''Pandemic'' is a cooperative board game designed by Matt Leacock and first published by

Z-Man Games Z-Man Games is an American board game company, incorporated in 1999. It was named after its founder, Zev Shlasinger. The company is known for their ''Pandemic'' series of board games, as well as being the sole publisher for the English editions of ...

in the

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in 2008. ''Pandemic'' is based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region. The game accommodates two to four players, each playing one of seven possible roles: dispatcher,

medic A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgra ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

, operations expert,

contingency plan A contingency plan, also known colloquially as Plan B, is a plan devised for an outcome other than in the usual (expected) plan. It is often used for risk management for an exceptional risk that, though unlikely, would have catastrophic conseque ...

ner, or

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

specialist. Through the combined effort of all the players, the goal is to discover all four cures before any of several game-losing conditions are reached. Three expansions, ''Pandemic: On the Brink'', ''Pandemic: In the Lab'', and ''Pandemic: State of Emergency'', co-designed by Matt Leacock and Tom Lehmann, each add several new roles and special events, as well as rule adjustments to allow a fifth player or to play in teams. In addition, several rule expansions are included, referred to as "challenge kits". ''Pandemic'' is considered one of the most successful cooperative games that have reached mainstream market sales, condensing the type of deep strategy offered by earlier cooperative games, like ''

Arkham Horror ''Arkham Horror'' is a cooperative adventure board game designed by Richard Launius, originally published in 1987 by Chaosium. The game is based on Chaosium's roleplaying game ''Call of Cthulhu'', which is set in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. ...

'', into a game that can be played in a limited time by a broader range of players. Aside from expansions, several

spinoffs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

have been released, most notably the ''Pandemic Legacy'' series, which encompasses three seasons (Season 1, Season 2 and Season 0), which adds an ongoing storyline and permanent changes to the game. The ''Pandemic Legacy'' games have been received with critical acclaim, with ''Season 1'' ranking 2nd place on BoardGameGeek out of approximately 22,000 games. Leacock began designing the game in 2004 after realizing that competitive games were making for strained evenings with his wife. He based the Pandemic board game on the

2002–2004 SARS outbreak The 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), infected over 8,000 people from 29 countries and territories, and resulted in at least 774 deaths worldwide. The outbreak was ...

Gameplay

The goal of ''Pandemic'' is for the players, in their randomly selected roles, to work cooperatively to stop the spread of four diseases and cure them before a pandemic occurs. The game consists of a game board representing a network connecting 48 cities on a world map, two decks of cards (Player cards and Infection cards), four colors of cubes with 24 cubes each (each representing a different disease), six Research Stations, and a pawn for each role. The Player cards include cards with each city name (the same as those on the board); Event cards, which can be played at any time (except for some events in expansions) to give the players an advantage; and Epidemic cards. Infection cards consist of one card for each city on the board and a color of the disease that will start there. At the start of the game, Infection cards are randomly drawn to populate the board with infections, from one to three cubes for a number of cities. Players start at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, the home of the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, and are given a random role and a number of Player cards based on the number of players. Pandemic_board_game_CDC

On each player's turn, there are four actions to take up, consisting of any combination of the eight possible actions (some of which require cards, including curing). After taking their actions, the player draws two Player cards, reducing their hand down to seven cards if necessary. If either draw is an Epidemic card, the player moves the Infection rate marker one space, draws a card from the bottom of the Infection deck and places three cubes on that city, puts that card into the Infection discard pile, reshuffles the discard pile, and places it back on top of the Infection deck (so that cards just drawn will come out again soon, unless another Epidemic follows shortly after). After the two Player cards are drawn (Epidemic or otherwise), a number of Infection cards are revealed (increasing throughout the game and corresponding to the Infection rate marker), and one cube of the indicated color is placed on each city drawn. Should a city already have three cubes and a new cube is to be added, an Outbreak occurs, and each interconnected city gains one cube of that color. This can create a chain reaction across many cities if several already have three disease cubes on them. After the infections are resolved, the player on the left has a turn. The game is over if the players either win (by discovering the cure for all four diseases) or lose (by having 8 outbreaks, not having enough disease cubes of a color to place at any time, or not having enough Player cards when someone needs to draw). Pandemic board game

