---
product_id: 668844
title: "Asmodee Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) - A Cooperative Battle to Save Humanity, Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime"
brand: "z-man games"
price: "€ 110.26"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
category: "Z Man Games"
url: https://www.desertcart.fi/products/668844-asmodee-pandemic-board-game-base-game-a-cooperative-battle-to
store_origin: FI
region: Finland
---

# 45 min avg. playtime 4 global diseases to cure 2-5 players cooperative Asmodee Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) - A Cooperative Battle to Save Humanity, Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime

**Brand:** z-man games
**Price:** € 110.26
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🧠 Strategize. Collaborate. Conquer. The world’s fate is in your hands.

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Asmodee Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) - A Cooperative Battle to Save Humanity, Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime by z-man games
- **How much does it cost?** € 110.26 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fi](https://www.desertcart.fi/products/668844-asmodee-pandemic-board-game-base-game-a-cooperative-battle-to)

## Best For

- z-man games enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted z-man games brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Unite to Save Humanity:** A truly cooperative strategy game where every player’s move counts—win or lose as one team.
- • **Fast-Paced, Replayable Fun:** Compact 45-minute rounds ensure you can squeeze in multiple games, each with unpredictable outcomes and endless strategic depth.
- • **Dynamic Role-Based Gameplay:** Randomly assigned specialist roles with unique skills keep every game fresh and challenge your strategic adaptability.
- • **Adjustable Difficulty Levels:** Customize your challenge by varying epidemic cards and player count—perfect for casual nights or intense strategy sessions.
- • **Immersive, High-Quality Components:** Vibrant disease cubes and sturdy board pieces crafted for lasting tactile and visual appeal.

## Overview

Pandemic is a cooperative board game for 2 to 5 players where you work as a team of specialists racing against time to cure four deadly diseases threatening global outbreak. With high-quality components, dynamic roles, and adjustable difficulty, it offers immersive, strategic gameplay in about 45 minutes per session—making it a must-have for millennial professionals craving meaningful social connection and brainy fun.

## Description

Product Description Are you ready for a thrilling cooperative board game that will test your teamwork and strategic skills? In Pandemic, players must work together to stop the spread of four deadly diseases that have broken out around the world. Only through teamwork will you keep the world safe from outbreaks and epidemics. Your team must work together and plan carefully to stem the tide of infection while working toward finding the cures. Each player takes on the role of a specialist, using their unique strengths to help find cures and prevent outbreaks. For example, the Operation specialist can build research stations, while the Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it. But the diseases are spreading fast and time is running out – the team must work together to stem the tide of infection and find the cures before it's too late. This game is perfect for family game night and is suitable for kids ages 8-12 and adults. It's also great for team-building and strategy lovers. With immersive gameplay and high stakes, this game is sure to be a hit with the whole family. Whether you're a seasoned board game enthusiast or a newcomer, you'll love the exciting challenges and cooperative gameplay of this disease-fighting adventure. So gather your team and get ready to save the world in this thrilling and immersive board game. This easy to learn family and adult board game can be played with 2 to 4 players. The average playtime is 45 minutes. Pandemic is the perfect gift for anyone who loves a bit of problem-solving! A perfect way to bring together friends and family, be sure to check out our full line of Pandemic games. From the Manufacturer Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together playing to their characters' strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. For example the Operation Specialist can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases. The Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal 5. But the diseases are out breaking fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while also towards cures. A truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose.

