Game review: Parasites Unleashed

What is Parasites Unleased?

In Parasite Unleased you take the role of a parasite who is buried comfortably in an animal host. However, this bliss is only temporary and if you are going to start a new generation of critters you will need to move hosts and find a mate. The aim of the game is to be the 1st player to complete your life cycle. To do this you need to be back in the same type of host as you began with (indicated by the cards colour borders) find yourself a mate and hatch some offspring. Of course, being a parasite is not that easy! You will have to develop strategies to move from one host to another such as crawling into wounds, eating your host or leaving in their dung. Yuk!

Is it Fun?

What is not fun about being a parasite! The game's mechanics are simple enough, drawing cards to build your own life cycle by playing hatch, mate, and host cards whilst simultaneously attacking (and defending attacks from) other players. The game's coloured borders make the game very easy to pick up and play, but its real fun comes from being a parasite itself. For example, you can drown your host, just like hairworms do in grasshoppers so they can mate in water. Or you could dig into the host, just like Schistosoma larvae that dissolve skin to crawl into their hosts.  Gross and fun at the same time!

Is it Educational?

The game has a lot of scientific detail, the host mechanics on each card are all explained by reference to a real-world scenario. For example, ‘catch new host’ is shown to be a behaviour of Bucephalus elegans that has floating larvae with long tails to entrap their fish-based host. In addition to the cards, the rule book has a four-page scientific guide, some further reading and a pronunciation guide for those tricky parasite names. The over game narrative does not fit a specific parasite, you can use all the tricks of the trade! But there are enough details in the game to spark a player's curiosity.

Conclusion

A simple game to pick up and play especially with younger players.  The games gross factor makes it amusing and the scientific detail on the cards means players will take something away …. Hopefully not a parasite though!

Dr Louise Robinson is Lecturer in Forensic Biology and Dr Ian Turner an Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching, both at the University of Derby.