Pandemic
Age Range
How Many Players
Rating
Play Time?
8+
2-4
G
1+ Hours
Pandemic is a cooperative board game where players take on the roles of different specialists trying to stop the outbreak of four deadly diseases that threaten to wipe out humanity. The game is designed to be played by 2-4 players and can be completed in 45 minutes to an hour. The game has become especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic as it provides a fun and engaging way to learn about the spread of infectious diseases and the work that goes into fighting them.
Variations
Role-playing variant: Players take on the roles of actual healthcare workers and must work together to combat a disease outbreak. Each player must adhere to specific protocols and follow realistic medical procedures.
Solo variant: Players must try to beat the game by themselves, controlling multiple characters.
Competitive variant: Players work against each other to see who can cure the disease first.
Custom scenario variant: Create custom scenarios with unique diseases, cures, and gameplay rules.
Resource management variant: Players have a limited number of resources to allocate between research, travel, and disease control efforts.
Fast-paced variant: Set a time limit for each turn, forcing players to make quick decisions and move quickly to contain the outbreak.
In Pandemic, players take on different roles on a team of specialists working to contain and cure deadly diseases spreading across the globe. The goal is to work together to prevent the diseases from spreading too far and becoming uncontrollable.
The basic rules of Pandemic are as follows:
Players take turns performing four actions, such as moving to another city, treating diseases, sharing knowledge with other players, or building research stations.
At the end of each player's turn, a number of city cards are drawn from the player deck and placed on the board, indicating where new disease outbreaks occur.
Players can use their actions to move around the board, treat diseases, and research cures for the four diseases in the game.
If too many outbreaks occur, or if the player deck runs out, the game is lost.
If the team successfully cures all four diseases, the game is won.
There are also several special cards and roles that add complexity and variation to the game.
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Here is a basic setup for a game of Pandemic:
Sort the player cards: Remove the Epidemic cards from the player deck and shuffle the remaining cards. Place them face-down within easy reach of all players.
Place the board: Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the playing area.
Select characters: Each player selects a character card and takes the corresponding pawn.
Place research stations: Place one research station token in Atlanta, the starting city, and place the remaining research station tokens near the board.
Infect the cities: Draw the top card from the infection deck and place three disease cubes of the color shown on the card on the corresponding city on the board. Repeat this process for a total of three cards.
Place disease cubes: Place three disease cubes on each of the starting cities, which are Atlanta, Chicago, Montreal, and New York City.
Place cure markers: Place the cure markers near the board.
Give players their starting hands: Each player draws four player cards.
Determine starting player: The player who most recently traveled goes first.
Once the game is set up, players take turns taking actions to try and stop the spread of disease and ultimately find a cure before time runs out.
Tips, Ideas & More
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