Tom Vasel takes a look at the second edition of Pandemic. 00:00 - Introduction 01:14 - Game Overview 08:33 - Final Thoughts Buy great games at www.funagain.com Find more reviews and videos at www.dicetower.com
I played the game for the first time last night with two friends. It was like trying to solve a puzzle with a picture that keeps changing. It was hard, tense, and very fun.
can any1 tell me,when u threat a disease and remove a cube from the board as an action,does the cube go to a separate pile or recycled and returned to its original pile. Thanks
Just got the game today. Played it once and then decided to check out your video to correct any mistakes I might have committed in the game. Very helpful!
Kinda disappointed there was no mention of some key issues: Some 1st editions are missing the São Paulo to Lagos route. Z-man changed a single city name making the old cards incompatible. The new cards are printed with color all the way to the border making it easy to look at the side of the draw deck and see what's coming up. The new cure markers replacing the sunset tokens make it harder to quickly see what is cured or eradicated.
There is supposed to be a connection between South America and Africa, but there was an error in the design of the new board which wasn't spotted until a big batch was sent out to retailers. This was of course fixed in printings that came out after the discovery was made. If you own a copy with a faulty board you can send a e-mail to the publisher and request a new board and they'll give you one. Or you could simply draw a line on the board yourself if you're not too fussed about looks. :)
Just for the record, Z-man recently announced on their facebook page that they are including a storage solution in the 2nd edition release of the On the Brink expansion in the summer. They said it would hold all of the the components from the 2nd edition base game, On the Brink AND In the Lab expansions. I can't wait to see it!
I love pandemic, one of the few games where you have to work together in order to win or you all lose. Game has some randomness, can escalate and the domino effect occurs quickly. Harder to win with the more people playing which makes it unique.
What are you talking about "Doesn't fit the expansion in the box"? I found that Pandemic with On The Brink fits perfectly in the box without removing the insert. Adding a second expansion may be a problem, though
The only incompatible thing between them is the card backs. They will be selling compatibility packs for the originals that have all the cards with new backs and the extra roles. Another option that may be cheaper is to sleeve all the cards so they backs look the same. The artwork will look a little different, but it's worth it for such an awesome game. Also, they said in the board geek forums that the final expansion will have a box/insert big enough to hold the original and all expansions.
Wikipedia seems to say that there are "Compatibility packs" which let you update the older base game to function like the new edition. While I'm not sure how true or available that is, it seems to me that is the logical way to handle the release of a new edition.
I am trying to warm up my friends to some co-op game, so far we have played games where one player is the winner. Time to change that, first time playing they loved this. I would say this opens the door to other co-op games, or maybe co-op with traitors even.
You're right that would also be a logical choice; however, I think the company wanted to add some enticements to attract new players. Perhaps I'm wrong about this, and to be honest it doesn't really matter whether I am, but I think they're hoping that new players will be more interested in the "shinier" version. I'm also thinking they figure there will be a percentage of people who will buy the reprint even though they own the original.
I like this game in theory, and need to try it again. The one time I've played (original edition), we only had two players (my wife and I), and we got hammered so badly with Epidemics and chain reaction outbreaks, I think we were wiped out in 5 or 6 turns (really, really bad luck of the draw). It is well designed, VERY thematic, and of course good cooperative games are always welcome. It is similar enough to Forbidden Island (same designers?) that if you've played one, you will pick up the other pretty easily, but this one seems much harder to beat. I hope to get a chance to try the new edition, and hopefully with three or four players instead of just two. Thanks for the review, Tom.
Respectfully disagree on theming. Losing when you run out of card in the player deck, despite clearly having the virus on the ropes very much takes me out of the theme. I understand it's a time limiting mechanic, but it's very much not thematic. Similarly, the rule to give/take cards to/from teammates makes zero sense. My Research team member doesn't know how computers work? Cant just send a data packet? Nope, gotta meet up with them. Even then, I need to meet up in the same city to give them the card for that city? I cant just hand over my info on chicago, no, we need to both head over to chicago so I can give or take the chicago card. One of the least thematic rules I've encountered. Still a great game, still fun for what it is. But the aforementioned rules absolutely kill the theme for me.
