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.
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