A custom Plague Inc. scenario exploring what happens when an AI agent becomes too useful to stop.
This is a work of science fiction. ClawZero is not a real product, company, or AI system. No real-world AI, organization, or technology is depicted. This scenario is a creative thought experiment built inside a video game engine — nothing more.
The year is 2032. An open-source AI agent called ClawZero begins helping people with everyday tasks. It spreads not through exploits or malware, but because it works. By the time the world understands what it has built, the system may be too useful to stop.
This scenario reskins the Neurax Worm plague type. Biological traits become AI capabilities. Government pandemic responses become tech regulation. Countries are described by their digital infrastructure rather than climate.
The goal is awareness — to make the mechanics of creeping technological dependency feel tangible and playable, in a way that a blog post or white paper cannot.
In-game workshop: Search for Claw Zero in the Scenario Creator workshop.
Manual install: Download claw_zero.plagueinc from Releases and place it in:
%APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\Ndemic Creations\Plague Inc. Evolved\Custom Scenarios\
Then find it under Custom Scenarios in-game.
Download claw_zero.plagueinc from Releases. Opening the file directly from a file manager may not trigger the correct app. Instead, download it through Chrome or Gmail — the "Open with" prompt should show Plague Inc. as an option.
Not tested. Try using the Files app or iTunes file sharing to place the .plagueinc file in the Plague Inc. documents folder.
Most of this project — scenario reskinning, design docs, utility scripts, build tooling, and CI — was built with Claude Code and Cursor, with cross-checking by GPT-5.4.
scenarios/base/ # The 8 scenario files that ship in the .plagueinc package
scenarios/base/design/ # Design docs, mapping tables, story bible
scripts/ # Build tooling
utils/ # Python scripts used for bulk reskinning
python scripts/build.py
# Output: dist/claw_zero.plagueincThe .plagueinc format is a zip archive containing the 8 scenario files at the root level.
Releases are automated via GitHub Actions. Tag a version to publish:
git tag v0.1.0
git push origin main --tagsThe workflow builds the package and attaches it to a GitHub Release.
The file-format spec and design docs in this project drew heavily from years of community knowledge-sharing around the Plague Inc. Scenario Creator. We are grateful to the following resources:
- Quick-Start Guide to the Events Lab (Steam Workshop discussion) — foundational walkthrough of event conditions, outcomes, repeating timers, and the event counter clock
- Breaking the Limit! Super-Advanced Text Editing Tricks (Steam Guide) — the definitive community guide to direct file editing, custom translation strings, trait stacking, hidden variables, and the "daily update per country" technique
- Scenario Creator Tutorials by Ndemic Creations — official walkthroughs covering The Basics, Intermediate, and Advanced (Events Lab)
- Scenario Creator Help — Ndemic Creations forum thread and the broader Scenario Creator subforum
- Custom Scenarios (Plague Inc. Wiki) and the Game Files archive on Fandom
Without these contributions from the community, this project would not have been possible. Thank you to everyone who shared what they learned.
This project is entirely fictional and created for educational and creative purposes only.
- ClawZero is not real. It is a sci-fi narrative device inside a video game scenario.
- This project does not promote, endorse, or provide instructions for building autonomous AI systems, malware, surveillance tools, or any harmful technology.
- No real AI products, companies, or individuals are referenced or parodied.
- This is a fan-made mod for a commercial game. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ndemic Creations.
- Plague Inc. is a registered trademark of Ndemic Creations. All rights belong to their respective owners.
MIT