In 2005, the University of Alberta piloted an online, asynchronous, multi-player game in two courses – an undergraduate microbiology course for nursing students and a first year medical block focussing on infection immunity and inflammation. Although the demography and level of these two groups were significantly different, student feedback about the use and effectiveness of this game, called Microbe Slayers for the nursing students and Virus Vanquishers for the medical students, was uniformly positive.

The games were accessed via a link from the students' Vista course. When students began playing, they chose an alias and retained it throughout the course. Multiple choice questions on five difficulty levels were loaded into the game template and students chose the game level at which they wished to play – the lowest level was “bottle washer” and the highest “microbe slayer”. Students won or lost points by correctly or incorrectly answering the multiple-choice questions. When they had accumulated a specified number of points, students could upgrade their “strength” by buying “immune cells” or an “increased level of virulence”. Additional points could be earned by re-playing the game or by attacking other players. If the attacker was stronger than the defender the attacker could win some points from his/her opponent.

Positive feedback from students indicated this was a superior learning tool and study aid and pointed to the ease of participating in an asynchronous activity and the motivating power of competition as important elements in their positive assessment of the game.