xxxx xxxx

Pandemic
Author: Matt Leacock
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Year: 2008

review by
x
The world must be saved! Deadly viruses walk about, and it is up to us players to counter this danger as a team. This will be done in a precise and military operation, where hopefully we are in time to put down all sorts of bird flu, chicken plague or mortal ant cough, and afterwards we are invited at the castle of the World President and his wife to be his guest for a week as a reward for the effort. Well, we just make up this reward, as the rules merely state the imminent danger we are faced with. At the familiar map of the world several cities are depicted, connected by a network of lines. Along these lines the viruses spread, and we as players move along these same lines or fly somewhat further.
xx
At game start we already encounter some nuisance on the map; this has been done by drawing three times three infection cards. These cards have the names of cities on them; on the first three drawn, three disease cubes are placed; on the second three, two cubes, and on the last three one disease cube is placed in the colour of the city drawn. This way the imminent danger of the four different viruses is put on the map. All players start in Atlanta that houses a research center, and each player is dealt two, three or four city cards, depending on the amount of participating players. These cards basically can be used for movement.
xx
xx
In a turn a player can perform four actions, of which moving to an adjacent city is the most uncomplicated. But from the city cards in his hand he also could discard one if this shows the city his pawn is on; he then may move to any city on the map. Or, if he is at a research center, he may move to another research center of his choice.
xx
xx
This all is necessary to put down the diseases with as many as remaining actions he has left: for one action a player can remove a disease cube at the city he is in. At the end of his turn a player draws two city cards, but he also has to draw some infection cards to see where new breeding grounds originate or expand. The amount of cards a player has to draw is marked on a row that starts with ‘2’. At drawn cities a disease cube is placed; if the amount of cubes in a city exceeds three there is an outbreak and all adjacent cities are infected as well: they all get a cube in the colour of the original city. Also an outbreak could have a nasty chain reaction when the adjacent cities also exceed their three cubes limit and a further outbreak takes place.
xx
Each player has been dealt a role by means of a card: medic, dispatcher, researcher, scinetist or operations expert. Each role has its own specific characteristics. The medic for instance may, for one action, can take away all disease cubes in a city instead of just one, and treat all known viruses for free. The dispatcher can move pawns of other players, and even fly them to another city if he spends one action. This all really come together if the players act as a team and make optimal use of the possibilities of their role.
xx
Mixed in the city cards are some special cards, that come in very useful if when the going gets tough. With the special card ‘forecast’ a player may inspect the first six cards of the infection draw pile, and may put them back in an order of his choice. This way a possible fatal outbreak can be delayed during which all players feverishly try to reduce the cubes at the city. At the time the card shows up, the danger may have been diverted.
xx

But to make it all even more difficult, four to six epidemic cards have been mixed in the city cards stack that make things a degree worse: first the marker on the infection row moves up one level, with the consequence that maybe the very same turn additional infection cards will have to be drawn. But at the same time a new city card is drawn from the bottom of the infection stack that instantly is infected with three disease cubes, making it subject to a possible outbreak if an additional cube is placed at it.
xx
Drawing the new city from the bottom of the infection card deck is not without reason, because as a third consequence with an outbreak the discard pile of the infection cards is mixed and put back on top of the draw pile! Now there is a greater chance of drawing the same cities over and over again, increasing the chance of a pandemia as the outbreaks follow each other faster and faster so the control and even manageability decreases drastically.
xx
The city cards also can be used in another way: to discover a cure. With five similar color cards and the players pawn in a research center the first half of the battle is won; now each player may spend an action to depress the disease. Once it has been totally removed from the map, the disease has been eradicated and cannot show up again.
xx

Well, try to manage all this! Time flies by, and if eight outbreaks have occured it is Finito, The End, all lost, and mankind as we know it has ceased to exist. This also happens when the city card stack is depleted, so we need to move on and work together well! For ‘Pandemic’ is a game in which players have to act as a team and play against the game system; there are no individual winners or losers. The game is won when for each of the four viruses a cure has been discovered.
xx
xx
xx
Players will have to consult together; this is an almost absolute must to have things going the right way. It is nice to see how involved players get when a possible outbreak is imminent, and their reaction when an epidemic card is drawn. ‘That these things happen is awful, but happily we are not affected’, is the positive sensation at the table.
xx
The interaction between players is high, but on a different level; there is a lot of consulting: ‘If you take the charter to Delhi, I as researcher can give you the card of Paris. Edwin in his turn will build a research center somewhere in your vicinity where in your next turn you can discover a cure. Barbara as a medic then could swipe clean some dangerous spots, as in San Francisco the situation is highly critical. Now let us just hope we will not have another epidemic...'
xx
‘Pandemic’ is a succesfull team game and highly original. The game mechanics that direct the possible pandemia is very cleverly found. The illustrations are typically ‘American school’ like; the cover box illustration is a very traditional old style collage. But the Chinese production is perfect and the game itself offers new challenges each time it gets played - although you must be a supporter of the teamplay genre. ‘Any further suggestions? Well then, let’s roll: Thunderbirds are GO!’
© 2008 Richard van Vugt

Pandemic, Matt Leacock, Z-Man Games, 2008 - 2 to 4 players, 10 years and up, 45 minutes
x
Also read the
x
x
x