To aid in winning the game, players are given roles that allow them to alter the above rules. Five roles were introduced in the original core game, with 7 in the 2nd edition, but additional roles were added through the game's expansion. For example, the Medic is able to treat all cubes in a city with a single action or, once a cure for a disease has been found, can remove cubes of that color in the city he is in without spending an action, while the Scientist needs only four cards of the same color to discover the cure (instead of 5). The players are also helped by the Event cards, which allow for similar one-time actions, such as direct removal of a few disease cubes or immediate construction of a research station. ''Pandemic'' requires all players to coordinate their efforts to win the game, specifically in gathering and sharing the necessary cards to discover cures while moving in coordination around the board and preventing Outbreaks in an efficient manner. However, a criticism of the game, dubbed "quarterbacking" is that there is a tendency for one player – the "alpha gamer" – to control the game. However, this is not limited to Pandemic – other cooperative board games can also suffer from quarterbacking.

Expansions

''On the Brink''

In 2009 the first official expansion was released, featuring several new roles, rules variants for a fifth player, new Special Event cards, and new challenges for the players. There are eight Role Cards in this expansion, including a revised Operation Expert card and a Bio-Terrorist card, which pits one player against the rest of the team. The challenges include a fifth disease, Mutation, which must be cured or not present at the game board when the players score for victory. Another challenge is the Virulent Strain, which makes one disease particularly deadly, replacing standard Epidemic cards with new ones. Each such card represents a special nasty effect that this particular epidemic has on the game play.

''In the Lab''

A second expansion was released in the summer of 2013, with a new game board that allows players to research disease cures in a laboratory. The goal of this activity is the same as in the base game—to find cures for diseases—but this time with an added research aspect. Players can also use new characters and new special events included with the expansion. In addition, it added a one-player mode and a team play mode, in which teams of two compete to be the most effective team. ''In the Lab'' requires both ''Pandemic'' and ''On the Brink'' to play, and also requires replacement decks if using the first editions of ''Pandemic'' and ''On the Brink''.

''State of Emergency''

A third expansion, released in March 2015, adds new roles and events and three new challenges: The Hinterlands, where animals spread diseases to human; Emergency Events, in which unpredicted events have a negative effect on the game; and Superbug, where a fifth disease is introduced that cannot be treated. The expansion is compatible with the two previous expansions, but neither is required. The purple disease cubes included with ''State of Emergency'' make the set included in ''On the Brink'' redundant.

Scenarios

Z-man Games has released free-to-download scenarios, with changes to the base game. Various scenarios are set to be released. , scenarios ''Isolation''Z-man games Pandemic scenario 1: Isolation
and ''Government Shutdown''Z-man games Pandemic scenario 2: Government Shutdown
have been published.

Editions

A second edition of ''Pandemic'' was released in 2013, with new artwork and two new characters: the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist. Some prints of the second edition had an error with a missing line between Lagos and São Paulo and edge-to-edge printing on cards. A second edition of the ''On the Brink'' expansion was released in 2013. In July 2018 a 10-year Anniversary Edition was released. This edition includes detailed miniatures representing the individual roles, updated role cards, a larger board, and wooden disease cubes. All components contained in a metal box made to represent a first aid kit from the early 20th century. This edition is a remake of the original game, but includes additional room within the box to hold expansions.

Replacement decks

The ''Pandemic base replacement deck'' updates the first edition of ''Pandemic'' to its second edition. It has been discontinued. ''Compatibility pack #2'' updates the first edition of the ''On the Brink'' expansion to its second edition. It has been discontinued. The ''In the Lab'' expansion (released after the second editions of ''Pandemic'' and ''On the Brink'') requires the second edition(s), or the first edition(s) along with its compatibility pack(s).