Review: Best game EVER! - Okay, to start out, I love love LOVE Pandemic! I admit it, I'm a bit competitive. I hate losing games. I'm generally fine with competitive games where the best strategist (or luckiest) wins, but I really dislike games (like Settlers of Catan) where some players can gang up on others. You pretty much don't have a chance when every other player is specifically playing against YOU. Pandemic is fantastic because you cooperative with the other players and you all win or lose together. I just absolutely love sitting at the table talking about all our options and strategizing together. My son introduced me to Pandemic several months ago, and I was hooked. We've spent several afternoons/evenings playing again--and again--and again. On many occasions when I am home alone, I play all by myself (playing two roles), and we've also played four players on several occasions. With two players and four epidemics, we win every time. With five epidemics, we win about 70% of the time. We've tried six epidemics a couple times, but have not been able to beat that game yet. Still trying! Ugh! As you increase the number of players, the game gets more difficult. With four players we've only played with four epidemics, and we win probably a little over half the time. I honestly think it would be impossible with four players and six epidemics, but someone has probably proven me wrong. We've even discovered another way to lose the game, which is not listed in the rule book! It says you can lose by having too many outbreaks, running out of disease cubes, or running out of player cards. We've lost in all those lovely ways. However, a couple of times, we've had only a few outbreaks, had plenty of cubes of each color left, and plenty of player cards. Three diseases cured, with only one to go. One of those times, we'd even gotten through all the epidemics, so there were none left in the infection deck! We've got it made, right? Uh, no. Turns out we discarded too many of the same color city cards, and there were only four left total, including in our hands and in the player deck. Neither of us was the Scientist, so that was an automatic loss. This is a danger when you get dealt a nice hand at the beginning, say two or even three of the same color. You decide to collect those, so when you discard, you are discarding the other colors. If you happen to keep drawing you "discard" color and it takes too long to collect the color(s) you want, you've now discarded too many of the other color and you don't have enough left at the end to cure the disease. Beware. We have also managed to lose the game on the very first turn. We were very unlucky drawing the infection cards when setting up the game: three on Karachi and Delhi, and two on Kolkata. Our first player did not have any way to get to that location to do even a little treating, and the first card drawn from the player deck was an epidemic. After resolving the epidemic, the first card drawn was Delhi, which caused a double outbreak (Delhi/Karachi) and put the third cube on Kolkata. The second card drawn was Kolkata, which was a triple outbreak (Kolkata/Delhi/Karachi) and lost us the game as there weren't enough disease cubes. Yep, lost on the very first player card drawn and there was not a single thing we could do about it. One slight change we sometimes make in the game is to draw 10 cards at the beginning instead of 9. The first nine infect the cities, and the tenth is where we place our player pawns and the first research station. It adds a level of difficulty to the game to not always start in Atlanta. We were noticing before that we always seemed to get in trouble with black and red, and we believe it was because all our players started so close to blue and yellow so those cities were easy to get to and treat. Now that we can start anywhere on the board, blue and yellow have become equal opportunity killers. There are a few things it is easy to get wrong. When the infection rate moves up, it's easy to forget to start drawing three cards (or four) since you're so accustomed to the lower number. It's also easy to forget to discard, not noticing that you have more than 7 cards in your hand. One scenario we've encountered a few times involves having 8 cards for literally a second. You meet another player on top of a research station, and share knowledge by pulling that city card from her. You now have 8 cards in your hand, but 5 of one color. Your very next action is going to be curing a disease, which will leave you with only 3 cards. But, before you cure that disease, you have 8 cards, so we think you have to discard one even though literally on your next action you will be discarding 5 cards. This is a little frustrating, but the rules specifically say that if you EVER (my emphasis) have more than 7 cards in your hand, you must discard (or play an event card). We were also a little confused by the role of the Researcher the first time we played. To be clear, when the Researcher shares knowledge, she and the other player must be on the same city, and the card can only go FROM the Researcher TO the other player (on either player's turn, as an action). She cannot take a card from the other player (and they cannot give one to her), unless it matches the city they are sitting on. It is also extremely easy to forget to infect cities after resolving an epidemic. You've spent a bunch of time resolving, then strategizing based on where the board stands now, and you completely forget that you still have to infect before going to the next player. Lastly, you are not supposed to choose your roles. We played with one person who had played before, and he said they always choose which roles they want. I suppose you can play that way if you want, but the game would be far less interesting because people would probably tend to choose the same roles every time. The instructions say to shuffle the role cards and deal them to each player -- that means they're supposed to be random. It's far more interesting and challenging when the roles change every time. A good part of the strategy is figuring out how to maximize the advantages that each role gives you in any given game. Pandemic is basically figuring out exactly how much effort you have to spend in each game sharing knowledge in order to cure diseases versus preventing outbreaks, all while maximizing the strategic use of whatever role you are playing. Spend too much time on one, and the other will get you. Sometimes you just have to say "oh well" and let an outbreak happen, even when you could have prevented it. It may just be more important to get to that one city in order to share knowledge than to get to the city where the outbreak is about to happen in order to prevent it. However we do try hard to prevent double outbreaks because things can get very bad very quickly when that happens. Okay I've rambled enough. If you're on the edge, buy this game! It's awesome. Every game is different and it never gets boring. It is equally fun with two or more players, although the more players, the more challenging it is. You can control the difficulty level by player with fewer or more epidemic cards. A+
Review: The colors are fantastic and the set pieces are well machined - I got this game to give my wife and I something to play cooperatively rather than competitively. Everyone plays on the same side - you either all win or all lose. To that end, it's awesomely different. Quality: My wife was skeptical based on the product images she saw. When it arrived, however, we were blown away by the quality. The colors are fantastic and the set pieces are well machined. The disease cubes look so good they almost look like shiny candies on your game board. The board is solid. The cards are not flimsy. The game box provides sufficient protection and is thick enough to protect everything inside. Fantastic. Play: There is a lot of variety to this game. The inclusion of multiple roles, which you assign at random, creates a variety of play styles and strategy. The game also supports three difficulty modes (represented by the quantity of certain cards you mix into the deck). Once you get the hang of the rules, it's fairly easy on the lowest difficulty level (until you get the hang of all the ways you can lose, however, you'll find that you'll only win about 75% of the time). Ratcheting up the difficulty satisfyingly makes the game more challenging. It's not a given that you'll win, which makes it more appealing for replayability. Maxing out the number of players also makes the game more difficult, because you have less rounds by which to complete your objectives and win the game. Fun: I've played this game with family and friends, and everyone immediately wants to play another round. That's partly because it really takes playing a round to get the hang of the rules, but mostly because it is really different from the normal game. The cooperative aspect allows for a lot of group discussion, strategy, what-if scenarios, and so on. As soon as you've seen it in action - win or lose - you'll want to play again just to see what happens if different decisions are made or different roles are selected. Long-term, I'm still addicted to this game. My wife no longer is, and only feels like playing it every once in a while. It's still a welcome break from Settlers of Catan, which has been the game that I typically measure of my games against. Ease of play: There are a lot of rules to this game, which feels kind of overwhelming when you first play it. You absolutely do have to play at least a round to get the hang of the rules. Once you do, however, they don't feel all that bad at all. I've actually played this game successfully with younger children (since it is cooperative, you can do most of the thinking for them, yet still make them feel like they contributed and made decisions). At least one of my friends has purchase the game for himself and his kids after playing with me. Summary: Overall, this game is different. The cooperative element alone is worth the price of admission. Stay for the fun and the challenge. And the build quality makes it feel like it will last a long time in your possession.

