Posted for Mico Tatalovic

We’ve previously praised the Swiss government for their frankly bizarre swine flu awareness video. But the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam has come up with a worthy rival for the award of best H1N1 public campaign, with their game The Great Flu.

In the game, people have the task of containing an unknown flu virus that is spreading throughout the world. Early warning systems, face masks and anti-viral drugs are all available to players, as well as options to close public places such as schools and airports and quarantine people.

“The game is based on the need to increase public awareness to the threat posed by a pandemic and the measures in place to contain it,” said Albert Osterhaus, of Erasmus Medical Centre (BBC). “In no way is it intended to be a substitute for any advice given by the medical authorities. Its purpose is simply to create another avenue of information.”

Osterhaus’s game is the best of a small field, with its main rivals being the Wellcome Trust and Channel 4’s online game Sneeze and the cooperative board games Pandemic, and Pandemic 2: on the Brink.