Chinese government backs Fruit Ninja-style game about killing viruses amid coronavirus outbreak
- The public education game, whose Chinese name translates to “battle of pathogens”, aims to help communicate epidemic prevention tips to players
- It was co-launched by a local government department in China with official newspaper People’s Daily and developed by ByteDance subsidiary Ohayoo
The game, launched on Monday, was initiated by the publicity department of the Haidian District Committee in Beijing and People’s Daily, an official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Casual gaming studio Ohayoo, a subsidiary of TikTok-owner ByteDance, helped develop the game whose Chinese name translates to “battle of pathogens”.
In the game, players prevent different viruses – including the novel coronavirus, Sars and Mers respiratory diseases – from hitting a female character by slicing them up, in a format popularised by legendary melon-chopping game Fruit Ninja a few years ago.
Inspired by the behaviour of viruses in real life, the villains in the game can mutate and replicate, making them harder to destroy. At the end of each round, a health care tip appears on the screen.
Shanghai resident Ma Xiaomeng, 28, said she liked the level of detail in the game. “When viruses drop, the body temperature [indicated by a thermometer beside the female character] will go up. And when there is a mask, there'll be a protection cover [above her]. I think it's cute,” she said.
