Parasite was inspired by two games. One of which is a game called Plague where the player is a disease trying to dominate the world and other which is called Pandemic where the player is a human trying to stop a disease. Parasite was always going to be a game about diseases, infections, and especially parasites. Parasites are very interesting, especially Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis which is the parasite used in the game. Although the idea stayed the same, the rules changed a lot through the process. Many popular games such as Monopoly and D&D use dice to add a bit of surprises to the gamers experience. Also the use of dice limits choice in gameplay. When a player is given too much choice, they sometimes become scared by the game, but when they are given too little choice, they are bored by the game.  Parasite tries to balance these two aspects by providing some level of choice and some contraints.

First the game was going to be played with many dice and on a game board shaped like the world. This was great in theory but in practice it was annoying having to deal with all of the little dice. Also the game was the same every time the player played it. This wasn’t okay because a board game should be played multiple times and be fun each time so the rules were changed again. In the end, Parasite can be played with only a handful of dice and can be played on a fully customizable map, so that every time a player plays, the game will be a completely different experience.

One of the struggles of making this game was engraving the tiles. To engrave something using the laser cutter, the design must fit certain requirements. The original tile designs did not meet these requirements but once they were redesigned, they worked perfectly.