Bacteria Tower Defense

Overview
Bacteria Tower Defense is a puzzle/strategy game based on the popular tower defense genre of games in which the player assumes the role of a doctor. The goal of the game is to stop the oncoming waves of bacteria from infecting the patient(s). This is achieved by the use of white bood cell towers and antibiotic towers which are placed strategically to form a maze for the bacteria to follow. These towers attack the bacteria and deal damage depending on their stats, and more importantly, their efficacy against particular species or groups of bacteria. Unlike other tower defense games, Bacteria Tower Defense (also known as BacteriaTD or BTD) is based on real-world information. The bacteria game images are based on the actual gram stain of the particular species. The antibiotic towers also have activity paralleling their activity in the real world (e.g. bactericidal vs. bacteriostatic, ). Most importantly, the interaction between the bacteria and the antibiotics are based on real data, which can be found in antibiograms available in books such as The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy.

Impact on Healthcare
Bacteria Tower Defense provides a fun way for healthcare providers, trainees, and other people to learn the various aspects and details of microbiology and antibiotic therapy. Designed to improve and accelerate the learning process for a difficult subject, it is a part of a bigger project to improve medical education. Notably, it also incorporates financial concerns into the thought process of choosing antibiotic therapies, thus integrating an often overlooked aspect of the medical learning process. By increasing awareness of financial aspects of medicine among healthcare practitioners and trainees, an important step will have been taken to fight one of the core causes of the rising cost of healthcare in the United States.
 
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