Games Like Plague Inc: Evolved

Bio Inc.: Redemption is a realistic simulation and strategy game in which you make life or death decisions. Create a deadly illness to infect and torment your victim or play as the head of a medical team and hopefully find a cure to save your human patient. Will you be the plague or preserve humanity?

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 58% ★, Strategy 10.2%, Simulation 7.9%, Zombies 6.2%, Multiplayer 5%

Why You'll Like It: It turns disease progression into a similarly readable strategy sim, with runs built around evolving conditions faster than medicine can answer them.

A unique and deeply engaging political/military strategic simulation from the creator of Plague Inc. Balance competing civilian and military priorities and deal with a deadly insurgency in order to stabilise a war-torn country.

Why similar: Strategy 29.7%, Simulation 22.4%, Tactical 16.5%, Multiplayer 14.9%, Co-op 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: From the same studio, it shares Plague Inc.'s elegant map-based decision making, reactive balancing, and scenario-driven replayability, just with insurgency instead of infection.

Quarantine is an intense turn-based strategy game about waging war on pandemic disease. Recruit a team of specialized operatives to deploy on worldwide missions. Research the contagion, upgrade your tech, and quarantine the outbreak before it kills us all.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 72.1% ★, Strategy 13.3%, Simulation 7.4%, Tactical 3.8%, Survival 1.3%

Why You'll Like It: This is one of the closest inverse takes on Plague Inc., asking you to manage research, travel, and containment on a world scale as an outbreak spirals.

Can you rebuild civilization after a zombie apocalypse? From the creator of Plague Inc. comes a unique blend of strategic simulation, survival city builder and ‘mini 4X’. Build post-apocalyptic settlements, harvest resources and shape society as you lead humanity out of the darkness.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 61.8% ★, Zombies 11.1%, Strategy 9.9%, Simulation 8.5%, Post-apocalyptic 6%

Why You'll Like It: Set after the collapse caused by a plague, it keeps Ndemic's accessible high-level strategy feel while making you adapt a fragile society to cascading threats.

A campy, crazy pixelart zombie apocalypse arcade sim where you're the bad guy. Drop your virus and spread it across the globe while you unlock a whole horde of bizarre undead to do your bidding.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 65.2% ★, Zombies 9.6%, Strategy 9.3%, Simulation 6.8%, Tactical 2.2%

Why You'll Like It: You spread a zombie plague city by city, unlock mutations, and optimize chains of infection in a way that scratches the same escalation itch.

Choose any real region from the world. Choose your base of operations, then rebuild and readapt the buildings around you to create a self-sustaining settlement. Take charge of a group of survivors from your city. And when the night falls - Defend the zone from the infected!

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 50.7% ★, Zombies 14.2%, Strategy 13.8%, Simulation 8.1%, Post-apocalyptic 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: Rather than causing the disaster, you rebuild and defend a real-world city after infection collapse, but the tension of managing spread and survival is very similar.

COVID: The Outbreak is a real-time strategy game in which you play the role of a global organization that has to deal with a global pandemic. Issue decrees, manage resources, develop projects, and construct buildings. A race for the vaccine begins!

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 76.4% ★, Strategy 13.4%, Simulation 5.6%, Indie 2.6%, Difficult 0.8%

Why You'll Like It: Its appeal is the same global-pandemic numbers game of timing restrictions, reacting to mutation, and steering a crisis through geopolitical systems.

War of the Zombie brings together the best of turn-based simulation and real-time strategic gameplay action across the entire world at the very start of a mysterious undead outbreak.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 65.6% ★, Strategy 15.7%, Simulation 11.8%, Zombies 6.9%

Why You'll Like It: This geoscape strategy game mixes worldwide surveillance, research, and outbreak response against a spreading zombie pandemic.

Prepare yourself for the most thrilling night of your life! Something strange has happened and people everywhere are turning into blood thirsty walking corpses. But guess who’s the brains behind this hungry undead army? YOU! So spread this pandemic and wipe humanity off the planet.

Why similar: Zombies 47.7%, Strategy 40.7%, Indie 6.3%, Singleplayer 1.9%, 2D 1.6%

Why You'll Like It: You directly command and mutate a spreading horde, making each level about maximizing transmission and timing abilities for chain reactions.

Cepheus Protocol is an Open World RTS Military Survival Game. Play as the CERC hunting Patient 0, maintain Quarantine camps, fight dangerous mutations & Rogue Civilian Combatants . There’s nobody else coming, it’s up to you now.

