Pandemic - a game of big and small wins

Usually, to start working as a doctor, airport dispatcher or construction worker, you have to study for several years, then practice for a long time to become a real expert in your trade. The board game "Pandemic" provides such an opportunity in a few minutes - open the game box, arrange the game according to the rules, and the adventure can begin.

The Pandemic board game conjures up a vision of four different diseases spreading around the world - blue, yellow, black and red (I've yet to play a company that doesn't look up the names of existing diseases for these diseases), and a team of characters sitting around the table is the only one who can help save humanity. So diseases break out in different parts of the world, which players try to contain and eventually cure as they travel around the map. Pandemic is a fully co-op game, which means that even if you're playing for the first time, your decisions will be helped by more experienced players in the beginning, and later (usually after the first three to four turns) you become a full member of the team.

I will admit that Pandemic was the first game I played that worked on the principle of player moves first, then the board game. The player takes four actions during his turn, choosing between eight available actions. All available actions are written on a card that is clearly visible to each player. Although I recommend to learn the available actions as soon as possible and not to "contaminate" the game table. Why? At its core, Pandemic is a simple, compact game, so anything that takes up extra space on the game board feels like a distraction to me. Secondly, the game will run more smoothly if the players do not look at the aforementioned card, but think along with themselves.

The way to win Pandemic is easy to understand, but it doesn't help you win every game by any means, for example, once we managed to cure three out of four diseases, but still in one of the turns, the emotionless game mechanism defeated us. I'll add that I think the main strength of the game is that it's also exciting to lose, because the seemingly small victories you've already achieved together are satisfying.

In conclusion, I can say that Pandemic is a successful board game that should be on the shelf of every board game enthusiast. This game has three different add-ons (which have not yet been translated into Latvian), which means that if you get tired of the basic game, it is possible to diversify it with new roles, tasks and game elements.

I will admit that this game also has one flaw, but it is related to human nature, not the board game itself. When playing a board game in a group, there will always be a "lead" player who will try to impose his strategy to win the game. This means that the other players will not really start to feel the game when this "leading" player has already said everything in front of them. In our company, this player is often me. During one game of Pandemic, I found myself at the moment when one player had gone to the bathroom, the other was snacking next to me, and I had already made two of my moves and two of theirs. At that moment, one of the players said: "Take it and play alone!" Therefore, if you suspect that a similar situation may arise in your company, before buying the game, talk about how you will act in such a situation, so that there are no misunderstandings later.

Author of pictures and article: Roberts Skutelis