Pandemic Board Game (Base Game) | Family Board Game | Board Game for Adults and Family | Cooperative Board Game | Ages 8+ | 2 to 4 players | Average Playtime 45 minutes | Made by Z-Man Games

What a great game! Fairly easy to learn and because its cooperative, all players can talk it out and help each other take the best moves to benefit the group. So, a game with seasoned players and newbies will be just as enjoyable for everyone. There are some very clever game mechanics with the infection deck (and it makes sense with the theme of the game). For example, The Epidemic card causes infection cards to be returned to the top of the infection deck. This basically has the effect of causing more infection to spread in cities that already have infections! So enjoyable! When I was learning the game I played both players in a 2-player setup. Since its a cooperative game, you can totally play solitaire because if there were other players all will share information to try to make the best move, anyway. I highly recommend it.

My husband and I wanted to step back from our devices and do things that have us interacting more, we thought board games would really fit the bill for this. So we are relatively new to board games. Pandemic had such an awesome rating so we thought lets give it a go. Wow! What a great game! It is not an easy game to win but when you do victory is so sweet! We love the cooperative play. You can also think you are going to lose and with a twist of fate you can pull a win off! Of course that twist of fate can go to the games favor too when you think you are doing well all goes south in a New York minute! The game can be learned rather quickly too. We fell in love with this game so much that we purchased all the expansions for it. Tons of replayability, we do not see ourselves ever getting bored with this game!

One of our favorite games. Learning the rules can take a little bit of time and requires a decent amount of attention to detail, but once you get the rules down the game is easily adjustable for increased (or decreased) difficulty. My biggest dislike is that it maxes out at four players - which seems small for a good game nowadays. Relatedly, I find the game is fun with two players, but so much better with three and even moreso with four.

My wife and I purchased this game based off of a recommendation from her co-worker and the great reviews/top 10 lists. We immediately fell in love with it. Its a challenging, interesting, and fun game that more often than not comes down to the last nail-biting card, cube, or action. Itll definitely kick your butt, but that makes winning all the more satisfying. Weve mostly played 2-player, but did try 4-player recently and it worked out pretty well; the kids were able to pick it up quickly. Ive read and heard accolades for the newer Legacy version, and whilst we might try that in the future, I still highly recommend the original. Oh, would also recommend playing some pandemic-ish background music while playing the game to enhance the experience.

Overall game was new upon arrival, arrived on time, and was a delight to play. Does require you to learn a bit first, but once you know it is a great time. Its a game that involves strategy and teamwork of all playing. Would highly recommend.

This is one of the best board games Ive ever played that features a team dynamic. Unlike Settlers of Catan, which will ruin any and every relationship you ever had, this co-op will reveal the true colors of anyone daring to pick up a colored pawn. Play this game with a stranger to get to know them. I promise that by the end of the game that you will know whether they will become your beast of a best friend forever or labeled a selfish, uncooperative squat head to be despised forever. Try it on a first date. It will foretell whether or not you and your interest will successfully spawn offspring together. After opening this box for the first time, my roommates and I spent countless nights trying to save the world. As frustrating as it is to lose to a piece of cardboard, it is equally, if not more, gratifying to conquer your imaginary microscopic adversaries. There are so many occasions where you end the game in despair wishing you had just one more turn. But when you win, you come away feeling like the hero of an apocalyptic movie, saving the world in the very nick of time! Needless to say, we are currently best friends changing the world via healthcare, the arts and non-profits.

My brainiac nephew and his equally genius wife recommended this game, so I bought it for my 12-year-old daughter for Christmas. When we were reading through the direction, we both thought wed never figure it out, but I said, Okay, lets just try playing it and see what happens. Once we started playing, we were able to catch on very quickly, and it was so fun that we played three times non-stop. My daughter wanted to play a fourth time, but I said, Lets stop while were still loving it! The game captures the urgency of fighting the spread of deadly diseases, and the collaborative method is so much more gratifying than the typical competitive game. In summation, dont be put off if the instruction seem complicated -- just play it and prepare to have a great time!

Product: I have the second edition, so I do have the small plastic pieces instead of the wooden pieces from the 1st edition. I would have rather enjoyed the wooden pieces, but this is not a big deal to me. The only complaint I have is that the board seems prone to scuffing and scratching because of the way we shuffle and place our cards on the tableau, so you have to take care of it. Play-ability: It is a hard game because you have to work with other people and deal with the initial hand you are dealt with. That means talking things out and making decisions together and sharing information. If you lose, you lose as a team and some of my fellow players tend to put the blame more on one (or two people) than accepting equal loss. Ideally you have the best chance of winning with 4 people; but only because of the hand limit. With fewer players, you tend to discard more city cards just to navigate and reach other players. I have mainly played 2 and 3-player games and there is a lot of more discussion because we are already at a disadvantage and each decision counts. However, you can win no matter the combination, but it is easier to win with certain combinations than others. Replay value: Definitely! Because role cards are randomly selected, people have the opportunity to play different characters. With just the amount of different role combos you can get, with the initial infection city set up, and different number of epidemic cards to place in the player deck, the base game has great replay value. Couple that with the expansions and different scenarios you can add, every Pandemic game progression should be different.

My family loves board games but it has been awhile since weve had this much fun playing one! You will always have a great time playing this game, win or lose. The fact that it is team based and you all have to work together is the best thing about this game. It is well designed and easy to play/learn. If youre on the fence about it just buy it, you wont regret it at all!

challenging indifferent every time you play, supports teamwork and not competition