13 best extensions of the pandemic
13 best extensions of the pandemic
More than 10 years have passed since the first Pandemic game. It's been a long time. It’s by no means the first co-op board game , but it’s by far the most influential on the gaming board scene, and today we’re looking for the best extensions and versions of the pandemic to hit the market in the last decade (and beyond).
Our best selections for the best pandemic extensions ?
Are you in a hurry? Check out our favorite pandemic extensions below.
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My first Pandemic game was at the table with family and friends. We played the classic version for the first time and none of us knew we had just opened Pandora’s box. My first run at the Pandemic board game (which is not unusual) was a loss. Even epidemics or a lack of disease cubes have not hit us. We ran out of cards and we literally ran out of wins.
Of course, I was completely addicted to the game. It was such an amazing shared story. Every player is 100% important in every game. Nonsense such as building a research station in the right place or deciding whether to discard a card for movement can completely change the outcome of a game, and if played correctly, never depends on the actions of one person.
Like I said, it’s 10 years long. Rules have changed, panels have been added, and more versions and extensions are available. In this article, we will guide you through the world of pandemics in all their forms.
0. Pandemic
If you haven’t played the original Pandemic board game yet, take it now and play it. Come back and read this article later. Don't worry, we'll wait.
We love the pandemic and even wrote an in-depth review of the original basic game, which you should check out if you haven’t tried it yet.
- STRATEGY GAME: Players must participate in their ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only by working in groups will you keep ...
- ACT TOGETHER AND SAVE HUMANITY: Four diseases threaten ...
1. The Legacy of the Pandemic: Season 1
There’s a reason Pandemic Legacy has been at the top of every gaming list for years and was recently rejected by BGG # 1 City author Gloomhaven.
Playing Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 begins as a classic Pandemic game. After each game, players are asked to read from a secret deck of cards that move the story of the game. Without giving any spoilers, the world of Pandemic Legacy will gradually deteriorate and diseases will become increasingly virulent, causing destruction throughout the game.
You have to live with the consequences
Every Pandemic game permanently changes the board. Places can be particularly damaged in one round of the game, and damage is charged in future games. Whole parts of the plate can become impassable deserts. Each role card is a special character who can die or become a seasoned veteran and all changes are permanent.
As we ran through our game Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, of course, I ended up getting terribly crippled and dying halfway through the campaign ... but I still didn’t have fun when I was ruined in a board game.
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 basically takes all the lessons learned from each version of the pandemic and recreates everything in one epic experience.
Red and blue
There are 2 versions and as far as I know they are exactly the same. There may be some slight changes, but in talking to someone who played the red version (we played blue), there was no difference in the results and the story.
I will admit that I had the same reservations that everyone has about the old game, and that is, of course, the limited shelf life of the game. As you continue, it forces you to go back and destroy the pieces of the game. It was a really weird feeling when I tore up my first card, but I’m not sorry.
- STRATEGY GAME: Players must participate in their ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only by working in groups will you keep ...
- PLAY AFTER THE YEAR: The pandemic legacy begins as ...
The final thoughts
We’ve played this one board game more times than many games on our shelf. The experience was so unique that we are still talking to Kendra about it.
If you’re still feeling a little insecure, keep in mind that most gamers on board will want to play and one person doesn’t have to pay the bill. The four players who share the cost of the game will cost about as much as going to the movies on Friday night.
1 movie = 2 hours of entertainment per person
1 Pandemic Legacy Campaign = 12+ hours of entertainment per person
To date, this has been one of my favorite gaming experiences on board.
2. The Legacy of the Pandemic: Season 2
Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 created an amazing narrative that allowed players to experience all that Pandemic has to offer. They took all the lessons learned from previous enlargements and created a complete pandemic experience (in my humble opinion).
Season 2 is a completely different beast. It takes all the events of Season 1 and fast forward to the future, where the human race is battling the consequences and consequences of the events of Season 1. The world has changed forever and so has the world of the pandemic. The game itself takes over everything you know about the pandemic, known rules, global map, diseases, strategies and completely changes them.
No spoilers
Without getting to the spoilers found in the prologue game, the world is affected. The last bastion of survivors is still battling the effects of one surviving disease, and players will have to head out after years of isolation to try to rebuild the world.
