Lyrith's Tower

Pandemic: rules explained, how to play, common mistakes

Here are all the rules explained step-by-step to master Pandemic. Discover how to win this cooperative game and avoid the most common errors.

Pandemic fact sheet and basic data

Pandemic, also known as Pandemia, is a cooperative strategy and themed board game designed by Matt Leacock. It was originally released in 2008 by Z-Man Games, while in Spain it is published by Devir and Asmodee.

It is designed for groups of 2 to 4 players, with an estimated playtime of 45 minutes per game and a minimum recommended age of 8 years and up. Its complexity is at a medium level, around 2.4 out of 5, and it stands out for mechanics such as action points, hand management, and area movement.

• Designer: Matt Leacock
• Release Year: 2008
• Players: 2 to 4
• Duration: 45 minutes
• Age: 8+ years

Box contents

Before starting to play, it's a good idea to check that you have all the necessary components to face the four diseases threatening the planet.

• 1 board showing the world's most important cities
• 7 character cards with their respective pawns
• 59 player cards: 48 city, 6 epidemic, and 5 event
• 48 infection cards
• 96 disease cubes: 24 of each color (blue, yellow, black, and red)
• 6 research stations
• 4 cure markers
• 1 infection rate marker and 1 outbreak marker
• 4 reference cards and rulebook

Objective and victory or defeat conditions

The main objective of Pandemic is to work as a team to discover the cures for the four diseases (blue, yellow, black, and red) before humanity is wiped out. The game is won immediately as soon as you discover the 4 cures. Note, the total eradication of a disease from the board is an optional bonus and not required to win.

On the other hand, the team loses immediately if any of the three defeat situations occur.

• 8 outbreaks occur worldwide
• You need to place disease cubes on the board, but they have run out in the supply
• A player must draw player cards from the deck, but it has run out

Game turn structure

Each player's turn is strictly and sequentially divided into three very clear parts that you must follow without skipping any steps.

• 1. Perform up to 4 actions, which can be combined freely or repeated
• 2. Draw 2 player cards from the common deck
• 3. Infect cities by revealing cards from the infection deck according to the current rate

The 4 available actions per turn

During your turn, you have up to 4 actions to move around the map, build, or fight the infection.

• Movement: drive or ferry along white lines, direct flight by discarding the destination city card, charter flight by discarding the card of your current location, or shuttle flight between research stations
• Build: place a research station in your current city by discarding its card (the Atlanta station is already placed at the start without discarding)
• Treat disease: remove 1 cube from the current city (if it is already cured, you remove all cubes of that color at once with a single action)
• Share knowledge: give or receive a city card while both players are in the city represented
• Discover a cure: while at a research station, discard 5 city cards of the same color (the Scientist only needs 4)

How to resolve epidemic cards

If an Epidemic card is drawn when drawing player cards, you must compulsorily resolve three steps in strict order before continuing.

• Intensify: move the infection rate marker one space forward
• Infect: draw the bottom card of the infection deck, place 3 cubes in that city, and discard it
• Outbreak: take the entire infection discard pile, shuffle it, and place it face up on top of the infection deck

«Hi, I'm Lyrith! I hope this guide helps you save the world in your next game of Pandemic.»

View Meeplemancer on Google Play