Spinoffs

Matt Leacock - Lucca Comics & Games 2018 01

Six spinoffs or alternate versions of ''Pandemic'' have been released by Z-Man Games, all of which are stand-alone games and are not compatible with the original or with each other.

''Pandemic: The Cure''

Released in 2014, ''Pandemic: The Cure'' is a dice-based game that uses a similar rule set to the original board game but strips down the number of cities and leaves the outcome of turns up to chance via dice rolls. An expansion to the game, ''Pandemic: The Cure - Experimental Meds'', was released in November 2016, adding a fifth disease and a new hot zone mechanism.

''Pandemic: Contagion''

''Pandemic: Contagion'' is a card-based version of the game, first released at

Spiel Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, often called the Essen Game Fair after the city where it is held, is an annual four-day boardgame trade fair which is also open to the public held in October (Thursday to the following Sunday) at the Messe Essen e ...

2014, that puts players in the role of the diseases and, unlike in the base game, the players do not cooperate. The object of the game is to eradicate the human race by spreading infections.

''Pandemic Legacy''

* ''Season 1'' – Released in October 2015 and designed by Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau, ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'' is a legacy version of the base game released by Z-Man Games, similar to '' Risk Legacy'', in which the game added an ongoing storyline to the basic game, meaning the game board and rules change permanently after each game. Each game represents one month of time in a campaign which simulates the passage of one year. If the players win the first game, they move on to the next month, and if they lose, they try again, but move on to the next month regardless of what happens in the second game. New rules and components are included in packages that remain sealed until certain events take place, such as completing the game for a given month, or losing a certain number of games in a row. *''Season 2'' – Released in October 2017 and designed by the same pair of designers Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau was a logical continuation from the original Season 1. The board game is set in a devastated earth 71 years after Season 1. This version changes the base rules of ''Pandemic'' enough to where a prologue tutorial game is included in the campaign so that players can learn the new mechanics, which includes a discovery aspect. Instead of diseases being represented by cubes, and the goal being to minimize the number of disease cubes placed, different cubes represent supplies, and disease starts spreading if supplies dwindle too low. *''Season 0'' – Released in October 2020, the third game in the series is a prequel taking place during the Cold War.

''Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu''

''Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu'', designed by Matt Leacock and Chuck Yager, was released at GenCon 2016. In this version of the game, players battle against occultists to prevent the summoning of the monster Cthulhu.

''Pandemic Survival Series''

''Pandemic Survival'' is not a single game, but instead a series of separate historical games covering a local area instead of the whole globe. * ''Pandemic: Iberia'' is the first game of the ''Pandemic Survival'' series, released in late 2016 and designed by Matt Leacock and Jesus Torres Castro, ''Pandemic Iberia'' is set on the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

in 1848. It introduces developing railroads and purifying water as new mechanics. In addition, players can play to cure four specific historical diseases:

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, typhus,

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

, and cholera. * ''Pandemic: Rising Tide'' is the second game of the ''Pandemic Survival'' series, released in the last quarter of 2017. ''Pandemic Rising Tide'' is set in the

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, where players cooperate to prevent

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing of the country by the rising waters. * ''Pandemic: Fall of Rome'' was released in the last quarter of 2018. ''Pandemic: Fall of Rome'' takes players back in history to the year 395 when Imperial Rome had a weakened army and had left the borders open to invasion from countless tribes. Players must recruit armies, fortify cities, forge alliances, and find peace with their neighbouring peoples consisting of the Anglo-Saxons, Goths, Vandals, and lastly the powerful Huns.

''Pandemic: Rapid Response''

''Pandemic: Rapid Response'' is a real-time cooperative game set in the ''Pandemic'' universe, released in 2019 and designed by Kane Klenko. In ''Rapid Response,'' players take on the role of an international crisis response team tasked with delivering essential supplies to cities affected by natural disasters. Players roll dice and allocate the results to various actions, including producing resources, piloting the plane towards affected cities, recycling the waste created by producing resources, and dropping off finished supplies in the cities that need them. The game takes place in real time, with the game briefly pausing and a new city being added after a two-minute timer expires. Players win by delivering relief to all cities and lose by running out of time or creating too much waste.