## Features

- cardboard
- Imported
- STRATEGY GAME: Players must work together playing to their characters' strengths as they plan their strategy of eradicating the diseases before they overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. A truly cooperative game where you win or lose together.
- COOPERATIVE BOARD GAME: Only through teamwork will you keep the world safe from outbreaks and epidemics. Your team must work together and plan carefully to stem the tide of infection while working toward finding the cures.
- WORK TOGETHER AND SAVE HUMANITY: Four diseases threaten the world, and your elite team of specialists must find a cure for each of them before it’s too late. Everyone must work together applying their unique character skills to benefit the team—and the world.
- GIFT FOR ADULTS AND TEENS: Pandemic is the perfect Christmas or birthday gift for anyone who loves a bit of problem solving. A perfect way to bring together friends and family, be sure to check out our full line of Pandemic games.
- NUMBER OF PLAYERS AND AVERAGE PLAYTIME: This easy to learn family and adult board game can be played with 2 to 4 players. The average playtime is 45 minutes.
- Updated version of the popular co-operative game
- For 2 to 5 players game
- Takes about an hour to play

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B00A2HD40E |
| Best Sellers Rank | #6,223 in Toys & Games ( See Top 100 in Toys & Games ) #232 in Board Games (Toys & Games) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars (18,798) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Item Weight | 2 pounds |
| Item model number | ZM7101 |
| Language | English |
| Manufacturer | Asmodee |
| Manufacturer recommended age | 13 - 15 years |
| Product Dimensions | 12 x 8.6 x 1.7 inches |
| Release date | September 4, 2017 |