In the first game of Season 2, you’ll notice that the rules vary greatly. Instead of a growing number of disease cubes, players will have to manage fewer and fewer stocks. If stocks run out, territories and safe havens will become vulnerable to disease and outbreaks.
- STRATEGIC GAME: Embark on an epic adventure to bring humanity back ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only with group work will you and ...
- PLAY AFTER THE FLIGHT: Pandemic Legacy requires playing ...
When the pandemic season was the culmination of classic games and the expansion of the pandemic, season 1 is the evolution of the game. We’re guaranteed to throw in a few monkey keys to the rules, a lot more than Season 2 did.
3. Pandemic: On the edge
As far as expansions are concerned, On The Brink is generally considered to be the first stop for any disease lover. This is the first extension to a classic pandemic. It presents the usual suspects you would expect from an expansion: new characters and roles, new abilities, and it also brings one of the most dramatic shifts in any pandemic expansion.
No more collaboration
First, the Pandemic game, which lifted cooperative board games into the stratosphere in terms of popularity, is no longer just a cooperative.
WHAAA -?
How do you change the cooperative game about CDC agents marching around the world and fighting disease without a face? Of course you add a terrorist.
It's actually really dark ... I didn't expect that.
One of the versions On the Brink presents is a bioterrorist that is spreading a deadly fifth disease around the world. Bioterrorist actions are completely hidden and are followed by pen and board paper. This addition changes the whole dynamics of the game, which now becomes a 1 to 4 situation.
A bioterrorist will sneak up, spread purple disease around the world, or sabotage research stations. A bio-terrorist can be a sophisticated master or a mad scientist and sow the plague wherever they go. Either way, players will have to decide whether treating a bioterrorist is a priority or more focused on healing.
The bio-terrorist is a jerk.
Already this version adds so much new gameplay to the game and completely changes the feel by adding a new competitive aspect.
It also alleviates alpha player syndrome, where one player dominates decisions on board. In a pandemic, it usually happens that experienced players will release new players. It’s not fun for everyone, but the gameplay almost encourages this behavior. If you try the bio-terrorist version, you can push a more experienced player into the role of a terrorist and allow newer players to fight against the board to decide for themselves.
After all, weren't they all in love with the Pandemic because of their shared experiences, extraordinary problems, challenges, and hopes of success?
Epidemic variants
Other versions added in the On the Edge section are new epidemic versions. We can now add various epidemic maps to the game that could make a particular disease more virulent or more difficult to treat. For example, there is a scenario where a certain color of the disease is so bad that players will have difficulty traveling through infected cities. This makes the already difficult task of moving around the board even more difficult.
You can also play with the virulent strain version to challenge yourself further. He takes one of the original diseases and mutates it, making it much harder to treat and deal with. A deadly mutation in a virulent strain can challenge even veteran players.
If the competitiveness of a bioterrorist is really sad and you want a fully collaborative experience, you can still add a purple superbug to the game and eliminate the bioterrorist component. This still adds new elements without adding a 5th player. For truly masochistic players, there is also a new “legendary problem” with 7 cards of the epidemic.
- THIS IS AN EXPANSION OF THE PANDEMIC BOARD GAME: You will need a Pandemic ...
- Raise your stakes and face new challenges with this expansion: ...
- THREE MAINTENANCE NEW CHALLENGES: Challenge 1: One disease could ...
The final thoughts
Of all the extensions to the pandemic, this is my favorite.
Personally, I really enjoy Bio-terrorism. I’m a big fan of cooperative games, but I also think the themed story she brings to the table is worth the compensation with the evil player and her fun in spreading the disease for a change.
If you love Pandemic, this is the easiest choice for your first expansion. The Superbug and new challenges offered in The Brink add a ton of repeatability to the tried and tested Pandemic gameplay.
Oh! Did I mention On the Brink comes with cute Petri dishes to store your disease cubes? I know I’m a nerd, but it’s worth mentioning in terms of unique (and useful) components.
4. Pandemic: In the lab
For those looking for more themed experiences, In Lab offers.
In a classic pandemic, once you cure the disease, you have to hand over a handful of matching cards. It works. It made sense in the game. This is boring.
In the lab, they are drastically reshaping how diseases are treated in a pandemic.
Mini board (alias Lab)
This extension introduces a brand new mini board, representing a laboratory where diseases are actually researched and treated. There are several steps and sometimes there will be no way to develop a cure.
