Zombie Outbreak Simulator: Can You Save Brainsboro?

You’re Public Health Director of a city of 50,000, with 21 days to contain an outbreak. Choose wisely.

The zombies are coming. The hospitals are filling up. The mayor wants answers. And somehow, you’re in charge.

Welcome to Brainsboro, a city of 50,000 people facing a rapidly spreading zombie outbreak. As the newly appointed Public Health Director, you’ll have 21 days to contain the crisis before things get completely out of hand.

But stopping an epidemic isn’t as simple as locking the doors and hoping for the best.

In this free, interactive public health simulation, you’ll make decisions about disease surveillance, emergency communication, hospital capacity, community protection, and limited resources. Every choice changes how the outbreak unfolds.

Can you flatten the curve, maintain public trust, and keep the city from becoming an all-you-can-eat brain buffet?

There’s only one way to find out.

Open OUTBREAK in a full window

What Can Zombies Teach Us About Public Health?

Quite a lot, actually.

Behind the ridiculous premise is a simulation of real public health challenges. You’ll discover why early detection matters, how infections can spread exponentially, why public trust influences emergency response, and how health inequalities affect the course of an outbreak.

You’ll also confront a frustrating reality of public health leadership: even good decisions involve tradeoffs, and the consequences aren’t always immediately obvious.

The game uses a simplified epidemiological model with fictional disease parameters. It is designed for education and entertainment, not to predict real-world outbreaks.

The zombies are fictional. The public health lessons aren’t.