## Images

![Asmodee Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) - A Cooperative Battle to Save Humanity, Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/711hemLdy-L.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: How does this compare with the original? Is the gameplay different?**
A: I've played both the old version and the new version dozens of time (though it's been a couple years since I played the first edition). Most of the changes are cosmetic in nature. The cards and board were redesigned (though they function exactly the same, except as noted). The nice wooden infection cubes have been replaced by a cheaper-feeling plastic. The cards and game look different, but are comparable in quality. The game play is basically the same, with a couple of minor changes. They buffed Light Green - the engineer (who can now charter flight from any city with a research station to anywhere on the board by discarding any card)  and White - the researcher (other players in the same city can now take any card from him, as opposed to him having to give the card during one of his turns). I think they also slightly changed Purple - the dispatcher. The buffs are very helpful, as the engineer was previously a virtually useless role. Now he can get anywhere easily by placing a city for one turn, then discarding any card to fly anywhere for his second turn, where he can heal two blocks immediately. This makes the researcher much more effective because she can spend all 4 moves getting to someone else, who can then spend their first three moves taking cards from the researcher and their fourth move developing a cure. The second edition also added 2 new roles: the contingency planner and the quarantine specialist. The former, as an action, can (one card at a time, and once per special event) redraw a special event card from the discard pile back into his own hand that doesn't count against his limit (i.e. He can have 8 cards as long as one of them is a redrawn special event). I typically don't play with the contingency planner because his role completely sucks. The quarantine specialist simply prevents new diseases from being placed in the city she is in, as well as all adjacent cities. If you have 2 adjacent cities with three blocks each, you can avoid a double-outbreak simply by moving her to either of the cities. We often use the dispatcher to move her around as needed. In summary, the second edition simply fixed a few annoying weaknesses of the engineer and researcher, replaced nice wooden cubes with cheap plastic ones, and added one fun new role. If your original version is still in working condition, don't buy a new game. Just print the new rules to buff the old roles. It's not worth a whole new board game just for the one role of quarantine specialist. If your old game is worn, get a new copy, but keep the wooden disease cubes.

**Q: What's the youngest age you'd recommend to play?**
A: The box says 8+, the Amazon description says 13-15. The expansions all are 13+, so maybe that's why Amazon is confused. We haven't played any of the expansions yet, but my 5yo and 8yo both love Pandemic. We got it shortly after the 5yo's birthday, and at first it was kind of frustrating at times when he'd insist on doing something completely illogical, but he's gotten better in the past half year. That said, he reads way above grade level, so 8+ is probably a better idea - you want the kid to be able to read the names of the cities, etc. I wouldn't buy the game if you only have kids under 8, unless they're profoundly gifted - we got it for the 8yo, and the 5yo just happened to be able to go along, but there are games that would be more suitable for his age - he isn't yet really able to strategize at the level needed for Pandemic. And really, saving the world can wait until the ripe old age of 8. ;)

**Q: How long does a typical game of Pandemic take to play?**
A: I think 45-60 minutes with a strong team who knows the game is a good estimate.  The first games with new players will take a while, even on easy, because there are a lot of little nuisances and details to learn... and if you're playing with a few different strong personalities, you may loose time to discussing the best tactics and strategies. When my husband and I play, 45 minutes is a good estimate, but we also work well together and know the rules of the game.

**Q: Would like a good two person game.  Is this it?**
A: After 7 plays as a 2-player game, I'd say it plays very well. I'd also say that I disagree with those who say it is harder as a 2-player game.  Each player has more influence over decisions and potentially twice as many turns as they would get in a four-player game.  So in some ways it could be a tad bit easier.  The amount of epidemic cards are more of a factor in the difficulty than how many players are in the game.  The infections and epidemic cards will come out at a rate irrelevant to how many players are in the game.  And one of the game-ending triggers is when all of the player cards are drawn - and that is based on how many turns are taken, regardless of how many different players are taking turns.  The disadvantage of playing a 2-player game would be missing out on larger group discussions and interaction.   But it's really not a big deal.  You will still find this game a great value if you play 2-players 90% of the time and 4-players 10% of the time.  That is the situation I am in and I recommend the game.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best game EVER!
*by S***D on July 11, 2019*