During the game, players will treat diseases around the world, just like in a classic pandemic. Instead of returning the disease cubes to stock, players can send them to the lab as samples. The lab board has several steps where players almost miss a similar mini-game to move disease cubes through the board.
New actions and a bigger problem
As the disease cubes move through the laboratory, drug development follows. The development of the drug is in several stages. Players will need to add a certain number and type of disease cubes to research the drug, test it, and then release it worldwide. At first glance, it’s a bit complicated. Probably veteran players will need a game or two to figure out the rules and then try to develop some strategies.
In the lab, it drastically changes the level of difficulty of the game. If a player tries to take too many samples to the lab, he risks running out of disease cubes and that’s the immediate game over. There are so many more things to juggle in such an exceptional game, but it’s still one of my favorites.
If that’s not enough for you, In Lab introduces several new versions and other goodies. The usual suspects of additional characters and abilities are included. Everyone will have unique power and everyone will be useful.
Competition and independent play
The new version of the game adds a competitive game to the mix. The whole game remains cooperative, but in the case of “too close to home” that mimics life, players can split into teams and focus on treating illness for fame and glory (points) and end up competing for the end result of the game.
There’s even a new addition to the stand-alone game rules that doesn’t just contain a player that also controls multiple characters.
- THIS IS AN EXPANSION OF THE PANDEMIC BOARD GAME: You will need both ...
- NEW exciting challenge - a race against time to cure disease and ...
- SECOND NEW exciting challenge - SOLO GAME: Now you can take ...
The final thoughts
I love themed elements in board games and the new lab brings 100%. It’s cool, intricate, and fits perfectly into the basic game. I don’t play it with every Pandemic game, but when I play with a team of veteran scientists and rescuers, we try to maximize the problem.
5. Pandemic: state of emergency
The state of emergency is adding new challenges to the world of the pandemic, while at the same time giving new improved capabilities to deal with the impending destruction of humanity.
The ever-wild purple virus now has a deadly version of SUPERBUG that cannot be treated. WTF!?!?!?
How should it be treated? At first you can't ...
Purple Superbug
The purple superbug will run wild around the world and cannot be treated until you explore it. It is being investigated as a common disease, but one submitted card must contain a site infected with purple. The research station is then upgraded to a vaccine factory that produces vaccines. Players will need to pick up the vaccines and then discard them in the infected places to remove the purple cubes of infection. Each vaccine removes only 1 cube.
Quarantined tokens
But don’t be afraid. Players will have a new ability to help slow the spread of the disease. Players can quarantine sites and place quarantine tokens on sites. The quarantine tokens are numbered 2 or 1 on both sides. When a quarantine site is affected by a disease, instead of placing a disease cube, move the quarantine mark to 1 or, if there is one, remove it. Quarantine capability is the only way to slow the spread of purple disease and is a great way to bolster some defense forces in anticipation of a particularly bad epidemic.
New characters
Along with these skills, players will have access to new characters that complement new versions well. Pharmacists will be able to treat diseases around the world, the colonel will be able to return quarantine tokens to full health, and a gene soldering iron will be able to explore a drug with multiple colors instead of one.
Background module
The additional Hinterlands module includes 2 side panels to add to the game. Thematically, hinterlands are areas where animal diseases can eventually mutate into humans and spread rapidly throughout the population.
Basically, 4 extra places are added to the board: one for each color. They are associated with multiple sites and if players ignore them and break out, many sites will be infected (4-5).
Emergencies
The last addition are emergency cards. Added extraordinary events are equal to the number of epidemic cards added at the beginning of the game. Each has a different effect, either immediate or permanent. They all have one thing in common, they are all terrible and it will hurt them. They are similar to mutation cards from previous extensions, but usually affect everyone, as opposed to a single disease.
- THIS IS AN EXPANSION OF THE PANDEMIC BOARD GAME: You will need a Pandemic ...
- NEW LEVEL OF CHALLENGES: Your task in treating deadly diseases is ...
- FINI SET THE GAME PROBLEMS: Take more control of ...
The final thoughts
Personally, I found the expansion of the hinterland interesting, but not as changing the game as some other elements. It adds some difficulty and a whole new themed element, but the Hinterland remains separate from the main game. It’s a challenge, but I don’t feel integrated enough to be able to invest me.
