Comments on: Pandemic

By: Edith Maverick Folger

Edith Maverick Folger — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:47:38 +0000

Review by Edith Maverick Folger for Pandemic Rating: Pandemic is a cooperative game, where all the players are attempting to wipe out four world epidemics at once. It was a successful Christmas present to a 13 year old, and we have has a player as young as 8 playing with more experienced players successfully.

That said, we haven't won a game yet, but it is still fun to play. It is played with real cities representing areas of the world, and has a pretty good model of disease spread.

For kids of all ages who are ready to move up from the more widely played board games, this is a great next step, on a par with the classics Risk or Diplomacy.

By: Fishing Ace

Fishing Ace — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:13:18 +0000

Review by Fishing Ace for Pandemic Rating: I purchased this game based on the excellent reviews it has garnered on amazon, and was unfortunately somewhat let down. Don't get me wrong, it's somewhat fun to play, and very unique in that everyone is working together on the same team, but once you realize that its more of a puzzle than a game, everything feels extremely limiting. What I mean by this is that you have to take into account that when you've set up the game, depending on how the deck is shuffled, you may or may not be able to finish ("win") the game, even if you make all the right moves. Let me rephrase this:

****** like Solitaire, skill alone is not enough win this game, the deck HAS to be shuffled such that the game is finishable, and you'll have no way of knowing this til the game is over ******

I found this aspect of Pandemic to be extremely frustrating, and any game affcionado would probably do well to take this into account when considering a purchase. That being said, it is still a fun concept, and with a little tweaking of the rules, could probably be made to be a lot of fun to play. As for me, I put my copy of this on ebay and haven't looked back.

By: Anglotiger

Anglotiger — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:48:48 +0000

Review by Anglotiger for Pandemic Rating: Every few years a game comes up with an original theme and an original mechanism, rather than just rehashing old ideas. Sometimes however the range at which this game plays well is less than the range that it states it can handle. This game does not have that problem.

This game manages to incorporate and original and interesting theme and mechanism, while playing well (if a little differently) with the entire range of number of players (1-5). While the originality gives this game some extra appeal with the more experienced gamer, the co-operative nature of this game makes it more appealing to the casual player too, who might be less interested in the standard, confrontational game, or a parent looking for a game to play with an older child that would hold their interest.

By: Jeff Holt

Jeff Holt — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:08:27 +0000

Review by Jeff Holt for Pandemic Rating: Fun game with that unique cooperative element. Teen aged girls loved it as did I, the 40 year old dad. It is a tough game to win, but the level of tension created by the game is quite excellent. Of the half dozen or so games we have played, only one ended where we were just so overwhelmed and lost without even feeling like we had a chance to win. All the other games, the whole table felt like we had a shot at winning and things kept flipping momentum. In a nutshell, good fun.

By: Catherine Darrow

Catherine Darrow — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:04:08 +0000

Review by Catherine Darrow for Pandemic Rating: Pandemic is the sort of rare game that appeals both to geeks and to people who like party games. It's relatively lightweight as boardgames go--each player has four moves, and the rules for them are relatively simple. Yet there is a lot of probabilistic strategizing to be done by the folks of that nature.

The game itself is relatively tough. The diseases -- the board -- wins about half the time in my group, and often in very mean and surprising ways. This makes it all the more fun when we win.