Okay, to start out, I love love LOVE Pandemic! I admit it, I'm a bit competitive. I hate losing games. I'm generally fine with competitive games where the best strategist (or luckiest) wins, but I really dislike games (like Settlers of Catan) where some players can gang up on others. You pretty much don't have a chance when every other player is specifically playing against YOU. Pandemic is fantastic because you cooperative with the other players and you all win or lose together. I just absolutely love sitting at the table talking about all our options and strategizing together. My son introduced me to Pandemic several months ago, and I was hooked. We've spent several afternoons/evenings playing again--and again--and again. On many occasions when I am home alone, I play all by myself (playing two roles), and we've also played four players on several occasions. With two players and four epidemics, we win every time. With five epidemics, we win about 70% of the time. We've tried six epidemics a couple times, but have not been able to beat that game yet. Still trying! Ugh! As you increase the number of players, the game gets more difficult. With four players we've only played with four epidemics, and we win probably a little over half the time. I honestly think it would be impossible with four players and six epidemics, but someone has probably proven me wrong. We've even discovered another way to lose the game, which is not listed in the rule book! It says you can lose by having too many outbreaks, running out of disease cubes, or running out of player cards. We've lost in all those lovely ways. However, a couple of times, we've had only a few outbreaks, had plenty of cubes of each color left, and plenty of player cards. Three diseases cured, with only one to go. One of those times, we'd even gotten through all the epidemics, so there were none left in the infection deck! We've got it made, right? Uh, no. Turns out we discarded too many of the same color city cards, and there were only four left total, including in our hands and in the player deck. Neither of us was the Scientist, so that was an automatic loss. This is a danger when you get dealt a nice hand at the beginning, say two or even three of the same color. You decide to collect those, so when you discard, you are discarding the other colors. If you happen to keep drawing you "discard" color and it takes too long to collect the color(s) you want, you've now discarded too many of the other color and you don't have enough left at the end to cure the disease. Beware. We have also managed to lose the game on the very first turn. We were very unlucky drawing the infection cards when setting up the game: three on Karachi and Delhi, and two on Kolkata. Our first player did not have any way to get to that location to do even a little treating, and the first card drawn from the player deck was an epidemic. After resolving the epidemic, the first card drawn was Delhi, which caused a double outbreak (Delhi/Karachi) and put the third cube on Kolkata. The second card drawn was Kolkata, which was a triple outbreak (Kolkata/Delhi/Karachi) and lost us the game as there weren't enough disease cubes. Yep, lost on the very first player card drawn and there was not a single thing we could do about it. One slight change we sometimes make in the game is to draw 10 cards at the beginning instead of 9. The first nine infect the cities, and the tenth is where we place our player pawns and the first research station. It adds a level of difficulty to the game to not always start in Atlanta. We were noticing before that we always seemed to get in trouble with black and red, and we believe it was because all our players started so close to blue and yellow so those cities were easy to get to and treat. Now that we can start anywhere on the board, blue and yellow have become equal opportunity killers. There are a few things it is easy to get wrong. When the infection rate moves up, it's easy to forget to start drawing three cards (or four) since you're so accustomed to the lower number. It's also easy to forget to discard, not noticing that you have more than 7 cards in your hand. One scenario we've encountered a few times involves having 8 cards for literally a second. You meet another player on top of a research station, and share knowledge by pulling that city card from her. You now have 8 cards in your hand, but 5 of one color. Your very next action is going to be curing a disease, which will leave you with only 3 cards. But, before you cure that disease, you have 8 cards, so we think you have to discard one even though literally on your next action you will be discarding 5 cards. This is a little frustrating, but the rules specifically say that if you EVER (my emphasis) have more than 7 cards in your hand, you must discard (or play an event card). We were also a little confused by the role of the Researcher the first time we played. To be clear, when the Researcher shares knowledge, she and the other player must be on the same city, and the card can only go FROM the Researcher TO the other player (on either player's turn, as an action). She cannot take a card from the other player (and they cannot give one to her), unless it matches the city they are sitting on. It is also extremely easy to forget to infect cities after resolving an epidemic. You've spent a bunch of time resolving, then strategizing based on where the board stands now, and you completely forget that you still have to infect before going to the next player. Lastly, you are not supposed to choose your roles. We played with one person who had played before, and he said they always choose which roles they want. I suppose you can play that way if you want, but the game would be far less interesting because people would probably tend to choose the same roles every time. The instructions say to shuffle the role cards and deal them to each player -- that means they're supposed to be random. It's far more interesting and challenging when the roles change every time. A good part of the strategy is figuring out how to maximize the advantages that each role gives you in any given game. Pandemic is basically figuring out exactly how much effort you have to spend in each game sharing knowledge in order to cure diseases versus preventing outbreaks, all while maximizing the strategic use of whatever role you are playing. Spend too much time on one, and the other will get you. Sometimes you just have to say "oh well" and let an outbreak happen, even when you could have prevented it. It may just be more important to get to that one city in order to share knowledge than to get to the city where the outbreak is about to happen in order to prevent it. However we do try hard to prevent double outbreaks because things can get very bad very quickly when that happens. Okay I've rambled enough. If you're on the edge, buy this game! It's awesome. Every game is different and it never gets boring. It is equally fun with two or more players, although the more players, the more challenging it is. You can control the difficulty level by player with fewer or more epidemic cards. A+

