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

I bought this game for my boyfriend after reading it described as a cooperative game since he is definitely that person that takes games way too seriously and makes everyone miserable when hes playing against you. The nature of this game is such that people like him are forced to work together with the other players to beat the game. And this game can be a tough nut to crack even after repeated plays. As Wil Wheaton says in his Tabletop video on this game: There are lots of ways to lose the game but only one way to win. This makes the game fun and challenging - even a bit frustrating at times! On one play we lost the game in two rounds! Those initial infection plays can really break you. Weve been playing this constantly since we got it and havent gotten bored of it yet. I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys board games, especially challenging board games where there might not be a way to win every time.

I loved it. I played it with 2 people that are admittedly not gamers. They love it. the learning curve is low, but the difficulty is steep. This was first co-op game that I had ever played. It took a little getting used to the fact that I wasnt playing against other people, but rather the game itself. And the game is a mean little monster. But even if you lose, there is a sense of camaraderie, as it is a shared loss. And the fun when you win and everyone shares in that victory, makes the game worth it. There are cons to the game, like even after curing all the viruses, losing because there arent enough cards in the deck to give you the few extra turns to clear out the outbreaks. The other cons are more player cons that game cons. If you get a person that is a micro manager, they can boss the other players around for the good of the group. Age is a factor. I wouldnt recommend it for under 12. Not that it isnt fun, but the attention span wanes and the strategy aspect can be difficult

Besides the irony of playing this game during a real pandemic, I and my wife fell in love with this game. We play this game almost everyday before going to bed. There is a slight learning curve as the game has some complexity, but once you play one or two games you will start to enjoy what it has to offer.

I bought the physical version and wanted to play it before I was able to organize a game night. I watched a through-play, but didnt feel that I had grasped all of the rules, actions and abilities. So, I purchased the digital app and played as a solo player with assistance. I suppose I ended up playing, like, 10 games in a row (I know!! Before I knew it, it was 2:36AM!!). Anyway, I felt I had the gist of it, so the next day, I played the physical game solo (multiple games throughout the day). Im so hooked, its almost embarrassing. But, who cares, right? Im saving humanity. As a solo player, I usually play four roles and one game takes a little over an hour. With just one brain, it can be a bit challenging to remember all of the actions, so occasionally Ill remember one too late. Or, when I lose (often), I think...shoulda, woulda, coulda. I understand that the expansion In The Lab enables solo play. I feel like the core game does just fine with solo, so I opted to order On The Brink, because who wouldnt want the petri dishes?! However, I know I will own all the expansions in due time--Pandemic is that good.

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.

Pandemic is a great game with tons of replayability. My wife and I have played a round almost every day since we got it, and are loving it! Because of the cooperative nature of the game, its easy to bring new players in, since everyone is working to the same goal. We took it to our familys New Years party, and ended up finding 4 people who wanted to play. But its only 2-4 players! you exclaim. I ran the board and managed turns and game flow, while my wife and I advised the four people actually playing, and it felt just like we were playing it ourselves. I even managed to play a round with our 4 and 6 year olds, and the three of us one without me curing a single disease! This is a great family game, with excellent replay value.

I was originally introduced to this game by a student of mine, who had been working with me on disease modeling. After reading some of the great reviews of the game, my wife and I decided to purchase it last year. We cant say enough how much we enjoy playing this game; it makes you think, and, more importantly, you have to work together! My wife and I love playing board games, but some of our board games can get fairly competitive and, in some cases, can leave bad feelings afterward (we dont play trivia games anymore because of this!). If youve had these feelings, then Pandemic is the game for you: You dont compete against each other, but against the game board. This means, you can talk, you can share information, and you can strategize together openly. And, if you win, its a strong sense of accomplishment; if you lose, you can always try again! To the game itself: We love the quality of the pieces (sturdy plastic for the disease cubes and game pawns, well-made cards that have withstood numerous plays and shuffles, and a very sleek game board and box!), but we especially love that its a different game every time. Each of you randomly selects your role, giving each of you a special ability that can help your team. You then randomly place disease cubes on the board, and then start trying to find cures. Sometimes, you get lucky, and you can discover cures quickly, but, other times, epidemic cards come up so quickly that you dont know what hit your team! Admittedly, the first few plays are slow, because there are a lot of rules to keep track of. But, after a few plays, you really get the hang of it, and, since you are working together, you can help each other learn the game. Weve found that a typical game takes around 30-45 minutes, which is a good length of time. Finally, Ill say that one other thing we really like about this game is you can adjust the difficulty: make it easier by putting in less epidemic cards or laying your hands on the table so everyone can see, or make it harder by adding in more epidemic cards and/or playing with expansion packs. Some other rule changes to make the game more challenging are included in the main rules. The few complaints we have had about the game are that the game is only for 2-4 players (more requires an expansion pack), so, if your family or board game group is large, keep this in mind. Also, although the game is cooperative, it is hard! Were currently on a streak where we havent won a game in weeks, but Im hoping well save humanity soon enough! Anyway, if youve been growing sick (he he he) of the standard board games, give this one a try. It was our first venture outside of standard board games, and Pandemic is why we now own Ticket to Ride and Forbidden Island, and are looking at Settlers of Catan. This coming from people who started out with Monopoly, Clue, and Life!

This seems to be a great game to play with friends; So far we just play me and my wife, so it can get really hard some times (played only 2 characters). If you feel it is difficult to win, just take more characters out of the box and use 2 of them for each player. It is really good game, really fun and the Skills from each Character is really fun to play, they can give you a nice advantage to win. It can snow ball you really hard, so just go with it and have fun.

Quite the mean game. Ive played about 8 games as of this review, 5 of them with two people, 3 with 4 people, and 1 with 3 people. For two players, Weve won once. For 4 players, weve won twice, and we won with the 3 people. All were played on the easiest difficulty setting. Most of our victories were by the skin of our teeth. Dont expect to win right out of the gate unless youve got a great mind for strategy. The set is beautiful. My only complaint is there are no good carriers for the disease cubes. Ive heard you can pick those up in an expansion, which Ive heard adds tremendous replayability. I cant believe it adds that much fun. This game is already as addicting as anything Ive ever played. I will be playing this one for years to come!

Played it once then the world went into an actual pandemic. We lost the game so I hope it’s not to telling of the future. Overall was pretty fun but wouldn’t recommend playing seems to manifest too much into reality. Not sure if im playing the game still or if this all is real. -1 for an actual pandemic being declared the next day.