Why similar: Zombies 28.1%, Strategy 24.6%, Post-apocalyptic 13.4%, Simulation 8%, Sandbox 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: It zooms Plague Inc.'s outbreak pressure down to an RTS city scale, where infection growth, quarantine, and research constantly force adaptation.

In a world overrun by the undead, build a lab to fight back with science. Manage survivors, gather vital resources, and turn zombies into allies. Defend your base and research the cure to reclaim humanity.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 59.2% ★, Zombies 11.2%, Strategy 10.5%, Simulation 7.9%, Post-apocalyptic 5.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its research trees, containment loops, and infected-population management feel like a lighter mirror image of Plague Inc.'s systemic design.

The zombie apocalypse is upon us and it's up to you to evacuate everyone before they fall prey to the undead. Conduct massive rescue operations with a helping hand from snipers, artillery crews, orbital bombardments, and more.

Why similar: Zombies 28.2%, Strategy 26.6%, Tactical 13.8%, Multiplayer 11.6%, Sandbox 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: Short, replayable strategy scenarios about containing a fast-spreading zombie disaster give it the same clean problem-solving-under-outbreak-pressure feel.

They Are Billions is a Steampunk strategy game set on a post-apocalyptic planet. Build and defend colonies to survive against the billions of the infected that seek to annihilate the few remaining living humans. Can humanity survive after the zombie apocalypse?

Why similar: Strategy 39%, Zombies 35.1%, Post-apocalyptic 7.2%, Survival 6.4%, Tactical 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: The constant threat of exponential infection overrunning your defenses captures Plague Inc.'s tension of staying ahead of a crisis curve.

In Pandemic Train you are in charge of the crew aboard a train roaming the postapocalyptic wasteland, ravaged by both war and a deadly plague. Your goal is to survive long enough to discover the cure… or die trying. Humanity’s fate is in your hands! Start your journey now!

Why similar: Strategy 34.8%, Simulation 23.7%, Post-apocalyptic 13.5%, Sandbox 7%, Survival 6.9%

Why You'll Like It: This management sim is built around surviving in the aftermath of a deadly pathogen, emphasizing scarcity, triage, and strategic crisis response.

WorldBox is the ULTIMATE god simulator and sandbox game. A petri dish for your fantasy civilizations. Create your own world or destroy it using many powers. Watch civilizations grow, form kingdoms, colonize new lands, sail to far continents, wars to ignite, empires to fall and towns to burn!

Why similar: Simulation 62%, Sandbox 26.1%, Indie 9.2%, Atmospheric 2.7%

Why You'll Like It: If you enjoy Plague Inc. as a sandbox of population systems and catastrophe, WorldBox lets you experiment with civilizations, disasters, and disease from above.

Design stunning hospitals, cure peculiar illnesses and manage troublesome staff as you spread your budding healthcare organisation across Two Point County.

Why similar: Simulation 54.3%, Strategy 24.1%, Sandbox 5.9%, Indie 4.1%, Multiplayer 4.1%

Why You'll Like It: While much sillier in tone, it still revolves around diagnosing, treating, and scaling systems to handle waves of unusual illnesses efficiently.

Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.

Why similar: Strategy 31.1%, Tactical 26.5%, Multiplayer 16.6%, Co-op 10%, Difficult 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its minimalist world-map interface and cold systems-driven march toward human extinction feel strikingly close in tone to Plague Inc.

Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society's survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process?

Why similar: Strategy 47.7%, Post-apocalyptic 20.9%, Simulation 14.2%, Survival 9.5%, Difficult 3.6%

Why You'll Like It: It isn't about disease, but its ruthless crisis curve and constant trade-offs mirror the pressure-driven strategy loop that makes Plague Inc. compelling.

ICBM is a real-time strategy game of nuclear destruction. Research new technologies, build up your nuclear stockpile and use a combination of ships, planes and missiles to strike at the heart of your opponents’ cities while keeping your population safe from harm.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 74.9% ★, Strategy 15.1%, Tactical 7.8%, Multiplayer 2.2%

Why You'll Like It: Like Plague Inc., it turns global catastrophe into a tense macro-strategy game about escalation, timing, and reacting to counterplay on a world map.

Become an ace doctor, an aspiring architect and a successful manager at the same time. Design your very own hospital, tweak every detail or choose one of the prebuilt scenarios and just jump to the doctor’s duty.

