Pandemic (2008)

You are specialists at the CDC/Atlanta where you watch several virulent diseases break out simultaneously all over the world. The team mission is to prevent a world-wide pandemic outbreak, treating hotspots while researching cures for each of the four plagues before they get out of hand.

Players must plan their strategy to mesh their specialist's strengths before the diseases overwhelm the world. For example, the Operations 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 breaking out fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while developing cures. If disease spreads uncontrolled, the players all lose. If they can cure all four diseases, they win.

The board shows earth with some big population centres. On each turn a player can use four actions to travel, cure, discover and build. Cards are used for this but the deck also contains Epidemics...

Expanded by:

• Pandemic: On the Brink
• Pandemic: mini expansion "De Generalist"

Awards

• 2010 Australian Games Association Game of the Year Winner
• 2009 BoardGameGeek Golden Geek Family Game Winner
• 2009 Gouden Ludo, Winner.
• 2009 Nederlandse Spellen Prijs, Nominated.
• 2009 Boardgames Australia Awards Winner, Best International Game.
• 2009 Origins Awards, Board Game of the Year, Winner.
• 2009 Spiel des Jahres Nominated.
• 2009 Golden Ace Nominated.
• 2009 Prêmio JoTa, Best Cooperative Game, Winner
• 2008 Games 100 Best Family Game.
• 2008 Meeples Choice Award, Game of the Year, Winner
• 2008 BoardGamer.ru Recommendation.
• 2008 International Gamers Award Multi-Player Nominee.
• 2008 Tric Trac d'Argent (Silver).
• 2008 BoardGameGeek Golden Geek Family Game Finalist

Online Play

• BrettspielWelt (real-time, German)
• BGG user created version (website) - more info
• Vassal(real-time,pbem)

Non-Online Play

• BGG user created version (JAVA-application)

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: I have 2 of the same card but missing another card!
A: Allegedly during collation of the decks, some of the cards were duplicated or missed. You should have 1 for each city in the Infector deck (48 total) and 1 for each city in the Player deck (48 total). There should also be 6 identical Epidemic cards, 5 distinct Role Cards, 5 Distinct Special cards, and the 4 Reference cards for a total of 116 cards. If you are missing any cards, contact Z-Man games and they will replace them.

Q: Why is the start city Atlanta?
A: Atlanta is the home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Q: Can you pass cards when it is not your turn?
A: The active player may spend one action point to give -or- take a city card. Standard passing rules still apply.

Q: Can Special Event Cards really be played at "any" time?
A: (Quoted from game designer Matt Leacock) You can play the cards at any time, however, you can't play them between an event and the representation of the event on the board. Some scenarios may help explain this:

Scenario 1:

Player #1 has a Special Event card for "Resilient Population." During the draw, an Epidemic card is drawn. Since an Epidemic card was drawn, player #1 decides to play their Special Event card to remove a city from the infection discard pile before they are reshuffled. This is legal because the card was played before the cards were reshuffled.

Scenario 2:

A player may use the Forecast card to rearrange the cards on the top of the infection deck before they're drawn - but once a card is drawn, the player can't rearrange the cards.

Scenario 3:

The Red disease has been cured. A player draws the Taipei card which results in the 8th Outbreak. Since no time elapses between the drawing of the Taipei card (resulting in the infection) and the placing of the cubes (representing the infection), the players lose the game. It's not OK to Airlift the medic over to Taipei to cure because the cubes have already been added and the game has already been lost.

Q: Can this game be played with 1 or 5 players? The rules imply I might use all 5 role cards.
A: The game was designed for 2 to 4 players. The comment in the rulebook was a carry over from when the game only had 4 Roles. It was not caught before the rulebook was published. However, you may attempt to play with 1 or 5 players and report your findings in the threads.

Q: Our first game was easy! Are we doing something wrong?
A: Probably. But the game is easier with fewer players and/or fewer Epidemics in the deck. You may also visit this thread to see if you missed something: Common mistakes.

Related Microbadges

Pandemic Fan:

Public Health Professional:

Matt Leacock Fan:

Components:

• 1 8-Page Colour Rulebook
• 1 Folding single-side Gameboard
• 5 Role Cards
• 5 (wooden) Pawns (one colour for each role)
• 6 (wooden) Research Stations
• 96 (wooden) Disease Cubes (24 for each colour disease - black, blue, red, yellow)
• 6 Markers
  • 1 Infection Rate Marker
  • 1 Outbreaks Marker
  • 4 Cure Markers with "Vial" and "Sunset" sides (one for each colour disease)
• 59 Player Cards
  • 48 City Cards
  • 6 Epidemic Cards
  • 5 Special Event Cards
• 48 Infection Cards
• 4 Reference Cards