Immune Defense

Immune Defense is a strategy game about molecular immunology for big kids and grown ups (ages 10+). In Immune Defense, players use various types of white blood cells to fight off real pathogens, using real surface molecules and signaling molecules.

I am proud of the game Immune Defense. I wanted the player to feel confident at all times and to be engaged in the feeling of exploration. The beginning levels accomplish this well, they draw players in, giving players the opportunity to use the powerful Neutrophil cells to eat bacteria. You will likely need a walk through for Level 4. After level 4, the game really opens up and you can see the potential awesomeness of the strategy game. The player can zoom in and out, looking in deeper, as if with a microscope, to see the details of the interactions between the white blood cells and the bacteria.

My team pulled it off really well! Alec Slayden was the programmer that developed this version of Immune Defense. His patience, willingness to iterate and his imagination really brought Immune Defense to life. Cosmocyte provided the art. Other game design help came from Jacob Clayman, Eric Martin, and Jerold Council. This version of Immune Defense came with me from DC to Seattle in 2013.

In Seattle, work and grant writing continued. John Biddle contributed vital clean up code. Mike Halbrock, the most patient, talented, versatile game designer and C# wizard ever, was invaluable in creating this version of Immune Defense. Without Mike I could not have responded to the many rounds of play testers’ comments and the game would not be as clear and fun to play as it is now. The core game loop of binding, eating and killing bacteria kept happening offscreen and we had to take drastic, ridiculous measures to keep these cells on screen. This version of the game was accepted into several competitive indie video game expos, including MAGFest, Gamescape, and Seattle Indie Expo (2015).

This is not the whole game, I am still working on it and on my company, Molecular Jig Games. But this game is good, fun, and waiting for the perfect, whole game is keeping you and everyone else from getting to play this pretty awesome demo version.

What people are saying about Immune Defense

A new kind of strategy game.

Immune Defense is a strategy game, a mixture of Real Time Strategy (RTS) and Tower Defense (TD) style games. Our game mechanic is informed by biology. This neat combination of science and game mechanics creates a unique game type: a tower defense game with moving towers. We have shown it at the NIH, Serious Play conference, iFEST, and Seattle Indies Expo (SIX at PAX) and we are part of the MAGfest Indie Game Showcase Jan 24-25th 2015 in DC.

Game design is about defining the problem.

In the lab, we create models on paper that we can test at the bench. In games, we present players with the details and tools to make and test meaningful theories. We created a balance between providing detail and providing a manageable puzzle to solve just like all good games do.

Further development.

Immune Defense could grow from a game to a simulation of cellular interactions: players could design their own levels, and scientists could model cellular signaling and crosstalk. We plan to develop Immune Defense along these lines.

How do I know how to make a game?

I studied game design for the past 6 years. I spent 2 years prototyping and testing Immune Defense. I’ve learned how to produce, manage, troubleshoot, and salvage every aspect of game development: programming, level scripting, and the art for the backgrounds, the heads up displays, and for the cells and molecules. I have experts on hand to polish Immune Defense.

How was I funded?

I wrote an NIAID grant to study how 7th -12th grade students learn biology from a video game. I demonstrated that students learn a lot of molecular biology from playing a game about it.

Why do we need games about molecular biology?

People have misconceptions about science and molecular biology. We should present the behaviors of molecules and cells to younger people and non-scientists in fun ways that let us manipulate the molecules and cells.

Here are a few concepts we address:

  1. There is more to science than memorizing facts! Everything in Immunology/Molecular and cellular Biology is not yet done.
  2. Science is a puzzle to figure out.
  3. Proteins have specific functions that their shapes prepare them for.
  4. Random processes form a well regulated system that can easily be upset.
  5. Protein localization is an important factor in its regulation.
  6. Loss/decrease in concentration of a protein causes loss (or gain) of a particular function.