Plague Inc. Simian Flu Brutal Guide: Save The Apes!

After several games on brutal difficulty, I've come to the conclusion that my normal strategy for Simian Flu seems to work pretty well on brutal difficulty as well--with some changes. Your game's score is heavily affected by population of intelligent apes, so try to keep as many as you can alive and infected(intelligent).

This strategy relies on ape colonies as the primary source of DNA throughout the whole game. DNA costs will increase over time, so we'll need to have at least 5 colonies generating DNA as we play. It's fine if you want to add more colonies, but know that even with genes that lessen the increase of active abilities ape colonies will keep on increasing in cost.

I've successfully finished 5 out of 6 games with a 5/5 biohazard score using this strategy. The one loss I had was because of the unfortunate mutation of Neuro-Enhancement 1 through 3 then finally Total Brain Death. The plague became very lethal at an early stage and caused the death of hosts which led to a game over.

Here's a list of stats I had on my 5 victories. I used the exact same strategy every time, and made no significant changes whatsoever.

Stats on the last 5 victories with this strategy

To everyone using this guide, always be prepared to change the strategy mid-way through the game--or at any stage you see fit--because each game is different and may require you to react differently than what the guide suggests.

Anyway, let's start with the guide. We'll discuss other things as the guide goes on.

Recommended Gene Setup

If you haven't unlocked ape genes yet, use this strategy to easily unlock them.

• ATP Boost - 8 DNA at the beginning of the game let's us evolve some abilities before we even start our plague.
• Teracyte - We'll be starting in a country without an airport or a harbor. This gene will help our plague easily travel through land. As alternatives, you can also use Native Biome, Aerocyte, or Aquacyte.
• ATP Overdose - Combined with ATP Boost, you'll have 23 DNA in the beginning of the game. 
• Leadership - Reduces the increase in costs of active abilities which we'll be using. A lot.
• Extremophile - Minor infection rate increase in every climate. The best gene to have here, in my opinion.

Monkey Time!

1.) Before selecting a country to start in, evolve the following:

• Simian Neuro-Genesis
• Inter-Genus Dissemination 1 & 2

Now start your plague in Central Africa, then wait until you have 8 DNA to evolve Ape Colonies. 

Wait for this pop-up to appear: NEWSFLASH - Ape Escape

After the escape of apes, switch to ape view to easily identify countries that contain intelligent apes. Countries will be colored green once they have intelligent apes present within them.

Establish a colony in Central Africa as soon as you're able to.

2.) Right after establishing the Central Africa colony, evolve the following:

• Social Cohesion
• Cognitive Shift
• Education

Wait for the following countries to have intelligent apes, then establish a colony in them

• Sudan
• East Africa
• West Africa

3.) You should now have 4 colonies in total, we'll put up the 5th and final one later on. Continue by evolving the following:

• Hominidae Bridge
• Water and Air 1
• Water and Air 2
• Extreme Bioaerosol
• Drug and Cold Resistance 1
• Drug and Cold Resistance 2
• Ape Rampage
• Organised Travel
• Logistics
• Horseback Riding

At this point, Gen-Sys Labs should start appearing, and maybe drones(but usually they'll take awhile to appear). Be prepared to quickly use Ape Rampage on Gen-Sys labs and move colonies that are targeted by drones. Here's a few notes to help you out.

1. You cannot use Ape Rampage on countries without intelligent apes. You have to move apes into the country first.
2. Without the Seafaring ability, your apes will die if you send them across the sea. Even with the 1.9.1 update(where the devs say that they "taught the apes to swim") they will still die. Might need more info on this.
3. If you want to save more apes(for a higher score), play on normal speed. You'll be able to destroy labs as soon as they pop-up and move apes if they're being circled in by drones.

4.) Wait for one of these countries to have intelligent apes, then quickly establish a colony in the first one to get intelligent apes:

• Indonesia
• India
• China

Remember: Put your fifth and final colony on the first country to get intelligent apes from the list of countries above.

After establishing your final colony, it's now time to make the Simian Flu as infectious and cure-slowing as we possibly can. Evolve the following that have not mutated yet.

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Pharyngitis
• Coughing
• Pneumonia
• Haemoptysis
• Sneezing
• Epistaxis
• Rash
• Photophobia
• Subconjunctival Bleed
• Subconjunctival Haemorrhage
• Blindness
• Genetic Hardening 1 & 2

Remember to destroy labs and evade drones!

5.) Wait until you get the "No one healthy left" pop-up, then evolve the following lethal symptoms that haven't mutated yet.

• Neuro-Enhancement 1, 2 & 3
• Total Brain Death
• Dysentery
• Pulmonary Haemorrhage
• Gastric Ulceration
• Haemorrhagic Shock
• Hypocoagulability
• Internal Haemorrhaging
• Hydrocephalus
• Meningitis
• Coma

Remaining DNA you'll be able to gather should be use to evolve Genetic ReShuffle 1, Hardened Reshuffle, and Genetic ReShuffle 2, in that order.

Now just sit back and wait for the rise of the Simian Race.

Also, here's what my transmissions, symptoms, and abilities tree looked like at the end of the game:

 Alternate Strategies

• Brutal Guide by Dr Bulgaria
• Brutal Guide by SWIN
• Brutal Guide by Unknown
• Check out their respective comments section as well for more strategies that have worked for other people.

Credits and Closing Remarks

Thanks to everyone who has commented on guides and have submitted their own. Thanks also to all those who've shared their information regarding the Simian Flu. Without the information you guys have shared, guides would not be made better!

I hope these guides have helped you conquer the brutal difficulty with ease, and thanks for reading this guide. HSG!