{"id":20481,"date":"2020-09-12T00:59:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T00:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=20481"},"modified":"2020-09-14T14:03:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T14:03:01","slug":"unplugged-pandemic-the-boardgame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/12\/unplugged-pandemic-the-boardgame\/","title":{"rendered":"Unplugged: Pandemic – The Boardgame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The world-wide Covid-19 pandemic has been ever present over the past year, forcing many families to stay home together for extended periods of time, perhaps putting a strain on relationships for all those cooped up together.\u00a0 While a cutthroat game of Monopoly might just make things worse, perhaps a cooperative game (where everyone wins or loses together) might be in order.\u00a0 Pandemic burst onto the boardgame scene in 2008, with its success spawning an entire line of Pandemic-themed cooperative games where players must work together to protect the world from an encroaching disaster. While the theme of a Pandemic may be too close to home for some, the games respectively deal with the issues at hand and may serve as a surrogate way for gamers to put themselves into an active role in the game\u2019s fictional pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pandemic<\/b><\/p>\n

Publisher: Z-Man Games
\n<\/span>Ages: 8+
\n<\/span>Players: 2-4
\n<\/span>Time: 45 mins<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

The original Pandemic was not the first cooperative boardgame out there, but it quickly gained a large fan base and kicked off the formation of many cooperative games since.\u00a0 It remains high on the list of \u201cbest-ever\u201d boardgames to this day.\u00a0 In the original Pandemic, players must rid the earth of four different diseases – represented by colored cubes placed onto a map of the world.\u00a0 Each turn, more cubes are added to specific cities.\u00a0 If too many cubes are already in that city, an \u201cOutbreak\u201d occurs and additional cubes are added to all the adjacent cities.\u00a0 In the meantime, players are given four actions each turn that they can spend to move about the map, remove cubes from cities they are standing in, trade cards with other players, and\/or build useful structures.\u00a0 The cards are particularly important.\u00a0 If a player can collect a \u201cset\u201d of five cards of the same color, they can be cashed in to \u201ccure\u201d the disease of that color.\u00a0 Curing a disease makes it easier to remove from the board, and if all cubes of that color are removed, they no longer appear at all.\u00a0 Once all four diseases are \u201ccured\u201d (they don\u2019t have to be eliminated), the players win the game.\u00a0 If the players run out of time (their deck of cards runs out) or there are too many cubes on the board, the players lose.\u00a0 The game is fairly simple to grasp but each game is unique.\u00a0 Every player is given a special power such as the capability to move other players, deal with cards easier, or even specialize in removing disease cubes.\u00a0 There are several powers available and mixing them up will open up new strategies to apply.\u00a0 New disease cubes appear on the board based on cards drawn from a special deck.\u00a0 The order in which cards appear when drawn from the deck results in different \u201chot spots\u201d appearing on the game board from play to play.\u00a0 There is even a way to adjust the difficulty of the game such that more experienced players will always be able to set themselves up for a challenge.\u00a0 One of the best parts of the game is its story-arc.\u00a0 Games start out with players jumping around the game board to try to get things under control.\u00a0 With luck, initial problem areas are cleared out and players can get into a rhythm of play.\u00a0 However, as the game goes on the cubes come out at a faster and faster pace so a crisis is reached where players need to finish their cures in a few more turns or the entire world will be overrun.\u00a0 The best games have a brief moment of doubt where players are convinced they will probably lose, and then a possible plan emerges just in time to pull a victory back from the brink.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pandemic Expansions:<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"It comes as no surprise that a successful game like Pandemic also spawned a few expansions and sequels for the game.\u00a0 \u00a0 The first expansion, <\/span>On the Brink <\/b>is three expansions in one.\u00a0 Players can make one of the four diseases \u201cvirulent,\u201d making it much harder to deal with.\u00a0 A second option is to add in a new purple disease, now with five diseases on the board.\u00a0 The third option makes the game competitive by introducing a Eco-terrorist role whereby one player is playing against the others.\u00a0 The second expansion, <\/span>In the Lab<\/b>, introduces an additional game board to represent the laboratories working on the cures.\u00a0 Players now have to spread their actions over the main map board as well as the new board as they race for the cure.\u00a0 Finally, <\/span>State of Emergency<\/b> adds in three different modules.\u00a0 They can add additional randomness to keep things fresh, or add in new ways to prevent outbreaks.\u00a0 Finally, the Emergency Event cards can be added to the standard deck to make things much harder.\u00a0 They tend to limit one\u2019s options on a given turn, like restricting movement or reducing hand size.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pandemic Legacy<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"There are many other versions of Pandemic, but one stands out and needs to be mentioned specifically.\u00a0 Pandemic: Legacy was another genre-defining boardgame that remains at the top of most boardgaming charts.\u00a0 <\/span>Pandemic Legacy (Season 1)<\/b> combines the popularity of the Pandemic cooperative game with the ongoing story developed in a legacy-style game.