Superbug, on the other hand, is really painful, but also fun. This is my favorite part of the extension. Increased problems and challenges make expansion worthwhile.
New capabilities and quarantine tokens add more depth and repeatability to the Pandemic. This extension adds more of what you expected and adored from Pandemic: challenging, brutal, collaborative play.
6. Pandemic: medicine
The drug is another standalone series of Pandemics. The main mechanics are shifting and relying on dice instead of cards.
Each character has a certain set of abilities in the form of custom color-coded cubes. With the help of custom dice, some players will be better at playing than other players, simply because of the odds on each dice.
Introducing the mechanics of cubes
This is a very cool way to change the game and it works very well. For example, a doctor has dead faces that allow him to treat three diseases, which is much more than any other character, making him a good choice for treating diseases that threaten an outbreak.
Speaking of disease ... guess what they ruled out disease cubes?
Cubes! Each color of the disease has a set of cubes that we place on different tiles. If you flip a five, place the stencil on the tile showing the five. Each cube has different options on which country tile it will land on. Once players heal and remove the dice from the tiles, they will eventually return to disease care.
Watch out for the gods dice
When players become infected, they will pull random dice out of the shopping bag, discard them and split them. Just like in a normal pandemic: if you run out of dice, the game ends in a loss.
Players will still have to move around the board and treat illness, but everything has been changed to take into account the dice mechanism and the intervention mechanism. Giving dice before the game can do some amazing things, but if you anger the dice gods, you can quickly drown in disease dice.
Epidemic rolls
We treat epidemics a little differently. At various set points in the game, players will move two followers along the center of the board. These are counters of infections and outbreaks. If they hit the skull mark, they're all dead and the game is over. There are also epidemic rolls that basically force players to roll the dice.
The only other thing that’s a little weird is the board; there really isn’t one. They are all free floating tiles that could easily be made into a board. Instead, there will be a bunch of separate tiles that make up the playing surface. I don’t understand why the Z-man games went in that direction, but it works.
- STRATEGY GAME: Players must participate in their ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only by working in groups will you keep ...
- PANDEMIC VERSION ON THE BONE: The hollow determines ...
So why do we need a cube version of a pandemic?
- This is a lot of fun.
- It is a much faster game and much easier to set up.
- It is absolutely fantastic for a smaller number of 2-3 players.
If you consistently find yourself in your playing group with only 1 or 2 other players and you like the original board game Pandemic, I highly recommend The Cure. It gives a lot of the same elements that made us fall in love with Pandemic, but in a much simpler, cleaner and faster version. If I have 4 players , I’ll probably always choose a classic pandemic as a cure, but if Kendra hangs out alone, I’ll be happy to pull her off the game shelf.
7. Pandemic cure: experimental drugs
Unlike all other standalone versions of the pandemic, The Cure has an extension that is very well thought out.
Like most extensions, a new set of roles and characters is available with matching custom cubes.
The scary purple superbug is back
2 main modules are included with this extension. The dreaded purple disease appears in The Cure with horrible, horrible purple cubes. Purple cubes act like a common disease, but each has two special faces.
- 2x: 2x side forces the player to then draw and roll extra dice to repeat the purple dice. If you’re unlucky, you can sit there and spin twice, and then still roll more and more dice, all in one turn. That sucks.
- -1: Negative, that sounds good, right? NOOOOPE. Each negative 1 forces the player to return to the dice bag and remove the dice from the game. Remember that if you run out of dice from stock, you lose the game. If that wasn’t enough, then you need to spin the purple cubes.
If you’ve really pissed off the dice in a past life, you could theoretically sit there and lose the game in one turn with bad purple rolls.
The challenge of hot zones
The next module added in the extension is the Hot Zones Challenge. Hot zones are new events in the form of green cubes. The green cubes will spread across the plate and affect what is happening in the space. As the trail of infection moves down, more dice will be added to the game.
There is a 50/50 chance that the event will be good or bad.
- Some good effects can be moving the matrix for free, avoiding 1 roll of biohazard, or supplementing the search for a cure.
- Adverse effects can make it difficult to move around areas or cause you to roll over more disease cubes (many more).
- THIS IS A PANDEMIC EXPANSION OF THE CARD BOARD GAME: You will need ...
