The UK Clinical Virology Network has created a fascinating and somewhat twisted little online game called Killer Flu. The game allows you to click on a person who is then stopped in his tracks. It shows you what strain of flu he is immune to, and, by spinning a sort of slot machine, you can mix up the key genes in the flu virus to create a new strain to which this person has no immunity. You then return him to his home base – a factory, farm, office, home, or hospital – where he goes and spreads the virus. By infecting enough people you try to get 25% of the population sick within the allotted time.

It’s a neat simulation of how viruses spread through a population. Given the recent outbreak of swine flu in several countries, when and where this game is played should be handled with a fair degree of sensitivity.

That said, any resource that can take something dull like the spreading of viruses and add excitement to it makes for better lessons which is better learning which is better teaching.

Hanging out on Twitter this morning someone tweeted about a new online game they’d found called Energyville. In it you are the all powerful entity that makes energy choices for a company and determines just how it will be powered. Almost any type of energy is available, and you’re rated on the economic, environmental, and security impacts of your decisions. You play in the present, and again in 2015. Random events such as terrorists attacks, droughts, or storms at sea affect the supply of certain kinds of energy.

Being sponsored by the energy company Chevron, there are, understandably, some issues of bias. Yet this remains an intriguing introduction to the choices made when we use power. Whether solar power, gasoline, or hydro power, there are costs involved in these decisions and I think this game does a decent job of reflecting that. It should prove as an interesting jumping off point for a discussion on energy use, environmentalism and stewardship.

If you team Energyville with a few rounds of ElectroCity you might have a great class period. In ElectroCity you also need to keep your city powered, but this simulation offers fewer types of electricity but more of other things like building, powering and paying for city amenities like farms, camp grounds, docks or ski hills. Between the two these sims you’ve got a great start for thought provoking class discusion.

I haven’t had as much time to play this as I wanted, but Third World Farmer looks like a promising little game. It tries to simulate the conditions a third world farmer would face, ranging from crop failure to civil war.

The interface for the game is pretty simple and can be learned in only a few minutes. The game is fairly detailed, giving you statistics about how much income your spouse brought in, how much it’s costing to feed your kids, and even (disturbingly) how much you’d get if you sold your children.

It’s an intriguing little game that’s worth a look.