Pandemic
2008
BGG Geek Rating
7.4
based on 132,606 ratings
BGG Average Rating
7.5
community average
BGG Ranking
#165
all board games
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Players
2-4
Weight
2.40/5.00
Playtime
45 min
Age
8+
⚙️ Game Mechanics
How this game works - core systems and player actions
🏢 Publishers
ADC Blackfire Entertainment
Albi
Asterion Press
Boardgame Space
Brain Games
CoolPlay
Devir
Enigma (Bergsala Enigma)
Filosofia Éditions
Galápagos Jogos
Game Harbor
Gém Klub Kft.
HaKubia
Hobby Japan
HomoLudicus
Jolly Thinkers
Kaissa Chess & Games
Korea Boardgames
Lacerta
Lautapelit.fi
Lifestyle Boardgames Ltd
MINDOK
Nordic Games ehf
Paladium Games
Pegasus Spiele
Quined White Goblin Games
Rebel Sp. z o.o.
Siam Board Games
Stratelibri
(Unknown)
Wargames Club Publishing
White Goblin Games
Z-Man Games
Zhiyanjia
Взрослые дети
Ігромаг
📖 About This Game
In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand.
The game board depicts several major population centers on Earth. On each turn, a player can use up to four actions to travel between cities, treat infected populaces, discover a cure, or build a research station. A deck of cards provides the players with these abilities, but sprinkled throughout this deck are Epidemic! cards that accelerate and intensify the diseases' activity. A second, separate deck of cards controls the "normal" spread of the infections.
Taking a unique role within the team, players must plan their strategy to mesh with their specialists' strengths in order to conquer the diseases. For example, the Operations Expert can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases and which allow for greater mobility between cities; the Scientist needs only four cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal five—but the diseases are spreading quickly and time is running out. If one or more diseases spreads beyond recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win!
The 2013 edition of Pandemic includes two new characters—the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist—not available in earlier editions of the game.
Pandemic is the first game in the Pandemic series.