''Pandemic: Hot Zone - North America''

''Pandemic: Hot Zone - North America'' was released in July 2020. In ''Hot Zone - North America'' players assume the role of a disease control unit and must discover the cure for three deadly diseases in North America.

Acclaim and reception

The '' New Scientist'' listed ''Pandemic'' as one of "9 of the best board games to play for fans of science and tech". The game has been met with positive critical and commercial reviews including winning the 2009 Golden Geek Best Family Board Game and nominated for the 2009 Spiel des Jahres. ''Pandemic'' has been described as a "modern classic" with a "simple and compelling" design by '' Ars Technica''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' also praised the theme, stating that "Sam Illingworth has used '' andemic: Iberia/nowiki>'' to help teach schoolchildren about the different causes of disease and the importance of water purification", and suggests that it has “a brilliant central message that it’s not just one scientist in a lab, fighting disease, it’s lots of people working together”. A review from the ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' also praised the cooperative nature of the game. ''Pandemic'' was commercially successful, with approximately two million copies sold, and its popularity also increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ''Pandemic Legacy'' games have also received critical acclaim. ''Season 1'' has been described as a "leap forward in modern board game design", and "the best board game ever created", and is the second highest rated board game of all time on the influential BoardGameGeek website, having occupied the highest rank for several years. The Guardian has claimed that "this may be the best board game ever created", BoardGameTheories stresses that its strategic depth is increased significantly because players have to balance the interest of the current game with that of the overall campaign while making decisions, and Board Games Land described the game as "smart, dramatic and thematic, designed to create those memorable moments full of emotional highs and lows only a handful board games can match". ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 2'' and ''Pandemic Legacy Season 0'' have also been met with critical success, with The Opinionated Gamers describing the discovery system as 'brilliant' and the gameplay to be "the best version of Pandemic I’ve played". Ars Technica also praised the game's legacy format as 'immeasurably satisfying and stating that the "clever innovations boost almost every aspect of play". ''Pandemic Legacy Season 2'' was awarded five stars by Board Game Quest, with its legacy campaign praised as allowing "a level of engagement that isn’t available in other games". Furthermore, ''Pandemic Legacy Season 0'' has also been received positively, described as a '"flawless finale" Both of the subsequent seasons rank among the top 100 games of all time on BoardGameGeek.

Awards

* ''Pandemic'' won the 2009

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...

as "Best Board Game". * '' GAMES Magazine'' – Best new family game 2009 *

Golden Geek Award BoardGameGeek (BGG) is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 125,600 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. In addition ...

– Best expansion 2009 (for ''Pandemic: On the Brink'') * 2016 SXSW Tabletop Game of the Year Winner (for ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'') * 2016 Dragon Awards Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Board Game Winner (for ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'') * 2016 As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année Expert Winner (for ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'') * Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 won a record four Golden Geek awards in 2015: ** 2015 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Winner ** 2015 Golden Geek Best Thematic Board Game Winner ** 2015 Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Winner ** 2015 Golden Geek Best Innovative Board Game Winner * 2015 Cardboard Republic Immersionist Laurel Winner (for ''Pandemic Legacy: Season 1'')

Related products

In 2013, an iOS version entitled ''Pandemic: The Board Game'' was released by

Asmodee Digital Asmodee is a French publisher of board games, card games and role-playing games (RPGs). Founded in 1995 to develop their own games and to publish and distribute for other smaller game developers, they have since acquired numerous other board game ...

. The digital game was ported to PC five years later and released via Steam. As of January 2022, Pandemic is no longer purchasable on Steam. A novel based on the game will be published by Aconyte Books and written by Amanda Bridgeman. Leacock is developing '' Daybreak'', a tabletop game about the global response to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

with gameplay similar in premise to ''Pandemic''.