Why similar: Strategy 39.1%, Simulation 37.1%, Sandbox 10%, Realistic 6.9%, Indie 4.8%

Why You'll Like It: If your favorite part of Plague Inc. is watching disease systems play out, this gives you the opposite perspective as a detailed hospital-management sim.

Survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic future — resources are scarce, but opportunity calls! Build the ultimate disaster proof colony, protect your colonists, and restore civilization to a devastated world.

Why similar: Strategy 39.9%, Simulation 27.9%, Post-apocalyptic 17.6%, Survival 5.4%, Tactical 3.7%

Why You'll Like It: This is a broader post-collapse strategy game, but the emphasis on managing fragile populations under systemic pressure is a strong fit.

Build, scavenge, craft, and perform occult rituals to survive in a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic colony simulation. Will you survive Judgment day?

Why similar: Strategy 32.1%, Simulation 23.6%, Post-apocalyptic 21.1%, Survival 8.6%, Sandbox 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: You juggle research, resources, and defenses against an escalating apocalyptic threat in a way that rewards the same adaptive planning.

Endzone is a post-apocalyptic survival city builder, where you start a new civilization with a group of people after an ecological disaster. Build them a new home and ensure their survival in a shattered world, threatened by constant radiation, toxic rain, sandstorms and droughts.

Why similar: Strategy 37.7%, Simulation 21%, Post-apocalyptic 18.3%, Survival 6.8%, Indie 3.9%

Why You'll Like It: Its survival-city-builder focus on keeping people alive through contamination, scarcity, and long-term planning overlaps well with Plague Inc.'s crisis-management appeal.

Niche - a genetics survival game is a turn-based strategy game combined with simulation and roguelike elements. Shape your own species of animals based on real genetics. Keep your species alive against all odds, such as predators, climate change and spreading sickness.

Why similar: Strategy 41.3%, Simulation 31.9%, Sandbox 11.6%, Singleplayer 7.9%, Survival 7.3%

Why You'll Like It: It replaces pandemics with species evolution, but the mutation-driven adaptation and replayability hit a surprisingly similar strategic note.

Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..

Why similar: Zombies 36%, Multiplayer 15.9%, Simulation 10.7%, Post-apocalyptic 10%, Survival 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: Though more hands-on, it captures the harsh logic of an outbreak world where infection mechanics and long-term adaptation dominate every decision.

The unstoppable fluid enemy has returned and destroyed every world in its path! Defend against Creeper as it floods across the 3D terrain in this real time strategy game where the enemy is a fluid.

Why similar: Strategy 40.1%, Simulation 25.8%, Tactical 16.9%, Multiplayer 13.9%, Singleplayer 3.2%

Why You'll Like It: Fighting a fluid, spreading enemy across maps delivers a very similar satisfaction to managing infection growth and containment dynamics.

Command the checkpoint in a collapsing city. Screen survivors, manage scarce resources, and hold back the undead. Every choice matters and one mistake could unleash the plague beyond your walls.

Why similar: Zombies 37.3%, Simulation 29.5%, Post-apocalyptic 17.4%, Realistic 8%, Singleplayer 4.6%

Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.

Why similar: Strategy 41.5%, Simulation 31.5%, Sandbox 14.2%, Survival 9.1%, Singleplayer 3.7%

Why You'll Like It: As a god-game about nudging a civilization through disasters and systemic shocks, it offers a lighter sandbox take on the same top-down catastrophe appeal.

A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.

Why similar: Strategy 38.3%, Simulation 28.4%, Sandbox 9.5%, Survival 8.5%, Indie 5.6%

Why You'll Like It: Disease, population management, and endlessly reactive systems make it a good pick if you want a deeper colony-scale version of emergent crisis strategy.

Be the architect of your own universe with Spore, an exciting single-player adventure. From Single Cell to Galactic God, evolve your creature in a universe of your own creations.

Why similar: Simulation 66%, Sandbox 22%, Casual 12%

Why You'll Like It: Its core appeal is also about evolution and strategic trait selection, just expressed through a broader life-simulation adventure.

Place yourself at the heart of the Jurassic franchise and build your own Jurassic World. Bioengineer dinosaurs that think, feel and react intelligently to the world around them and face threats posed by espionage, breakouts and devastating tropical storms in an uncertain world where life always finds a way.

