Description

The world of Soma is under siege by the Lords of Pestilence. Hideous invaders like Anthrax, Pertussis, Cholera, and the Black Death are running rampant inside the country’s borders, attempting to murder innocents. The helpless people of Soma’s only hope is that the Apothecary Healers, their god-like saviours, will save them. Led by ancient warriors Penicillin, Cipro, and Tetracycline, the Apothecary Healers rush into battle, destroying wave after wave of attackers just in the knick of time. Yet it’s not that simple: the Apothecary Healers have different specialities and must be deployed sophisticatedly. And worse: the invaders learn quickly how to resist and evade the Apothecary powers, and some become even stronger when they are struck down.

Healing Blade: Defenders of Soma immerses you in a fantasy realm representing the real-world struggle against infectious disease and bacterial resistance. It’s a two-player card game wherein one player attacks innocent villagers with Lords of Pestilence (infectious bacteria) while the other defends with Apothecary Healers (antibiotics). But the more the Apothecary defend, the more resistant the Lords become. Who will win? The game requires no prior knowledge of medicine yet accurately reflects the current antibiotic use against the most common and feared bacterial infections. Designed in a collaboration between hardcore gamers and practising physicians, Defenders of Soma offers a complex strategic gameplay experience while increasing familiarity with today’s medical quandaries in the face of waning antibiotic effectiveness.

Second Edition now available!

The second edition includes an updated set of antibiotics (set to US-FDA standards of 2021) and additional vilager cards.

Defenders of Soma was designed and developed by NerdCore Medical, and is distributed in the Netherlands by Transmissible. Watch the 2017 Transmissible Briefs episode below, explaining this game.