Play Virus Online

I first played Virus back in 1988, when it came out as part of the MS-DOS Classic Games series from Firebird Software. It was one of those games that felt right at home on the platform, with its simple but engaging premise and straightforward controls. You didn't need a powerhouse computer to run it, just a basic setup and a willingness to dive into something a little different from the usual shooters or platformers of the time.

In Virus, you pilot a small ship over a grid-based map of a planet, trying to destroy alien nests before a spreading infection consumes the entire surface. The main objective is to clear each screen of these nests while avoiding the creeping green goo that expands from infected areas. Two key mechanics define the experience: the constant tension of the infection's spread, which you can monitor on a scanner that beeps faster as danger nears, and the methodical, screen-by-screen exploration required to hunt down every nest. The pacing is deliberate, almost tense, as you balance aggression with caution, knowing that one wrong move could let the infection overrun everything. It feels like a race against an invisible clock, where every decision matters and the stakes keep rising until the very end.

Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".