Pandemic is the game I cannot keep off the table anywhere. After introducing it to friends, it always gets played multiple times in an evening. The fact that the game is so hard to beat (we haven't even attempted anything beyond the Normal game) makes it more of a challenge. We always get SOOOO close to curing the diseases, and the discussion that follows is a fascinating analysis of what could have happened and real-life application. The variability of the different roles from game to game keep it fresh, and we have all learned to react quickly any time there are two cities with three disease cubes next to each other -- when an epidemic happens in one, the game comes to a fast end as you watch the disease spread out of control. The limited time of the game is another plus as very few of our games have lasted longer than an hour.

Others have explained the rules well, but I have found that all I need to do is walk players through a few rounds and they understand the game totally. This is the most successful game I have ever used at school as a high school teacher. Students will hang around to play it and borrow it for one more try to crack it. I have begun keeping a gaming log in the box with the game so players can record who played, what roles they were, and any comments they had win or lose. One measure of replayability is fact that I have had to print many more pages to add to the log.

This is a definite winner!

My wife and I stopped by the Z-Man table at Prezcon 2009 (a yearly board game con in Charlottesville, VA) and purchased this game. After reading the rules I became instantly fascinated by the game. I knew that if it played as well as it sounded we were in for a real treat. I will not go into the details of the game, others have already done that, but I will tell you this… Pandemic is the FIRST game we have ever purchased that after the initial play we literally could not put it away. We played it three times back to back the first time out of the box… it was an instant obsession (I’ve never played a new game three times back to back before). For all three plays we came very close to winning… but as the saying says “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”. The third loss was the most painful. We (three of us) were so very sure we were going to be victorious… but two chain-reaction breakouts snuck up on us and stole the victory away. Pandemic is well worth the money, the components are of high quality, it is great fun to play, and it appears to have excellent replay value. This is a game that you will play often… once the “bug” infects you after the first play.

I played this game at a friend's house, and now I can't stop thinking about it and REALLY want it for my birthday! It's an intelligent game that requires high strategy from it's players. The best part is that you work as a team to beat the game--its not about who wins, its about beating the game. I've played it four times now, and the game won twice! It is NOT easy! You really, really have to work together to beat it. It's very clever the way that its set up, and I like the sciency aspect of it. It does require a lot of rule-reading in the beginning -- it took us about two hours to read through the rules and play one game of it. But once you get it, it's addictive. Great fun!

Just got this game, and really enjoyed the experience. The last cure was played with no cards left in the player pile. Feel like we got lucky. Looking forward to trying it again.

The board, pieces, and cards are all first rate. I downloaded the rules while waiting for delivery to familiarize myself. I felt like I had developed a good understanding, but did not have much of a strategy in place. There is also a very interesting YouTube presentation by the developer where he talks about what he went through with the game.

One person with an understanding of the game can walk three new people through the mechanics. There is a lot of great interaction and planning throughout. As different hot spots pop up the strategy has to keep changing. I like the concept of only using 4 of the 5 roles since it requires adjustments. I was a little worried that an unfortunate draw of epidemic cards could make some games unwinnable, but no longer feel that way.

Of the three ways to lose I think using up all the player cards is the one that can creep up on you. Important to get research centers set up to facilitate movement and process cures. Each player needs to play to the strengths of their roles. Players need to multi-task by removing cubes, building card sets, making sure the pawn positioning is maximized, etc..

I most like the elements of working cooperatively, developing strategy as a group, thinking turns ahead, and maximizing the special roles.

When I first heard about this game, I was skeptical -- most of the cooperative games I've seen have seemed pretty hippy-dippy to me. (I'm not into cutthroat games, but something about working together to save the world is just a little smurfy for my liking, in general.) But Pandemic is one of the most exciting, compelling board games I've ever played, and the cooperative aspect made it more fun. The game's mechanics (every player has a role, and each role has different abilities) are perfectly suited to the subject. I've played it five times now; I'm sure as I get more familiar with Pandemic, I will probably find some small things I don't like about it, but this is a really great game. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a fast-ish strategy game (with two players, a game takes about 30 minutes. I'd guess longer with more players, but we haven't tried it with more than two yet).

Oh, and obviously, it works great as a two-player game.

5 stars, because while nothing is perfect, the editors allow 5 for "nearly perfect"....

My son acquired this game which we played at recent birthday game party for him, and it is one of the best board games I have ever played in 60+ years of loving board games. The premise is actually quite simple: Disease is breaking out in major cities around the earth, and each player has an assigned role (scientist, medic, etc.). Can you help cure one of the diseases (unnamed, but represented by a color) before it becomes a pandemic and you lose?

Action is quick as you fan out on a mercator-style projection map of the world to perform your role's task with help from the other players. You ARE ALL dependent on each other. One of the things I like about the way it is designed is to see the number of links between cities. For example, Hong Kong lets you go to a lot of places, but the rise of an infection there quickly spreads if you are not prompt and careful. Chicago, not so much, and in this kind of detail I think the game resembles the real infection threats of today.

