I enjoy the board game Pandemic (2-4 players; takes 45 minutes; easy to learn but tricky to play; best of all a co-operative game!)
I was thinking of posting a sample game here - any interest?
I enjoy the board game Pandemic (2-4 players; takes 45 minutes; easy to learn but tricky to play; best of all a co-operative game!)
I was thinking of posting a sample game here - any interest?
As someone who recently bought the game and is yet to beat it with 2 players (found 4-player much easier), sure.
I’m halfway through a basic game (2 players; 4 epidemics) - boy, there’s a lot to keep track of!
I will get there
Vanilla Pandemic is probably the favorite game in our house. We’ve finally gotten to the point where we can win maybe 75% of the time with 4 epidemics in play (most of the time with two-player). With the jump to 5 epidemics that percentage drops precipitously. One key to success is building research stations as soon as you possibly can. We’ve won with as few as 3 stations on the board, but 4 is most common. The research stations provide a means of rapid travel to opposite sides of the board facilitating the quick exchange of cards for research and rapid disease fighting when multiple cubes start accumulating in close proximity to each other. Adjacent cities with three cubes on them is, of course, a recipe for game-losing outbreaks.
Been playing Pandemic, and it’s expansions, for several years in our family. Recently found the Pandemic: the Cure edition, which is dice based. It sets up in about 60 seconds, plays in about 30 minutes, and keeps most of the good things about Pandemic(cooperative play, multiple diseases, global resource management, roles, adjustable difficulty, multiple loss conditions requiring careful play), while ditching most of the annoying things(billions of plastic cubes, multiple decks of cards, big map with tons of moving pieces, complicated traveling). I like it more than regular Pandemic for casual play(I have a copy at the office for my work nerd friends to play at lunch). I still like full Pandemic, especially if we’re going to play with the bio-terrorist or other expansion mechanics, but the dice-based Pandemic was very well done and is a great way to get most of the Pandemic experience.
Enjoy,
Steven
Pandemic is the most fun I’ve ever had in a cooperative board game that I’ve never won.
A close second is Flash Point, a very similar game but instead of curing diseases you’re putting out fires and rescuing people. Otherwise it plays much the same.
One of the criticisms of cooperative games you sometimes hear is that they can become essentially ‘one player games’ where a single dominant/experienced player calls all the shots and everyone else just goes along. This, however, has everything to do with who you’re playing with. The times I’ve played Pandemic it’s always been a collaborative effort on everyone’s part. Maybe the first couple games a newbie might rely heavily/exclusively on more experienced players advice but even with just a couple games under their belt they’re usually actively contributing to strategy afterwards. The rules are quite simple but the gameplay is where all the jazz occurs.
I love Pandemic. My girlfriend and I play it a lot and have introduced many people to it. Just recently, we played with a couple for the first time. They loved it so much they said they’d go out and buy their own copy.
I would be interested in playing Pandemic Legacy. This is allegedly the best way to play. The board is permanently destroyed and the results of nearly a dozen games snowball into one, massive story arch.
Yes, Pandemic Legacy is great. There are two seasons so make sure you do season 1 first. It comes in a red or blue box but the game inside is identical.
My favorite non-legacy version is Pandemic Iberia. It is a beautiful game set in 1848 so you don’t have the luxury of flying to another city. There is even a variant where as soon as you start treating a disease the patients hear about it and start moving toward you!
My sons and I love this game, and to co-op aspect helps ensure fewer fights break out.
It was through this game, I learned my youngest son is a nihilist. One game, he started doing something (I forget exactly what). I asked him why he was doing that. It is very disconcerting to see an eight year old smile and say, “I want to see the world burn.”
You should consider buying the “On The Brink” expansion pack. The game allows five players, one of which is a bio-terrorist whose objective is to sabotage the others.
We are, literally, bang in the middle of Pandemic: Legacy season 1. We bought it to play together on an evening on our summer hols.
We won in June and are ready to play July. Still in good shape, no scars, no fallen cities, not too many games lost. Blue and Black diseases are upgraded to a high level but yellow has never been eradicated yet and gives us regular headaches. (we’ve given it a name…Egyptian Skipping Mumps…for no discernible reason)
We are pretty much expecting it all to go to shit from here on in but we are loving it nonetheless.
(we play it with our kids 11 and 13 and are experienced Pandemic-ers)
If my girlfriend and I decide to move in together in the future, this will be my present to her.
You old romantic you, some girls get diamonds, she gets a post apocalyptic hell-hole
Hah! And I know she will be thrilled about it. Don’t worry, though, she’s a keeper
I read it as “banging in the middle of Pandemic” which isn’t that romantic; post apocalyptic hell-hole depends on hygiene I guess.