Why similar: Strategy 40.9%, Simulation 38%, Sandbox 8.8%, Multiplayer 4.7%, Singleplayer 4%

End humanity using disasters, plagues, and war. Spread chaos worldwide, combine catastrophic events, and stop them before they escape to the Ark.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 78.8% ★, Simulation 10.1%, Post-apocalyptic 4.7%, Sandbox 3%, Indie 1.2%

The epic story of evolution, technology, humanity, and dinosaurs is yours to tap.

Why similar: Simulation 67.7%, Casual 9.5%, Multiplayer 6.8%, Strategy 5.4%, Singleplayer 5%

Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to Frontier’s highly successful Jurassic World Evolution. This bold new era in the Jurassic World Evolution game franchise builds upon the ground-breaking and immersive 2018 management simulation.

Why similar: Simulation 36%, Strategy 35.8%, Sandbox 11.2%, Multiplayer 8.6%, Singleplayer 4.6%

The post-apocalyptic dark comedy is back - remastered and even more radioactive than before! Scavenge supplies, rescue your family, and stay alive in your fallout shelter. Make difficult decisions, hunt mutant roaches... and maybe survive. Or not.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 72.5% ★, Strategy 13.6%, Post-apocalyptic 6.5%, Difficult 3.9%, Survival 2.3%

Play as the zombies! Infect and Destroy is an indie game in which you play as an infectious disease with the sole purpose of eliminating everyone on Earth. Play as an ultra-intelligent self-aware virus capable of reanimating the dead and turning them into your minions.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 73.4% ★, Strategy 9.7%, Simulation 7.4%, Zombies 5.5%, Indie 2%

Evil Labs is a game about building and managing your own Evil Laboratory. Research and develop diseases, infect people, sell the cure and get rich!

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 76.1% ★, Strategy 11.3%, Simulation 9.6%, Indie 2.3%, Singleplayer 0.7%

Only the world’s most ruthless Warden can contain the world’s most ruthless inmates. Design and develop your personalized penitentiary in Prison Architect.

Why similar: Strategy 36%, Simulation 31.6%, Multiplayer 12.9%, Sandbox 9.4%, Indie 3.6%

Examine and test patients for common and novel infections using sophisticated medical instrumentation and disinfection procedures. All infected patients must be sent to the isolation ward for further evaluation or treatment. Rumors of mysterious diseases and human experimentation are unconfirmed.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 82.1% ★, Simulation 15.1%, Singleplayer 2.1%, 2D 0.7%

DeadOS is an early access zombie outbreak simulator by Benn Powell that focuses on city-wide scenarios where you have access to fully customize your apocalypse experience from beginning to end. Simulation. Sandbox. Survival!

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 84.4% ★, Simulation 6.9%, Zombies 4.6%, Indie 1.9%, Sandbox 1.1%

Play as a lethal virus infecting various organs in your host's body while trying to outsmart the immune cells that seek to eliminate you and your kind. Generate clones and watch them propagate, infecting cells and taking down bosses.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 79.5% ★, Simulation 10.5%, Realistic 3.1%, Survival 1.8%, Indie 1.6%

COVID SIMULATOR is an outbreak simulation that visualizes how quickly Covid-19 spreads, becoming a disaster. The game is an open sandbox where you can add (or remove) Covid mandates and see what happens! Create your workplace, enact your mandates, and roll the dice with your workers.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 89.2% ★, Simulation 7.1%, Casual 1.5%, 2D 1.1%, Atmospheric 0.4%

Create & destroy on an unimaginable scale with a realistic physics-based space simulator. Explore the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Use science to bend the laws of gravity, collide planets, boil away oceans, fire epic space lasers, and customize your universe.

Why similar: Simulation 50.6%, Sandbox 16.3%, Indie 13%, Realistic 10.7%, Casual 5%

An evolution simulation game. Take control of your species in the environment and edit your species as a whole. Compete with other evolving species for resources on an alien planet.

Why similar: Simulation 57.2%, Sandbox 16%, Realistic 10.2%, Casual 7.2%, Survival 5.5%

Game about the difficult work of people that manage emergency lines and services. Answer incoming calls and react properly - give first aid instructions, advise, dispatch correct number of firemen / police / ambulances, or sometimes - just ignore the call. Play on ANY CITY in the world!

Why similar: Strategy 36.1%, Simulation 31%, Addictive 10.2% ★, Tactical 5.9%, Indie 4.1%

Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Armed with an alien nursery-worth of zombie-zapping plants like peashooters and cherry bombs, you'll need to think fast and plant faster to stop dozens of types of zombies dead in their tracks.