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The colors are fantastic and the set pieces are well machined
*by S***. on September 23, 2015*

I got this game to give my wife and I something to play cooperatively rather than competitively. Everyone plays on the same side - you either all win or all lose. To that end, it's awesomely different. Quality: My wife was skeptical based on the product images she saw. When it arrived, however, we were blown away by the quality. The colors are fantastic and the set pieces are well machined. The disease cubes look so good they almost look like shiny candies on your game board. The board is solid. The cards are not flimsy. The game box provides sufficient protection and is thick enough to protect everything inside. Fantastic. Play: There is a lot of variety to this game. The inclusion of multiple roles, which you assign at random, creates a variety of play styles and strategy. The game also supports three difficulty modes (represented by the quantity of certain cards you mix into the deck). Once you get the hang of the rules, it's fairly easy on the lowest difficulty level (until you get the hang of all the ways you can lose, however, you'll find that you'll only win about 75% of the time). Ratcheting up the difficulty satisfyingly makes the game more challenging. It's not a given that you'll win, which makes it more appealing for replayability. Maxing out the number of players also makes the game more difficult, because you have less rounds by which to complete your objectives and win the game. Fun: I've played this game with family and friends, and everyone immediately wants to play another round. That's partly because it really takes playing a round to get the hang of the rules, but mostly because it is really different from the normal game. The cooperative aspect allows for a lot of group discussion, strategy, what-if scenarios, and so on. As soon as you've seen it in action - win or lose - you'll want to play again just to see what happens if different decisions are made or different roles are selected. Long-term, I'm still addicted to this game. My wife no longer is, and only feels like playing it every once in a while. It's still a welcome break from Settlers of Catan, which has been the game that I typically measure of my games against. Ease of play: There are a lot of rules to this game, which feels kind of overwhelming when you first play it. You absolutely do have to play at least a round to get the hang of the rules. Once you do, however, they don't feel all that bad at all. I've actually played this game successfully with younger children (since it is cooperative, you can do most of the thinking for them, yet still make them feel like they contributed and made decisions). At least one of my friends has purchase the game for himself and his kids after playing with me. Summary: Overall, this game is different. The cooperative element alone is worth the price of admission. Stay for the fun and the challenge. And the build quality makes it feel like it will last a long time in your possession.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Greatest Cooperative Game Ever
*by S***T on April 18, 2015*

