Geek Syndicate
The second game I played, we lost from that third method. For the third game, we implemented a house rule: if the player deck runs out, we re-shuffle it back up in exactly the same manner as for game setup. We lost two turns later due to an eighth outbreak, triggered from an early appearing epidemic card, so even changing the rules to the players’ benefit doesn’t make the game too easy! As mentioned, players could draw an epidemic card during their turn. Epidemic cards are the game’s big guns against the team. If an epidemic is drawn, not only does a city get infected to critical level, but the epidemic track is increased – meaning more cities could be infected after each player’s turn AND the discarded infection cards are shuffled and placed back on top of the infection deck. This means that already infected cities WILL have their infection level increased some time soon! What’s really fun about this game is the level of co-operation involved. Players really work together and plan ahead: “OK, if I move through Asia, clearing up a couple of disease cubes and you keep to the Americas then player C can meet me in Shanghai so on my next turn I can trade that card …” For me, working together really helps the social element. Sometimes with a competitive game, things can become a little tense and chatter around the game board can slow to a crawl – the game is still fun, but some of the social element can be muted. Because of the randomising nature of the card decks and even the assignment of roles, Pandemic is a supremely re-playable game which should keep families and
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friends occupied for many hours. It’s weird, but I’ve lost to this game one-hundred percent of the time … but this in no way detracts from the experience of playing.
a “virus” feel. That or jelly. Don’t eat them. If for no other reason than if you run out of cubes you lose! This may seem like a small thing but I really love the artwork on the infection and player cards. I don’t know what it is: they’re simply maps showing the relevant city, but they just fit so well.
Components
The latest edition of the game is a really well presented product and certainly seems like value for money. The board looks superb and everything is clearly marked and each city easily locatable (even for someone with as rubbish geography knowledge as I have) and there’s enough room to comfortably hold virus cubes, the game cards and the other playing pieces. This second edition’s components are really nice: coloured wooden pawns represent the players, wooden houses the research centres used to cure the diseases. The disease states are represented by phials and the outbreak tracker and urgency tracker are also fine wooden tokens. The disease “cubes” are brightly coloured translucent plastic which do somehow give
Roundup
As Wil Wheaton points out in the episode of Geek and Sundry’s TableTop that features the game, Pandemic is the most fun you’ll have losing to a game! I’ve played three times – twice with two players and once with three and lost each one. But losing doesn’t detract from the enjoyment Pandemic brings. That is it’s main charm. Couple this with the fact that a game (using default rules) will last around an hour or so (including setup) makes for a great start or interlude to an afternoon or evening’s activities. On the next page, I present a few photos from a game in progress for you to peruse. Please also check out the TableTop episode – which gives a far better feel for the game than I can present in these pages. Pandemic is available now, distributed to your Friendly Local Game Store by Esdevium Games Ltd. and can be ordered from - currently priced around £30.00 which I think is great value for money considering the amount of fun on offer here.
Antony McGarry-Thickitt
Rating
Some of the game’s key components
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