Pandemic (2008)

How To Play Pandemic

Components

In Pandemic 2013 edition, there are the following components so ensuring that you have all the board game pieces needed to play the game:

• 7 Role cards
• 7 Pawns
• 59 Player cards (48 City cards, 6 Epidemic cards, 5 Event cards)
• 4 Reference cards
• 48 Infection cards
• 96 Disease cubes (24 in 4 colors)
• 4 Cure markers
• 1 Infection rate marker
• 1 Outbreaks marker
• 6 Research stations
• 1 Board

Each player takes a random role card, a reference sheet, and a starting hand of cards. These cards help with traveling, developing infrastructure, or curing a disease:

• 2 players: four cards each
• 3 players: three cards each
• 4 players: two cards each

Prepare the Player Deck

Players start the game at a research center in Atlanta where they each place the pawn that matches their role card. Infection and outbreak markers are placed at the first space on their respective tracks.

1. Players shuffle the infection deck.
2. Three cards and three cubes of the appropriate color are drawn. Each is placed according to the city.
3. Three more cards are drawn and two cubes are placed in each city.
4. Three final cards are drawn with one cube placed in each city. All cards, once drawn, are placed in the infection discard pile.

1. The player deck needs to be divided into four equal piles, and one Epidemic card should be shuffled into each pile. Place the four piles on top of each other to form the player deck. Optional: Players can create an even more difficult game by using five or six piles on top of the epidemic cards.
2. Once the player deck is ready, the player who has the city with the most population takes the first turn.

Choose a Character in Pandemic

There are 7 character cards players can choose from that all have different skills in the 2013 Edition (Contigency Planner and Quarantine Specialist added).

Dispatcher: This character can move other players’ pawns as if they were their own (with permission) as an action. They may also move any pawn to any other pawn without playing a card (also as an action).

Operations Expert: The role of the Expert is to build a research station without playing a card. However, it counts as an action.

Scientist: The Scientist is the one who cures a disease with four matching cards. Of course, this must cost an action and a research station.

Medic: The Medic can remove all cubes of a single color when treating a disease. Every cube of a cured disease in the same city of the Medic can be taken away immediately (including newly placed cubes). This will happen for each player throughout the game, not just on the Medic’s turn. Plus, it doesn’t count as an action.

Researcher: The role of the Researcher is to give any card to other players in the same city (on this player’s turn). For one action, the Researcher can also do so on another player’s turn.

Contingency Planner: This character can reuse Event cards in the Player Discard Pile by placing them on his Role card. Only one Event card can be on his role card at a time and it will be removed from the game after playing.

Quarantine Specialist: Her role is to prevent both outbreaks and the placement of disease cubes in the city she is in and all cities connected to that city. She does not affect cubes placed during setup.

Players Turn

Players can take up to four out of these eight actions on their turn.

• Moving to an adjacent city
• Discarding a City card to move to a city named on that card.
• Discard a card matching your current city to move to any city.
• Move from your current city with a research station to any other city with a research station.
• Discard a card matching your current city to build a research station there.
• Cure and remove one disease cube from your current city.
• Pass a card matching your current city to another player in the same city.
• Discard five cards of the same color at a research station to cure that color’s disease.

After selecting four actions, players will draw two cards from the player deck. Most of them are city cards, but some are Special Event cards that may be played at any time. The hand limit of seven cards is strictly enforced at all times, so after increasing a hand beyond seven, players must play or discard cards until their hand size is back down to seven.

If players draw an Epidemic card, they must immediately discard the card, advance the infection rate marker, draw the bottom card of the infection deck, and place three cubes in that city. Then, they’ll shuffle the infection discard pile and place those cards on top of the infection deck.

After drawing the player cards and resolving any epidemics, players must draw a number of infection cards equal to the current infection rate, adding one cube to each city revealed. If a fourth disease cube would ever be added to a city, that city suffers an outbreak, spreading cubes to all adjacent cities.

Winning the Pandemic Game

The players all lose the game if the player draw deck runs out, the eighth outbreak happens, or if the cubes of any color run out. However, if the players manage to cure all four diseases before this happens, they win the game.

For more information and better understanding, you can watch videos below.