The Zombie apocalypse is coming my friends! The Swine Flu is only the beginning, panic is already setting on the streets and it surely wont be long until the virus mutates and its victims start rising up from the dead. While naive soccer moms go out and buy mouth masks and Lysol by the pallet you know that the only thing that’s left to do is head for higher ground, the sea or at least your nearest mall. You’ve stocked up on water, food and weapons, lots and lots of weapons. However You’re gonna need something to do while you wait out the boring part of the Zombie apocalypse and can finally head back out and kick some undead ass. You’re gonna need games!

Luckily we’ve got you covered! We’ve taken some time out of barricading DDN HQ to pick the 5 best games for waiting out a global pandemic. These games will not only entertain you but teach you all you need to know to defeat the Zombie Horde and restore human civilization.

5.- Pandemic

Know you enemy, goes the saying, and what better way to understand a virus, bacteria or parasite than to play as one. In pandemic you take the role of a virus, bacteria or parasite and set out to infect and eventually eradicate all of the world’s population. Evolve your disease by adding more ways to infect other people. Induce hell on your victims by adding horrible symptoms or go under the radar… until the time is right. Choose your strategy carefully and watch as the world population thins out while countries try in vain to release a vaccine against your invincible creation.

Who’s a big bad virus? You are! Yes you are~

Pandemic is a flash game so even those of you on slower machines will be able to understand the mind of your enemy. You can play it here, remember, to kill a virus you must be the virus.

4.-Left 4 Dead

The weeks in isolation while the worlds population turns undead are going to be slow, keep yourself pumped up and prepared for the fight with Left 4 Dead. This game is as close as it gets to what you’ll face once you emerge from your shelter. Civilization will be gone, rabid hordes of zombies will follow your every step and whatever survivors you might find will likely behave like the 13-year-olds playing Left 4 Dead and try to kill you with a shotgun.

Oh, dont be sorry for poor ol’ Bill, he just killed his whole team while laughing, 30 seconds ago. 

Prepare for the tactical battles ahead, learn to choose your weapons carefully, manage your supplies, practice teamwork and above all remember, the Zombie apocalypse is always more fun with friends.

3.- Fallout 3

Whatever civilization is left out there after you shoot your way out of the infected zones will not be like the civilization you remember. There will be no governments, gangs will rule with an iron fist and currency will probably be something stupid like bottle caps. In Fallout 3 you’ll face a post-apocalyptic world that will only be as friendly as you allow it to be.

Burn in hell, mutant scum!

Navigate the social jungle by doing favors, sweet talking and lying your way to the top. Pick your allies carefully and your enemies even more so. Its not a nice place out there, be ready to fight what’s rest of the infected, or worse yet, mutants. This game will test your morals (or lack thereof) to the limit. Hell, you might even find a nuke on your travels, this game will even get you up to speed on nuclear etiquette and whether its convenient to nuke one of the last human outposts.

2.-Dwarf Fortress

It wont all be fun once you get out there. You can only blow up so many Zombie heads before they run out. Unless you breed them for coliseum games. But in either case, you’re gonna need to do your part leading the reconstruction of civilization and let me tell you, its not an easy job. The stress levels in this line of work are legendary. Many men have been overcome by the pressure and ended up losing it all. Take Nero for example, one bad case of the Mondays and he goes and burns the whole of Rome to the ground.

 
Yes, this is actually a game.

You dont want to be like that sissy Nero, right? You need to learn to rule with an iron fist, a strong vision and mountains of patience. Dwarf Fortress will give you all three. The game will take you from running a small settlement with a couple of Dwarves to building and maintaining your custom fortress, full of all kinds of traps and weaponry. Learn the nuances of statesmanship with a game so limitless in possibilities you will eventually beg it would all just end. Hmm, maybe this game will make you like Nero after all!

1- Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario you say? What does that game have to teach me? We’ll you will eventually need to develop a vaccine for the virus that started it all. You’re not doing it for the wellbeing of your people, no, screw them! You need to make sure a pandemic like this never happens again so no one can rob you of your precious high score and your place as the savior of mankind.

He never needed med school and neither do you!  

Lets face it, you’re no doctor and your medical knowledge goes no further than that one episode of House you really liked. You’re gonna have to wing it here! Who better to teach you about fighting off disease than an Italian plumber practicing medicine without a license? Dr. Mario will teach you about the 3 great families of disease: blue, yellow and red. Now you’re a doctor, congratulations! Those guys back at Harvard med school must have spend their whole time partying if being a doctor was this easy. But there are no med schools anymore, there’s only you. Keep it that way.

Now your knowledge is complete, with these 5 games there will be no stopping you! So get playing before next week comes and everyone’s forgotten about this silly Swine Flu that turned out to be nothing in the end.