Board game · 2008
Pandemic
In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues…
- Players
- 2 to 4
- Duration
- 45 min
- Age
- 8 and up
- Complexity
- Family
Add to my shelf Sign in to add it to your shelf
Start here
Videos to learn
Quick summary1
View all videosAll
Does this video explain the rules well? Vote with the arrows.
-
The video plays right here — it never leaves Rules of Play.
-
The video plays right here — it never leaves Rules of Play.
Rules and documents
Documents are provided by their source. Check the edition and language before playing.
Rules
More artwork
In brief
In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand.
The game board depicts several major population centers on Earth. On each turn, a player can use up to four actions to travel between cities, treat infected populaces, discover a cure, or build a research station. A deck of cards provides the players with these abilities, but sprinkled throughout this deck are Epidemic! cards that accelerate and intensify the diseases' activity. A second, separate deck of cards controls the "normal" spread of the infections.
Taking a unique role within the team, players must plan their strategy to mesh with their specialists' strengths in order to conquer the diseases. For example, the Operations Expert can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases and which allow for greater mobility between cities; the Scientist needs only four cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal five—but the diseases are spreading quickly and time is running out. If one or more diseases spreads beyond recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win!
The 2013 edition of Pandemic includes two new characters—the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist—not available in earlier editions of the game.
Pandemic is the first game in the Pandemic series.
Contribute to this page
Add a resource, correct information or report a link. Every contribution is gathered here and reviewed before publication.
Suggest a videoReviewed before publication
An account is needed to suggest a change. Create an account
Correct the detailsReviewed before publication
An account is needed to suggest a change. Create an account
Suggest a correctionReviewed before publication
An account is needed to suggest a change. Create an account
Suggest rules or a player aidReviewed before publication
An account is needed to suggest a change. Create an account
A video is broken or doesn't match the right game?No account required
Report rules or a documentNo account required
Expansions for this game
Each expansion has its own page and its own rules videos.
In the same spirit
Games that share its mechanics. Neither expansions nor other editions.