- STRATEGY GAME: Players must participate in their ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only by working in groups will you keep ...
The final thoughts
I was skeptical of the drug from the beginning, but I gradually warmed up. Pandemic: Cure - Experimental drugs just seal my business. I found that I really like the version of Pandemic with dice, especially with two players. The fact that there is also a SOLID extension for it is only better. I enjoy every added component and the extra character abilities are absolutely phenomenal.
8. Pandemic: Iberia
Pandemic: Iberia is a special version of the pandemic. But if you find a copy, you’re in luck. This is a collection with limited one-time printing.
For us ordinary people, who cares? Is he playing well? Is it worth the money? Let's see.
Pandemic: Iberia takes place in Iberia (Spain) in the mid-1800s. This version sticks to its roots as players fight disease rather than eldritch horrors, water or bastards. Notice how I said fight and not cure. Nothing can be cured in 19th century Spain.
The best thing you can do is make everyone as comfortable as possible.
Wait a minute! It got a little dark too soon.
The importance of research ...
Players will prefer to win the game if they succeed in Researching All Diseases. You don’t get a bonus for researching the disease, but you will win the game if you manage to research all four before they all die.
19th century medicine may not be up to date, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. Players will travel around Spain and purify the water. You would be surprised at the improvements in basic hygiene when you stop polluting your water supply.
... and water purification
The installation of a purified water token works similar to the quarantine tokens from previous pandemic extensions. Instead of placing them in a specific place, the purified water is placed in the negative space of the board between the places. When any place that touches this space becomes infected, a token of purified water is removed instead of the disease cube.
Forget about air travel
To make matters more difficult, in the 1800s they had no air travel. Players must take a boat ride through the harbors to move across the board or, if well planned, can use the rail. As an act, players can place a rail tile. I highly recommend that you start building the railroad right at the beginning of the game. Players can move to any space connected to the continuous rail for 1 action. This is the best way to move around the board ... but you need to build this up early before you are completely overwhelmed.
The final thoughts
Iberia is a very cool concept. It captures all the classic elements of a pandemic and then asks the question, “What happens without modern technology?”. The themed elements, gameplay and components are great. The changes to the rules due to the historical era are so well done and allow for a very interesting gaming experience. If you find a copy, I highly recommend picking it up.
9. Pandemic: Rising Tide
The ocean is rising, the embankments are collapsing and the water is rising.
Pandemic: Rising Tide has players facing one of the most important forces on Earth and trying to push an unstoppable force ... water.
I may be exaggerating a bit, but Rising Tide has a special place in my heart because of my old naval training. I used to deal with some things in Rising Tide like a real job, which is hard, both in the game and in real life.
Basic rules we know and love
The basic rules of a pandemic will apply here:
- 4 actions
- Water drainage and pumping (disease treatment)
- Construction of a pumping station (construction of a research station)
- Construction of 4 hydraulic structures (disease treatment and state of victory)
- Storm cards (epidemic)
Multiple script modules
You can play multiple scenarios. Everyone has different conditions and goals to win, which add to the ability to play again and offset the fact that this version is basically unique and will never experience expansion.
In the standard game, players build 4 large hydraulic stations to save the Netherlands. Rising Tide will apply most of the basic pandemic rules regarding arm size, actions, movements, and construction.
Objective: Water management under supervision
There are differences in your way of handling water. In a classic pandemic, you are battling a disease that is spreading to neighboring cities. This time you are dealing with water ... and water is a very liquid force. The flow of water can be much more destructive. When there are 3 water cubes in the location and an additional cube is installed, the water will flow outwards. The water level of the surrounding areas will rise by 1 (to 2), and then the water level of the surrounding areas will rise by 1 (to 1). This can cause a devastating effect of the waterfall and quickly flood large parts of the slab.
Construction of embankments and dealing with storms
But the players are not powerless. Players will be able to build embankments that hold water and create barriers. With careful planning, players can ensure water flow is contained. Each embankment on the board prevents the dice from being deposited on the board and prevents water from spilling onto other tiles, but they will be damaged and destroyed during the game.
This is a very interesting concept with several game modes. There is a version in the game that adds civilians to the board. Targets can be swapped to save the lives of civilians instead of building hydraulic stations, which would give the game some repetition.
