pandemic
Your team of experts must prevent the world from succumbing to a viral 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 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!
LB_NUMBER_OF_PLAYERS: 1 - 4
Game duration: 17 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
Play pandemic and 959 other games online.
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Play pandemic and 959 other games online.
No download, directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
For tips on how to play pandemic, see Tips_pandemic
Actions
- Select from the actions listed below, up to 4 actions per turn.
- Role special abilities may change how an action works.
- Some actions involve discarding a card from your hand.
Movement
Drive / Ferry
- Move to a city connected to the one you are in.
Direct Flight
- Discard a City card to move to the city named on the card.
Charter Flight
- Discard the City card that matches the city you are in to move to any city.
Shuttle Flight
- Move from a city with a research station to any other city that has a research station.
Build a Research Station
- Discard the City card that matches the city you are in to place a research station there.
- 6 research stations may be built.
Treat Disease
- Remove 1 disease cube from the city you are in.
- If this disease colour has been cured, remove all cubes of that colour from the city you are in.
- If the last cube of a cured disease is removed from the board, this disease is eradicated.
- You can do this action in two ways:
- give the City card that matches the city you are in to another player, or
- take the City card that matches the city you are in from another player.
- The other player must also be in the city with you.
- Both of you need to agree to do this.
- If the player who gets the card now has more than 7 cards, that player must immediately discard a card or play an Event card.
Discover a Cure
- At any research station, discard 5 City cards of the same colour from your hand to cure the disease of that colour.
- Move the disease’s cure marker to its Cure Indicator.
- If no cubes of this colour are on the board, this disease is now eradicated.
Roles
Contingency Planner
- Take an Event Card from the Discard pile and place it on the Role Card.
- It doesn't count against the limit of 7 hand cards.
Dispatcher
- Move any pawn to a city containing another pawn OR Move another player's pawn as if it were their own.
Medic
- Remove all cubes of a colour when treating a city.
- For any cured disease:
- Treats for free when entering city, and
- prevents cubes/Outbreaks in their location.
Operations Expert
- Build a Research Station in their location without discarding a city card.
- Once per turn, move to any city from a Research Station, using any city card.
Quarantine Specialist
- Prevents Outbreaks and placement of disease cubes in their location plus all connecting cities.
Researcher
- May give any card to a player in same location.
Scientist
- Can cure a disease by using only 4, not 5, cards of the same colour.
End of game
There is one way to win the game:
- Cure all 4 diseases.
There are three ways to lose the game:
- Having an eighth outbreak;
- Needing to place a cube on the board and there are no more cubes available;
- Needing to draw a city card and there are no more city cards available.
