Sneeze (video game)
| Sneeze | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of Sneeze | |
| Developer(s) | Oil Productions / Player 3 |
| Publisher(s) | Channel 4 / Wellcome Trust |
| Release | 2009 |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sneeze is a 2009 browser game created in Adobe Flash. In every level, the player can sneeze only once and is awarded points based on how many people they are able to infect.
Sneeze was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust and Channel 4 to subversively teach children the importance of healthy practices. During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, inspired Flash games became prevalent, and Miniclip rebranded the game Stop Swine Flu to draw attention to it. It soon reached the Top 10 on their website. Some journalists considered games based on the swine flu to be in poor taste. In particular, Donald G. McNeil Jr. of The New York Times questioned the awarding of bonus points for infecting children and the elderly.[1]
Gameplay
[edit]Sneeze is a browser game made in Adobe Flash. Players control their avatar and have only one sneeze, which they must use to infect as many people as possible.[2] Infected people turn green and sneeze in turn, infecting more people. Players are awarded points based on how many people were infected, with bonus points awarded for infecting children and elderly people. If they infect enough people, the player progresses to the next level. Examples of levels include a pedestrian-filled street, a train station, and a nursery school. Virus-related factoids appear in between levels.[1]
Background and reception
[edit]The 2009 swine flu pandemic saw the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 ("swine flu") spread rapidly from the United States across the globe and infect millions of people.[3] Journalists noticed that the pandemic had inspired many browser-based Flash games, including Swinefighters and Swine Flu: Hamdemic. The number of players on virus-related games released before the pandemic also rose significantly. Mic Wright of The Guardian said that some people were skeptical if topics like disease should be explored in video games.[2]
Commissioned by the Wellcome Trust and Channel 4, Sneeze was released in 2009 pre-pandemic as part of a series on genetics called Routes. It was created to subversively encourage young people to practice "healthy habits". The attention given to the pandemic led game portal Miniclip to rename the game Stop Swine Flu later in the year. Wright characterized the change as "misleading" and noted that it led The New York Times' Donald G. McNeil Jr. to question if it was appropriate for the game to award points for infecting toddlers. A commissioning editor for education at Channel 4 asked Miniclip to restore the original message of Sneeze.[1][2] Griffin McElroy of Engadget considered the game surprisingly fun,[4] but Asher Moses of the Brisbane Times opined that swine flu games "inevitably border on bad taste".[5] Stop Sneeze Flu reached the Top 10 on the Miniclip portal.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (5 May 2009). "To Score High, Don't Cover Your Mouth". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Wright, Mic (14 May 2009). "A sick game to play". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "2009 H1N1 Pandemic (H1N1pdm09 virus)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ McElroy, Griffin (6 May 2009). "Swine Flu-based games becoming an internet pandemic". Engadget. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ Moses, Asher (3 May 2009). "Swinefighter: net cashes in on flu scare". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
Further reading
[edit]Coverage of other games based on the swine flu
[edit]- "La gripe porcina ya tiene su juego en Internet" [The swine flu already has an Internet game]. El Universo (in Spanish). 2 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "נלחמים בשפעת החזירים במשחק מקוון" [Fight swine flu in an online game]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). 3 May 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "Swine flu sparks 'The Great Flu Game'". The New Indian Express. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "Swine Flu Inspires New Video Game". NPR. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- "Swine flu, the game, catches on". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Belga, Avec (3 May 2009). "Swinefighter: vaccinez un maximum de porcs volants" [Swinefighters: Vaccinate as many flying pigs as possible]. RTBF (in French). Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Black, Rosemary (20 October 2009). "'Balloon Boy' Falcon Heene's image soars in online video game and appears on ties, key rings". New York Daily News. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Farnsworth, Amy (25 June 2009). "Video games that let you play with your news". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Gonzalez, Annette (1 January 2010). "A Look Back At '09 Headlines Through Browser Games". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Romero, Frances (5 May 2009). "'Swinefighter' to the Rescue". Time. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Seibt, Sébastian (4 May 2009). "The Web cashes in on deadly virus". France 24. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Stuart, Kevin (7 May 2009). "Why antidote to swine flu has gone viral". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- Terdimen, Daniel (8 May 2009). "'News games' put public in charge of hot topics". CNET. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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