The Achilles' heel of Rising Tide is the embankment. They are an interesting ingredient, but a complete pain in the buttocks. Imagine Catan Island Road, but at the slightest bump into a table or someone long-sleeved reaching across a table, pieces of embankment fly across the board. There are plenty of places to go, so it’s hard to remember where they’re going.
- STRATEGIC GAME: You and your friends play as a team of Dutch civilians ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only with group work will you have ...
- WATER HAZARD: The Dutch have relied on a range of ...
The final thoughts
Pandemic: Rising Tide is different enough to offer a bunch of new strategies and gameplay, but it’s similar enough that a veteran Pandemic player will immediately recognize the ground rules and can only start with a brief explanation.
I like the theme and even the look of the board I really like. Some say it looks gloomy and depressing, but it fits the theme well. My only problem is that I don’t like to spend 20 minutes for each game figuring out where the dikes are supposed to go after I inevitably send them in the summer.
10. The pandemic fall of Rome
Webster's dictionary defines a "pandemic" as:
(Adapted.) It occurs in a wide geographical area and affects an extremely large proportion of the population.
(Yes, I went there.)
Pandemic: Fall of Rome has decided to use the adjective form pandemic instead of the noun referring to the disease.
At the fall of Rome, the catastrophe that occurred and affected much of the population was the barbaric invasions that destroyed the Roman Empire.
This is a whole new theme in the series and needs some creative licensing to be included in the Pandemic line of games, but the real question is, "Is it still a fun game?"
Similar mechanics, new goals
There are mechanics who are similar to the Pandemic series, but the strategies and goals are different.
Let’s look at the similarities first.
- Players take turns and get 4 promotions.
- To move from port to port, players can discard a card that matches the color of their target.
- To build a fort, players discard a card from the same location.
- At each step, players will draw cards from the deck of attack sites (deck of infections).
Ok, a lot of the mechanics are similar, but the goals and the way you play are very different. The attacking barbarians must either be completely excluded from the committee or linked to Rome. Instead of curing disease, players will have to use equivalent diplomacy and violence to save Rome.
Barbarians, legions and diplomacy ... Oh my!
To fight, players must recruit legions and place them on a board to stop the barbarians. Legions operate similarly to quarantines from previous pandemic games. When the barbarians flood the location, players will first remove the legions from the space before placing them.
As players move across the board, they can take up to 3 legions with them and drop them off along the way. This positioning is extremely important throughout the game. As the game continues, the barbarians will invade on all sides and the only way to slow them down or stop them is to build fortifications and put legions in the way.
Each barbarian has a different color and a certain starting point. During the stage of invasion, the barbarians push outwards from this point and spread across the board. It’s a little weird at first to understand how they move, but then once that happens twice or twice in the game, it starts to make sense.
Players who have never played Pandemic will be somewhat lost on the first reading of the rules, but any veteran Pandemic player will feel at home with a 5-minute explanation of the rules.
- STRATEGY GAME: Travel back in history to time ...
- COOPERATIVE GAME: improve your team's defense capabilities ...
- THE GREATEST EMPIRE IN HISTORY: At the height of its power is ...
The final thoughts
Now that you have a very general idea of what's going on, the real question is, "Is the Fall of Rome standing on its own or is it just a disguised clone?"
I honestly think it works. The general system and rules are similar, but the thematic elements work well together and they have learned all the lessons from previous versions of Pandemics and made a very close game. The rules are clear and concise, it’s a collaborative game and there’s a big problem that’s really fun.
11. Pandemic: The Reign of Cthulhu
Everything needs a Cthulhu theme, right?
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu is a stand-alone game that replaces disease with eldrich cultists and monsters.
The main goal of the game is to close 4 doors to other worlds before Cthulhu wakes up and the world plunges into madness.
Map of cities and gates
The map is ... hard to navigate. There are 4 different Lovecraftian places to explore and the neighboring cities have only one entrance, making it a little difficult to get around. Players can risk damaging their minds by traveling through the door, and the goal is to close the door to make it gradually harder to move around the board.
Most of the same pandemic actions and rules will apply. Removing cultists costs actions just like disease cubes, but larger numbers of Shoggoths walking around the board cost 2 actions, indicating a harder fight.
Ancient
At the top of the board is the Ancient One track, which will wreak havoc throughout the game. When you are prompted to divert one of the Ancient One cards, bad things will happen, which usually involve the spawning of additional cultists and shogots. The last ticket on the route is always Cthulhu and if he ever wakes up, it’s over.
