Pandemic Game Mode
Pandemic-only gear sets
Each continent gives its own five-piece set when you take it whole, and infecting the whole world gives the Pandemic Crown. These sets are found nowhere else. Pieces are named Crown, Mantle, Lattice, Talons and Lance (capsid, envelope, matrix, tail fibers and spike).
Legendary set for taking all of North America.
Surface glycoproteins such as flu's hemagglutinin, HIV's gp120 and the coronavirus spike (S) protein that bind a cell's receptors and drive fusion.
Fun fact: Spike proteins are the main target of most antiviral vaccines.
Spike Protein in the Codex
Legendary set for taking all of Europe.
An outer lipid membrane some viruses steal from the host cell as they bud out of it, studded with the virus's own glycoproteins.
Fun fact: Enveloped viruses like flu and HIV are fragile outside the body: soap dissolves their envelope.
Viral Envelope in the Codex
Legendary set for taking all of Asia.
Long, jointed protein fibers on bacteriophages that recognize and grip a host cell's surface before the phage injects its DNA.
Fun fact: Viruses that infect humans don't have tail fibers; in the game they're the virus's legs and boots.
Tail Fibers in the Codex
Legendary set for taking all of the Middle East.
A protein layer lining the inside of the envelope (like influenza's M1) that gives the virion its shape and organizes assembly.
Fun fact: Influenza's M1 is one of the most abundant proteins in the virion.
Matrix Protein in the CodexLegendary set for taking all of South America.
An outer lipid membrane some viruses steal from the host cell as they bud out of it, studded with the virus's own glycoproteins.
Fun fact: Enveloped viruses like flu and HIV are fragile outside the body: soap dissolves their envelope.
Viral Envelope in the CodexLegendary set for taking all of Africa.
A protein layer lining the inside of the envelope (like influenza's M1) that gives the virion its shape and organizes assembly.
Fun fact: Influenza's M1 is one of the most abundant proteins in the virion.
Matrix Protein in the CodexLegendary set for taking all of Oceania.
Long, jointed protein fibers on bacteriophages that recognize and grip a host cell's surface before the phage injects its DNA.
Fun fact: Viruses that infect humans don't have tail fibers; in the game they're the virus's legs and boots.
Tail Fibers in the CodexLegendary set for taking all of Antarctica.
Surface glycoproteins such as flu's hemagglutinin, HIV's gp120 and the coronavirus spike (S) protein that bind a cell's receptors and drive fusion.
Fun fact: Spike proteins are the main target of most antiviral vaccines.
Spike Protein in the Codex
The Prismatic set for infecting every continent, with +9 RNA strands.
The protein shell that encloses a virus's genome, built from repeating subunits called capsomeres. Most are icosahedral (20 triangular faces) or helical.
Fun fact: Capsids self-assemble: the proteins snap together on their own, like a puzzle that builds itself.
Capsid in the Codex