\u00a0 Legacy games are a new style of game that has only appeared in the past decade.\u00a0 In a Legacy game, players make permanent adjustments to the rules and pieces of the game every time they play, typically along the lines of some overarching story.\u00a0 Pandemic Legacy – Season 1 (yes there is a Season 2 and an upcoming Season 0) begins almost exactly like a standard game of Pandemic.\u00a0 However, part-way through the first game players are told to open specific boxes and envelopes included in the box, revealing new twists to the standard Pandemic game.\u00a0 These twists include new player characters, changing around the board (perhaps even eliminating a city), adjusting the difficulty of a disease, etc\u2026 (They\u2019re supposed to be surprises.)\u00a0 The story of Pandemic Legacy (Season 1) is played over the course of one game year.\u00a0 Each month, new surprises are revealed which modify how the game is played, as well as the components – sometimes players even get to choose to improve some of their options.\u00a0 Players have two tries to \u201cwin\u201d the game each month before being moved on to the next month.\u00a0 This progresses the story along and makes sure players get to see the new surprises without having to play too many games.\u00a0 The game even adjusts the difficulty slightly, giving you starting benefits if you have been able to succeed in previous games.\u00a0 Eventually, players will complete the game (taking from 12 to 24 games, depending how often they lose.)\u00a0 Because players have some choices as to how good and bad results affect the game, they will have experienced a totally unique gaming experience compared to other groups.\u00a0 This idea of a game that creates a story through repeated plays has caught on and been applied to many games since.\u00a0 Pandemic Legacy was one of the first and arguably remains the best of the bunch.\u00a0 Season 2 focuses on the world after the events involved in Season 1.\u00a0 Here, a post-apocalyptic world sets up the players as heroes trying to band together the remaining peoples of the earth, working on creating supply lines, etc\u2026 in order to get the world back on its feet.\u00a0 The upcoming Season 0 is a prequel, where players are spies set in the cold war, fighting behind the scenes to prevent the development and release of a Soviet bio-weapon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other Versions of the Game:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: The Cure<\/b> is a faster-playing, dice-based version where dice represent the actions available to a player as well as the disease cubes themselves.\u00a0 The game board is now abstracted to just a few locations represented by tiles placed around the table.\u00a0 It captures much of the feel of the original but at the cost of overall depth of play.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: Fall of Rome<\/b> is set amidst the declining years of the empire.\u00a0 The military is weak and the northern hordes eye its riches. March through the Roman Empire, recruiting armies, fortifying cities, forging alliances, and facing off against the invading hordes in battle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: Iberia <\/b>puts players in the Iberian Peninsula, attempting to fight off malaria, typhus, cholera, and yellow fever in the mid-19th century.\u00a0 Players struggle with various modes of travel while also trying to teach and inform the population on how to control the diseases.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu<\/b> threatens the return of The Old Ones so players are off as investigators trying to seal four gates before Cthulhu awakens.\u00a0 Meanwhile, they have to fight off cultists and Shoggoths while trying to maintain their own sanity.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: Rising Tide<\/b> focuses on the dikes and pumps of the Netherlands as they staff off the encroaching ocean.\u00a0 Players take on the roles of Dutch civil servants and attempt to modernize the entire system before it is too late.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Pandemic: Hot Zone<\/b>\u00a0is supposed to be a shorter, more portable version of the original where players are now focused only on North America.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Verdict:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>As you can surmise, I\u2019m a big Pandemic fan.\u00a0 I love cooperative games and this one\u2019s theme seems to be smack-on.\u00a0 Players have unique powers which mean they can all have a chance to shine.\u00a0 Since the game has no hidden information, players have to watch out for one person dictating everyone else\u2019s moves.\u00a0 Aside from that, I like playing a game where everyone either wins or loses as a team.\u00a0 Since the base game has some simple options to change the difficulty, it is easy to set up the game so that it\u2019s an appropriate challenge to a wide range of players.\u00a0 I\u2019ve played the original a fair bit and am in the middle of Season 1 with our neighbors and love what Season 1 has done with the game.\u00a0 Earning little bonuses at the end of each game and reading the surprises that arise while playing draws all the players into the group narrative.\u00a0 I own a couple expansions to the base game, but have yet to get much play out of them.\u00a0 I rarely get the game to the table with the same players often enough to require additional changes to keep it fresh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/b>
\n<\/span>As a cooperative game, Pandemic is an excellent game for all ages.\u00a0 Strategic planning is important so it is best with preteens and up, although the cooperative nature allows older players to give some advice to younger ones – just be sure that one player doesn\u2019t end up \u201cquarterbacking\u201d the entire game.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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