Parasite is an interactive board game that teaches its players about parasites and the spread of infectious disease. In Parasite, humans try to stop an infectious parasite from conquering the world. The majority of the players play as humans and one player plays as the parasite. The rules are designed so that the game plays perfectly no matter how many humans are playing. The game board is designed in a hexagon and the Parasite must maneuver around avoiding water tiles and searching for cities. This is because, just like in real life parasites spread by entering areas with a high concentration of people. the humans try to stop the from doing this by entering areas controlled by the parasite and trying to treat the infected people and in doing so eradicate the disease.

The physical game board and pieces were designed using Rhino a 3d and 2d modeling software then the pieces were cut using a laser cutter, and then the pieces were glued together. The logo, designed in Rhino, was engraved and burned onto the game tiles.

This game was made because many informational games are boring and not fun for the learner. The game Parasites creates a fun way to learn about a serious topic. In the future, informational games designed in a manner similar to Parasite could allow kids to have fun while learning all sorts of helpful information.

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.