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

This is a great game due to the fact that it is cooperative! Everyone is on the same team and trying to reach the same goal. There is a lot going on and it seems pretty complicated at first, but after a couple games your really get the hang of it. It is very easy to pick up if playing with someone who already knows how since theres quite a bit of instructions and asking them questions is much easier than finding the answer in the multi-page manual. Every time you play is different due to how the cards fall and the individual role cards involved. There are 3 difficulty settings and to be warned, it can be quite challenging to win (especially on the hardest setting). By that just makes winning so much sweeter! I highly recommend this game as its a great one for fun, planning, teamwork, and communication.

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.

I love board games and this one is defiantly a must have. My wife is very competitive and will often quit if she is loosing and will hardly play if she isnt on my team. This game is very unique in the fact that you are playing against the game. A concept I didnt know existed with a board game. This is a very intense game and allows you to adjust the difficulty. It has so much playback with the different characters. Its a great game and makes you team up and is very cooperative. I like it cause you really cant get mad at each other as there is a bunch of team dessision making. Anyways its basically the best game ever. My wife and I played it repeatedly for 5 hours when we first got it, slowly upping the difficulty.

I recently ordered two copies of this game just this week. From the very first time I opened them up, I noticed that they were not the same. From doing some research on my own, I found out that one of the two games I ordered was actually a counterfeit board game. I have posted pictures for you to see the differences between the two. See below for some differences I found: The very first thing you will notice about the counterfeit is that the box has washed out colors and a cardboard-like feel. The genuine copy feels much higher quality to hold in the hand, and has a textured feel to it with very vibrant colors. Open up the game box and you will also see differences in quality between the two boards. The genuine board has vibrant colors and excellent contrast, as well as a smooth surface. The counterfeit copy in comparison has a rougher feel to it with horrible contrast. I also found one of the city names misaligned on the counterfeit copy as well. Another difference is the cards provided with the game. The cards in the genuine copy feel very high quality with smooth surfaces and a glossy finish. The cards in the counterfeit copy feel rough and cardboard-like. I imagine shuffling the counterfeit cards without damaging them would be a difficult task. Another difference is the rulebook itself. The genuine rulebook has a smooth and glossy finish, whereas the counterfeit rulebook has a matte finish. The cubes provided in the counterfeit had dimple like impressions on each side, whereas the genuine copy had smooth sides all around. And lastly, the counterfeit game box itself had some misaligned colors on the edges. The genuine copy did not have this. If I had not ordered two copies of this game, I probably would not even know I had ordered a fake. The fake is passable and playable as a game, but nowhere near the quality of the genuine game. I just thought I would post this review to help anybody thinking they may have ordered a counterfeit copy. I do have to add that Amazon is going to offer me a refund for the counterfeit version. The refund process was quick and simple. Despite the negative experience, I still do recommend Amazon as a way to buy games. Their customer service is unmatched by any other company in existence. Note: The counterfeit copy is on top and the genuine copy on the bottom. I know it may be difficult to notice the difference in the photos, but it is VERY noticeable in person. If you are concerned you received a fake copy, I would say the easiest way to tell would be to check the cards. If they are not smooth nor have a glossy finish, then you probably received a fake game. The cards provided in the real game are actually very high quality.

My family spent an entire day playing this game while we were quarantining with COVID! It was super fun to work together as a family, instead of play against each other like most games. My 9 year old daughter particularly enjoyed this game & it was particularly enjoyable as a parent watching her use a higher level of thinking to help strategize ways & moves we can all make to beat the game. I will say that the instructions are basically a small book (not really but like 8-10 pgs long) & can be overwhelming when you read. We played 5 games the first day we opened it & every time we played, we found more instructions or rules that we didn’t know or understand the last round. This was due to multiple reasons, 1. The instructions were long & we overlooked something accidentally 2. The instructions weren’t very clear in some instances 3. The instructions didn’t address everything 4. Instructions seemed to jump around & refer you to another page. The biggest point of confusion was curing the virus VS. eradicating the virus, how you achieved curing/eradicating, what the benefits are of curing/eradicating & what the game actually intends for you to do to win the game. It got a little frustrating towards the last couple games. At one point, we even googled to clarify. I think we FINALLY understand how the game is intended to be played & I’m not going to lie, I think I liked the way we had initially played it best. All that being said, we still really enjoyed playing the game as a family & working together! I enjoyed the strategizing & higher level processing that is needed to plan for the win, along with the semi-relevance to todays climate in regards to COVID. It added a little bit of learning & deeper understanding to our fun. My daughter is still begging to play again!

I did a lot of research before buying this game. I really wanted our family to try a cooperative game and this one routinely tops all the lists out there. And for good reason. I dont usually write reviews but this game deserves the kudos. There are a million reviews out there that can break down the specifics better than I can, so I will give a brief summary of the games appeal. First, as I mentioned, it is a game won by everyone working together. That is a refreshing way to play. It can get a little edgy at home when our family plays a competitive style of board game, but this one has done wonders. Now we all work together for a common cause. Second, the gameplay is fantastic. We are always racing to avoid outbreaks,working together to determine how to keep things under control and at the same time work to find a cure before things unravel too far. Third, there are multiple characters we can play, each with their own special attributes that lend something toward winning the game. You choose different character cards each time, so the gameplay can change drastically each time. That really helps with preventing the game from getting stale. And even if it ever started to, there is the well-reviewed expansion game. Weve played a number of times now, starting out on the beginner level (4 epidemic cards), which we managed to win, then the intermediate level (5 cards), which we have won more than lost- but always really exciting and very, very close, and expert level (6 epidemic cards), which we were crushed on our first attempt. Our family has never played board gamest that had rules that were complex. Pandemics rules are not overly complex but they are a bit more involved than the more basic board games out there. Make sure you take the time to read things through before playing. After the first run-through youll be off and running. The board itself is good quality. The game pieces are fairly ordinary, though the player cards are nicely done. Overall, I cant recommend this game enough. Fun, intelligent, cooperative, and not at all repetitive.

I love this game. This was my first coop game, and Ive taught a few people how to play, and its thematic, it feels like you are actually trying to wipe out disease threats across the globe. Try it first on the easiest difficulty level until youve beaten it and are sure you understand the game mechanics. Once I understood the game, I went to the middle difficulty level and I think that thats just the right level to play. Only warning Ill give is that, because its a coop game, theres a tendency, as the person who taught it to other people, for me to dominate the game. I try to get everyones input while playing. I try not to boss people around. If someone else has a different idea than me of what to do, I try to encourage them. I managed to hook a total non-gamer on the game, so I guess whatever Ive been doing works. I used to game a lot, and Im trying to get back into the hobby. This was a nice re-introduction into gaming for me.

This is a great cooperative game.

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.

I found this to be the hardest board game Ive ever attempted. But after at least thirty minutes of reading instructions over and over we endeavoured on one of most surprisingly fun games Ive played. I played with my ten year old sons. They were bouncing with excitement. It is a tremendous game. Give it a chance. Expect to out in a bit of time to learn but then trust that itll be worth it. What fun!!!