Michael Robinson
United States
California
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Though I am not new to Board Game Geek, this is my first review. The “Reviews” that other people posted have been very helpful in making good purchases, so I wanted to give something back and possibly help someone else. I was in the market for a game that both my non gamer girlfriend and avid gamer (me) could enjoy. I had mentioned Pandemic to her a few times and, wham, there it was on Christmas morning. I will use the standard 5 star rating system in the areas that I look for when purchasing a game: 1) Bang for the buck. 2) Quality. 3) Rules Layout. 4) The Flow. 5) Replay Value.
Here goes:
1. Bang for the Buck: With the price of everything else going up, it makes it even harder to keep up with a hobby. We all know that board games aren’t cheap, but if taken care of they can last a lifetime. The money spent on a night out in town ($70) which will only wind up in the sewer one way or another, can easily be compared to the price of a good game. I always keep this fact in mind when I start to groan over buying a game for over $50. In this case, Pandemic surprisingly falls under the $50 line. My girlfriend picked it up from my local game store for $39.99. I am sure you can get it cheaper from an online store but I don’t mind supporting my local business. To sum up, the price is near perfect for what is supposed to be a very good game for gamers and non gamers alike. Let’s read on to see if I got a good deal. 
2. Quality: I eagerly pulled the cellophane off the box in anticipation as to what I might find inside. I was met with a very colorful, eye catching rule book. The rules were a mere 8 pages of large type and PLENTY of illustrations printed on heavy paper. Whew what a relief. *side note* When ever we play a game, I seem to be the one who ALWAYS reads the rules as well as teaching them to others. I like to read rules, but explaining them can be exhausting by the time you teach it to a few groups of friends. Glancing over the pages I knew this would be an easy task and we could be up in running in 10 min. I set them aside for now wanting to delve deeper into the box. The board was next. I was a little surprised when I opened it up. I had this epic picture in mind so I expected the board to keep unfolding into this huge world map (much like Risk). It didn’t. Hmm I thought, but as I took a moment to really look at it, I started to appreciate the quality of cardstock it was printed on as well as the painted look of the world. The creators were able to pack a whole lot onto a small board without making it feel busy which some people can’t handle (Arkham Horror for example). I ended up liking the size of it because it fits nicely on the table and set up/clean up is easier. The only draw back is when the cities begin to have outbreaks and chain reactions occur, there is hardly any room for your game piece. This makes it difficult to remember where the bits go if someone nudges the table and moves something. Once the board was set up, I got to the guts. The two sets of cards where high quality, bend/ water resistant and about the size of playing cards. The playing pieces are wood and the different role pawns were oversized so as not to loose them among all the diseases that are spreading around the board. I was a little disappointed with the actual card holder tray. It did a poor job of holding the cards in place during storage unless you keep them in a separate Ziploc bag. This disappointment quickly blew over when I reminded myself of the price tag. You have to save a buck somewhere in production I guess. .
3. Rules Layout: As stated earlier the rules are great! They are short and VERY easy to read. There are plenty of illustrations for those who can’t stand to read rules. Sometimes, a game can be ruined because you open the box and have a 15 page booklet, printed on flimsy paper all in black and white. Not this game. I personally don’t have a problem with rules but when your group may have a short attention span these babies are the best. A quick read, easy set up and you’re ready.
4. The Flow (luck vs. skill): This game flows perfect after turn 2. All the pawns start at the CDC in Atlanta. There are a handful of diseases running around the globe. The player who was last sick in real life gets to go first. That player can choose to go just about anywhere. The trick is to figure out what strategy to use. If they burn a city card to fly to a city they may have wasted that card when it comes time to administer a cure. The first player sets the wheels in motion, every turn has to count for something and sometimes player 1’s turn doesn’t. Once player 1 goes, the rest of it flows fairly smooth. The luck element is usually of the bad kind. It seems in every game we have played so far (7), just when we get the world under control, BAM, an epidemic card gets drawn. This can have a huge impact on the overall outcome and may force you to change strategy mid game. The ability to be VERY flexible when this change of luck does happen is where the Skill comes into play. 
5. Replay Value: In short, TONS. We opened the box, set it up and were curing the world in 20 minutes. We ended up with too many outbreaks on our hands and failed. There was no hesitation to set it up and try again. With each game lasting no longer than 45 minutes it was an easy decision. We lost the second time as well, but none the less we were hooked.
Summary: We have played this game seven times so far and have only beaten it once. It’s not difficult, it just requires some planning. We are still exploring the limitations of each of the professions and how they best gel together. This game is great for gamers and non gamers alike. It plays with two players just as well as 4. We tried five but there were not enough cards to make anything happen. Thanks for reading my review. I hope it helps someone. For you critics out there, I can take it but remember this is my first one. Have a great year!!
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Wim Leenaerts
Belgium
Beerse
Antwerp
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Very good review! Short, to the point and no rules, which is great. If I want to read the rules, I'll download them. In a review, I just want to read what the good, the bad an the ugly about a game is.
Well done!
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Jonathan Warren
United Kingdom
Wisbech
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
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Great review. I have been thinking about purchasing Pandemic for a short while and you have made my decision easier. I'll be purchasing my copy next week
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Merchants & Marauders Aaaaarrrh!!!!!
United Kingdom
Reading
Berkshire
pieces of eight aaaaaarrrrhhh!!!!!
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I do enjoy the occasional cooperative game ... but for some reason this one fell completely flat with me. The other players said they had enjoyed it, but not said with any great enthusiasm. I have a feeling that what is missing with Pandemic is a 'traitor' working against the common good. There have been suggestions to correct this, but the basic game mechanisms do not seem to really support this concept.
... so it stays in its box in the games cupboard.
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Jeff Kunkel
United States
Smithtown
New York
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Great review. Keep it up! My wife and I played for the first time last night. We both loved it, and I agree with all of your points. An excellent coop game.
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Michael Robinson
United States
California
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If I had a choice I would choose a Player vs. Player game. Coop games are great for gamers who don't know that they are gamers yet, or for those friends who define the word "Gloater". A traitor to Pandemic would definately add an element of suspicion but with the amount of resources available (cards) to the players...well like I said we have only beat it once out of seven plays. Thanks for reading.
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Yes the game is that good! I loved the Researcher... They do all the work and get nothing for it... brilliant! The scientist is very powerful IMHO (the role not the coldplay song :P). I think you could nerf the number of research stations.
I pretty much enjoy everything about it except that you can't use all five players. It is specially good when all players are newcomers to the game! I believe it can suffer from the best player syndrome, in which a more experienced player will try to dictate all the moves. Nonetheless the game can be very challenging and fun. We lost three times in a row to the blue disease. The forecast card... BRILLIANT... save it for right after an epidemic!
I'd make one addition to the next version/release/edition... make a bigger board, or the cubes smaller ;). Sometimes we're unable to read city names under all those disease riddled cubes, I say.
Also at our group we suggest the following diseases:
- Blue: Legionella - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionella
- Black: Cholera - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera
- Yellow: HIV - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV
- Red: H5N1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H5N1
Others were: multi-resistant tuberculosis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-drug-resistant_tuberculos...) / flesh eating bacteria / Ebola / Small pox and... wait for it... zombie infection ala 28 days later (couldn't help it).
I look forward to the expansion, with more cards with special moves, some new role I guess, where virii had different spread rates, diseases had mini-games before getting eradicated, research stations had a mini-game to research cures, a two-stop ending, first find all the cures then eradicate all the disease before population count reaches zero or infected population reaches 100%. The players could also get infected ;)... oh and... no! dice!
Cheers.
h79
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Posted Sun Jan 4, 2009 7:10 am
