical syndromes, tweaked some of the Event Cards, and modified the solo and cooperative modes. Also added a "+/-" for those microbes that can be susceptible to and killed by a particular antibiotic, but are infrequently so (such as good ol' penicillin for MSSA!)

Pharmageddon

A medical education card game Pharmageddon: Bugs vs Drugs is a new antibiotic card game providing a more enjoyable and engaging way to learn antibiotics than simple flash cards or tables and charts. Learn antibiotics using a fun, endlessly replayable game that tests your knowledge beyond

sites.google.com

 

[Jaundice101]

Really cool concept!!

Sorry if I've missed it within the thread, are you willing to share what language you used to code this?

Best!

The code? Not sure what you are referring to there. The game is in English and it was made in Power Point. The website is a Google site that uses a simple template provided by Google. Hope that helps.

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

Final draft of Pharmageddon: Bug vs Drug's print n' play is up on the website for anyone interested in a card game to learn antibiotics and microbiology. I simplified some of the clinical syndromes, tweaked some of the Event Cards, and modified the solo and cooperative modes. Also added a "+/-" for those microbes that can be susceptible to and killed by a particular antibiotic, but are infrequently so (such as good ol' penicillin for MSSA!)

Pharmageddon

A medical education card game Pharmageddon: Bugs vs Drugs is a new antibiotic card game providing a more enjoyable and engaging way to learn antibiotics than simple flash cards or tables and charts. Learn antibiotics using a fun, endlessly replayable game that tests your knowledge beyond

sites.google.com

I was just thinking about this game today after hearing about it two years ago, what a coincidence