Each of the roles is thought out, and other raters are correct - if you don't think you have anything to do, you are probably pursuing an incorrect strategy. Time is of the essence, and this makes playing the game fairly quick and intense. If you don't resolve it soon, you'll be defeated by the bugs.

This is a game that can be widely used on retreats, particularly by NGOs, where people are being assembled because their organization needs them to come to trust each other and participate in team-building. This game is ideal, I think, in getting people to all think on the same page, so I'm getting copies to give to some organizations I know which have periodic retreats! conducted after they've acquired new members who don't know each other yet.

It's easy to learn, but subtle to play, and calls on skills that help me realize, as the song has it, I'm Not Dead Yet. One confusing thing: my son's version has 5 roles (pawns) and all the reviews and game data say 4 roles. This is important because we found that the fifth player greatly enhances the experience of the game and makes the cooperation even harder but better. Can anyone enlighten me as to what the current version really provides?

Pandemic does have some similarities to Shadows Over Camelot, but doesn't feel like the same game. In Pandemic every turn matters, a lot! It doesn't take too long to play, so as soon as you're done you want to play again (especially if you almost won, but not quite). Pandemic is tremendous fun for 3 or 4 players, but is also a wonderful two player cooperative strategy game, great for when you don't have a big group around. I highly recommend Pandemic for families too, from about age 9 up. Definitely one of our favorites.

When you finish playing a game, and the group of players immediately starts discussing "OK, next time we have to try..." you know you have a winner.

With Pandemic, you have a definite winner.

I've been watching Z-Man's site for months waiting for this game, being a fan of cooperative games in general, and snatched it up the day my FLGS got it in stock. Along the way, I started hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed by my own anticipation, and I was not.

The biggest complaint I can think of about this game is that the pieces are slightly too big for the size of the board. Atlanta (where all the players start) was very crowded when we started the game, especially since it also started with two disease cubes.

One thing you will quickly learn about this game is that every action is precious. If a player is left with "I have nothing to do with the rest of my turn," it probably means there is a hole in the group's strategy. There are only 25 turns (26 in a 2- or 4-player "Heroic" game) maximum, due to deck size, and there is a whole lot to accomplish in those turns. So plan your strategy very carefully.

I cannot wait to try playing this game again.

I helped Matt play-test this game through many iterations, and even in its infancy the game was great. The co-operative nature of the game really gets people interacting. With other games, people can wander off when it's not their turn and go to the bathroom, get a snack, etc. Not so much here. Everyone's involved nearly all the time helping to figure out collectively how to beat the game.

I've played it 10–20 times, and I still am up for another round, so it has replay value unlike too many of the games I've played over the years.

Although I've succeeded in killing the world both times I've attempted to save it, I dig Pandemic! I can't help but give it a 5 star simply because it is one of my favorite games.

The unique aspect of working with your fellow game players to save the world makes it a really enjoyable social game that gives players something to talk about and share long after the game has finished. That being said, the game also has an edge of your seat feel as you try to contain the epidemics around the world.

I love playing games and have to rate this as one of my favorite strategic games ever. I would highly, highly suggest it to anyone!

I’m a grandmother. By and large I am not a board game player. I’m lousy at complicated rules and winning by sucking in resources and doing the other guy in doesn’t appeal to me. Yet I really wanted to play this game. Why? It was going to be more complicated than UNO – my typical game level.

Maybe it’s the realism. I’ve lived in Africa and seen the rampaging destruction of HIV/AIDS. Maybe I wanted – just for once – to have a chance at clobbering the big bad bugs that slay villages, then countries, then whole continents. Part of me wanted us to be the small town heroes in the movie Independence Day, who take on the threat and save the world.

Our team, which included “real” gamers, lost the first two times. But on the third try, we were at our very best, strategizing and conferring. We stopped a pandemic. For me the sweetness of winning was about pride in our brains and cooperative effort. It was also about an underlying (can I say it out loud?) feeling of hope for an threatened world.

As one of many play testers, I found this a refreshing game experience. Players work together to develop strategies based on a developing pandemic,... not to clobber each other competitively, but to compete against the odds to control the spread of diseases and find cures before it's too late.

Each game is a new experience requiring new strategies. As play progresses the world's health becomes more and more a crisis situation. Excitement builds and the question is finally: Who will prevail? -- Will the players find a way to gain control? -- Or will the pandemic take over the earth?

This is a great game for a wide age range. Because players work together and help each other it provides a game experience families will definitely enjoy.

Pandemic is an interesting game. The idea of working together is unique and the designers used some imagination in how players feel separate by hiding cards, but allowing players to tell each other what cards they have. Strange, I know, but it seems to work. My two minor complaints are that it's difficult to get a grasp on the rules, even through they aren't very complicated. Trying to remember the subtleties of the different character abilities is a little hard to get the grasp of, even after a couple of games. My other observation is that I'm spoiled by Caylus and Agricola. I enjoy the greater complexity, although each game takes about a 1/2 per person to play, which is longer than Pandemic, which is about 45 minutes. Many will enjoy this game, but it will probably go into cold storage for my wife and I.