Why similar: Zombies 37.4%, Strategy 30.8%, Addictive 13.6% ★, Tactical 4.7%, Casual 3.5%

WARNING. Stay inside. Lock your doors. Close the blinds. Only let humans in. Eliminate all Visitors. An anxiety horror about paranoia in the End of Times.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 74.8% ★, Simulation 11.2%, Indie 5.6%, Singleplayer 3.4%, Atmospheric 2.9%

2D pixel style simulation business strategy game Build and operate your own survivor base, recruit and cultivate various professional combatants. Clear zombie strongholds, reduce regional infections, survive in the apocalypse, and establish your own power.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 52.9% ★, Zombies 12.5%, Strategy 11.7%, Simulation 11.1%, Post-apocalyptic 6.8%

The Fabulous Fear Machine is a narrative-driven strategy game with a pulp horror style. As the Machine's new Master, you must sow fear and expand your influence by creating Legends, harvesting resources, manipulating events, and spying on your enemies.

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 70.9% ★, Strategy 11.4%, Simulation 9.1%, Difficult 3.1%, Indie 2.5%

Face massive zombie swarms in this funny post-apocalyptic tactical sandbox! Do you know what it's like to be surrounded by 100,000 zombies? Well, you're about to find out!

Why similar: Strategy 33.5%, Simulation 23.4%, Zombies 16.4%, Tactical 7.9%, Post-apocalyptic 6.9%

In Game Dev Tycoon you replay the history of the gaming industry by starting your own video game development company in the 80s. Create best selling games. Research new technologies and invent new game types. Become the leader of the market and gain worldwide fans.

Why similar: Simulation 43%, Strategy 27.2%, Addictive 12.3% ★, Indie 6.8%, Casual 3.7%

Play with evolution! Species: ALRE is a scientifically-grounded, emergent simulation of natural selection. Creatures evolve and speciate in response to in-game mutation and selection forces, allowing you to experience and tinker with evolution in real-time.

Why similar: Simulation 57.8%, Strategy 17.1%, Sandbox 15.9%, Indie 5.9%, Singleplayer 3.3%

Swarm the City: Zombie Evolved is a villain protagonist real-time strategy game. You will play as the King of the Dead and rule the world once again by creating zombie legions and destroying human cities. As the King of the Dead, you can infect humans, turn them into zombies and rule the world!

Why similar: Zombies 23.5%, Strategy 21.4%, Simulation 14.9%, Tactical 12.3%, Post-apocalyptic 11.5%

Rule your land and dominate the world with unparalleled freedom, depth and historical accuracy. Write a new history of the world and build an empire for the ages.

Why similar: Strategy 42.4%, Simulation 31.1%, Multiplayer 10.4%, Sandbox 8.4%, Co-op 5.5%

Explore a galaxy full of wonders in this sci-fi grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studios. Interact with diverse alien races, discover strange new worlds with unexpected events and expand the reach of your empire. Each new adventure holds almost limitless possibilities.

Why similar: Strategy 44.6%, Simulation 28.9%, Multiplayer 12.5%, Sandbox 9.7%, Singleplayer 2.5%

Manipulate climate, add plants and evolve creatures in this planet and life sandbox simulation game. From cells to civilizations, spread life throughout the whole planet. Or just enjoy watching your creation burn!

Why similar: Simulation 70.5%, Sandbox 24%, Atmospheric 5.5%

A Huge Wave of Zombies Are Coming! Control hundreds of swarming zombies to conquer the entire city!

Why similar: Outbreak Sim 66.7% ★, Simulation 14.8%, Zombies 10.9%, Post-apocalyptic 3.4%, Survival 2.3%

You are a disease. Infect the human body as a lone pathogen in this cellular roguelike shooter. Collect organelles to evolve your parasite in a microscopic arms race against your host's immune system. Conquer a beautiful, procedurally generated world of tiny proportions.

Why similar: Difficult 33.9%, Co-op 27.6%, Survival 16.5%, Casual 13.4%, 2D 8.6%

In This War Of Mine you do not play as an elite soldier, rather a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city; struggling with lack of food, medicine and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers. The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle.

Why similar: Strategy 34.1%, Simulation 22.3%, Survival 14%, Post-apocalyptic 11.4%, Realistic 5.5%