Madness!
All players have statistics in this version. Each player has a level of health that allows him to perform certain actions such as special abilities and travel through the door. Players don’t necessarily die, but if they lose all their minds, the character card flips over and shows a weaker version and is considered crazy. Closing the door can give players back their sanity, so all is not lost. But if all the characters go crazy, then the game is over.
- STRATEGY GAME: Players are investigators who must cooperate ...
- GAME COOPERATIVE: Only with group work will you have ...
- THREAT FROM THIS WORLD: Old, ancient creatures ...
The final thoughts
The game itself is probably the most beautiful pandemic game on the market. The components, artwork and panel are wonderful and fit the theme very well. Shoggoth chips look great. There is a reason it all has a version of Cthulhu; has so many great shots to work with and really makes for an aesthetically pleasing game.
The big question is, "Is this just a reskin pandemic?".
Pretty ... kind of.
It’s reskin, but a few extra bits added seem worth it. Reasonable abilities and transition from disease on Cthulhu works. If you don’t own either this version or the original, you’ll get a similar experience with each. If you like all things Cthulhu, you will totally like them. If the topic is not your thing, go with a regular Pandemic. With additional extensions and changes to the rules in the classic Pandemic, the original is a smarter purchase.
It’s fun, but I don’t know if I could justify it, since I already have a classic pandemic. If I want some Cthulhu in my life, I’ll probably just play Arkham or Eldritch Horror .
Fun fact: I really enjoy the games inspired by Cthuhl, but I still think writing HP Lovecraft is rubbish.
12. Pandemic infection
Pandemic: Contagion is the perfect weird thing in the Pandemic series of games.
The theme is basically the only similarity and even then it is completely turned upside down. Players are now a disease and the goal is to destroy as many human populations as possible.
The rules, mechanics and gameplay are completely unique and nothing like a classic pandemic. If you were looking for a version or extension, this is not a game. If you love a pandemic and want to see another perspective of global disease eradication, then this is the place for you.
Goal: Be the ugliest disease
The infection is not cooperative at all. Each player will become a virus and mutate during the game to kill people.
In fact, I really like the players ’boards. Contagion uses the disease cubes to mark the levels on one of the three tracks shown:
- Incubation: the number of cards you can draw
- Infection: The number of cubes you can use to infect cities
- Rebellion: Defense against the events of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Instead of a full map, players will draw cards from the deck showing which places are available for infection. Players score points depending on who put the dice first and who has the most dice disease.
- Standalone game
- For 2-5 players
- The game lasts about 30 minutes
The final thoughts
So ... it's a pandemic by name. It’s a completely different style of play. If you really like Pandemic and you’re a finalist, I’d say give it a try. If not, there are many variations and extensions of the pandemic that give a much more vibrant and strategic experience than Contagion.
13. Pandemic: 10th Anniversary Edition
Has it really been 10 years?
The 10th edition of Pandemic is a wonderful box of goodies. The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s in a super cool tin box. It reminds me of World War I field medical devices.
The board is much nicer than the original version. It is twice the size of the original panel with full color printing. It is colored as an actual map instead of the dark black and blue theme of the 2008 version.
Great components
All components of the card are upgraded to stock, and the printing and colors are very well done. You will not find any soft paper here.
Petri dishes are well made and disease cubes are wooden. They are still dice. That’s probably the only thing I don’t like about the 10th anniversary issue. I’ve seen third-party chips in the form of bacteria and viruses that looked very cool, so looking at the dice looks a bit boring for a big, expensive anniversary set.
One of the cooler elements that comes with the kit is a fully modeled miniature for each character that is much prettier than a generic pawn.
Wrong print or new challenge?
When you look at the collector’s edition, there is a bit of an elephant in the room… and the publisher tries to ignore it. A line connecting Bangkok with Ho Chi Minh City is missing from the collector’s edition board. Previous versions have linked the two spaces, but are not in the collection edition. There is also no verification of whether it is a conscious change or a false imprint and the publishers ignore the problem until it disappears.
- The original Pandemic game has sold over 1.5 million copies ...
- The limited edition anniversary is available in a custom metal case, ...
- Detailed plastic figures and large ID cards PA sign ...
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