Pandemic is a 2 to 4 player cooperative strategy game about doctors fighting diseases. All around, it’s a downright amazing game whether you’re a casual board gamer or a hard core one. Anyone who believes that the life of a doctor is boring or mundane might find a brand you appreciation for them when they play this game for the first time, but I think Pandemic’s biggest contribution to gaming is the standard it set for the many other cooperative games that came after it. In Pandemic every player is given a special role-card with a nameless character on it who has a special power that will be vital to winning the game. The game board itself is a map of the world with 48 of the most important cities connected to one another by white lines to indicate paths for movement. The four diseases you are struggling to cure are represented by tiny different colored cubes that will inhabit these cities, slowly making the population sicker and sicker. The players have two objectives that are vital to winning. If the entire supply of any one disease has been distributed across the board, the players loose. So part of the gameplay involves traveling to the world’s many cities to treat the inhabitants and removing disease cubes from those spaces. However, to overcome the diseases and win the game, players have a hand of different colored cards with the names of different cities on them. Players can travel greater distances by surrendering some of these cards, but the real goal is to visit one of the research centers on the board and surrender five cards of the same color to find a cure for one particular disease. Once the cures for all four diseases have been discovered, the players win the game. Much of the game’s intrigue comes from your hand of cards because in almost every game players will be unsure if they want to use those cards for transportation or save them instead for finding a cure. The majority of player to player interaction involves passing and exchanging these cards around to create optimal hands, but even that will prove a challenge. One of the hardest rules for the players to follow is probably the one that won’t let you exchange a card unless the city printed on that card matches the one you’re currently in. Having one person playing as the Researcher can be the greatest benefit to your team, since they get to ignore that rule. So on top of the player’s gameplay being very intriguing, the diseases also have an interesting gameplay style. The game’s difficulty is determined by how many Epidemic cards that you have shuffled into the Player Deck. The diseases themselves get a separate pile of cards called the Infection Deck. Each card from the Infection Deck has the name of a city where you will place one more disease cube at the end of each and every turn. Epidemic cards from the Player Deck are downright diabolical, because they will force you to take the discarded Infection cards and then put them back on top of the deck they came from. That means diseases will start targeting the same cities multiple times and players will be running back and forth trying to keep the diseases under control. Outbreaks are even worse, when there are already too many disease cubes on one city and the game will force you to put a cube on each connecting city instead. The mass mayhem and panic that starts to circulate around the game table is one of the most enjoyable things about Pandemic. The gameplay is a truly flawless experience, in my opinion. Turns tend to happen very quickly and each player’s unique power will strongly encourage coordination between everyone. Pandemic also balances dumb luck with careful strategic planning, because it’s possible you’ll already have the cure for a disease within the first turn of the game. However, if players don’t coordination their efforts and manage their resources wisely that is the path to certain doom. But it’s not only the balance and the coordination that makes the gameplay perfect but also the right theme. Playing as doctors and trying to do something as noble as fighting diseases is something that everybody in the world can truly admire. When the world is suffering from a pandemic it doesn’t matter what creed or nationality you are since everyone will pool their efforts to save humanity itself, hence the cooperative play. The art direction is also very complimentary of the theme. The game and the cards kind of remind me of a computer monitor that’s tracking the progress of each person and disease. It’s all very family friendly too, since there is no artwork portraying any gruesome pain or agony. Now, to nitpick on some of the game’s very few shortcomings, there are probably a few people who won’t be convinced a tiny colored cube represents a disease very well. Personally, this has never distracted me from an enjoyable game. Also, the spaces that represent each city can also be very small when trying to fit disease cubes, a research station and player pawns all together into a circle half an inch across. But once again, this has never been a problem to me if the game board isn’t shaken too much. So altogether, Pandemic is probably the single best cooperative board game that was ever created. It’s fresh and exciting every time I play it, and I always enjoy upping the difficulty to see how much better I can do against the diseases. Winning and loosing are both very fun if you work well together as a team. But even to this day, Pandemic is an example to other game designers trying to make cooperative board games, and it’s not very hard to see why when you pick it up and play it.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) - A Cooperative Battle to Save Humanity, Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 2-4 Players, 45 Minute Playtime, Made by Z-Man Games
- Ticket to Ride Board Game - A Cross-Country Train Adventure for Friends and Family! Strategy Game for Kids & Adults, Ages 8+, 2-5 Players, 30-60 Minute Playtime, Made by Days of Wonder

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