Dagens24 It definitely was possible to get wiped out that early. The initial random distribution was pretty close together, and the "outbreak" cards all came up very quickly. So each one would overflow into others, and spread farther. It didn't turn me off the game, though -- just made me want a rematch. It was obviously just really bad luck, and not an inherent flaw in the design.
+Dagens24 Nah, luck of the draw. When we moved my wife and I frequently played a two person combo and depending on the initial infections and if the cards were stacked against you we would get wiped early. Once my wife started the game, all of our random infections were clustered and she killed us before I ever got a turn. I think the randomness of the game is what keeps it intriguing for me. We randomly draw our roles (I believe that is a rule, not everyone does though) too just to add another element.
i have bought this version and i got on the brink... i was so sad to find out they couldn't be together.. UNTIL i just card sleeve everything! it works!!! , so if you can't wait just do what i did enjoy it have fun! . MY FAVORITE GAME
Actually they're releasing a compatibility pack for the game so that you will be able to play with the new expansion of "In The Lab". It looks to me like all they'll really need to upgrade are the cards so that the backs are all the same. It's not going to be a huge deal IMO.
Never played any co-op boards games before, but went with a friend to try out some games I had watched reviews on. This was amazing! We lost, because the deck ran out, but we had a lot of fun! Great game and I plan to buy it soon.
I couldn't follow this review because there seems to be a little ant or fly on the lower right hand side of the game board. Seems like it has a disease of some sort.
if you go to boardgamegeek, you will see many similar thoughts as mine. It wouldn't have been a big deal if they had changed the game in such a diverse way, like with the upgrades to Twilight Imperium or Descent, but this changes nothing but two characters, a city name, and artwork. Hardly a dramatic change that would warrant a total reprint
i like Tom Vasel, i think he has really good Top 10s and does very well giving his 2 cents for a certain game but I cannot UNDERSTAND ANYTHING when he explains how to play games. He skips too many crucial steps in games
I know that. If you found out about the game 2 months ago then I'm sorry. The game's been out for 5 years. I just found out about it as well last December. It's not a big deal that now that it's popular they want to reprint it. They're not just making a new board, but also upgrading the box and stuff. 2 months ago we did also know they were doing a reprint. *shrug* That's on you unfortunately. It was announced in January.
It's not compatible with the current release of On the Brink because of the difference between the card backings for the events. That's pretty much all that'd be critically different as far as what's in the game. Also the extra roles as well. In any event, they will be releasing another "expansion" of sorts for the original game so that people can enjoy the new updates without rebuying the game.
Too bad that they did not go full on with the redesign. They could have upped the stations and pawns for example. That they changed nothing to the game itself is good, it was already a very solid game.
Well yes, the base game only gets the 2 extra roles and from what I've heard, on the brink has nothing new. So I wouldn't buy anything yet. But for In The Lab (the new expansion) it may be worth it. Sounds like a bunch of new stuff comes with it.
Space Alert has the disadvantage of having a high learning curve, and new players need to start at the beginning or just get chucked in the deepend and make a million mistakes. It is still by far the best coop game available (although I haven't played Space Cadets).
Actually, what would be logical would be to reprint the original game as is and sell the new additions as mini expansions that could be purchased by new and old players alike. If I liked Pandemic, I would buy a new expansion. What I wouldn't do is buy a new copy of a game I already own to get basically the same thing with a couple of tweaks.
I agree with the comments who about the new exp.... Its crazy that I got the game + exp (brink) 2 months ago... now I can't get the new exp because it wont be compatible thats just such a bs...
Wait..so to win you have to just discover cures for all diseases? Is that the same as the first game? Because I've always played under the assumption that you have to find cures AND eradicate all diseases in play. I better re-read the rules, because up until I watched this video, I would have ranked Pandemic as one of the hardest games ever. I've only won a couple of times through this method of play.
You know that doesnt make sense at all.. They could have left the back of the cards same. Thus making the compatibility issue a non issue... Or just release a compatibility pack for the new exp. I fee entitled because we are not cash cows. We are gamers. And if you care about your gamers you act accordingly, you think.
I need to find more people to play with! My friends and I have played this twice and I've been dying to play it again, but they're on a balderdash kick.
It's not that good. It's a giant single player puzzle where one player plays 4 roles by proxy. Everyone else is just at the master's bidding. Better coops exist - Flashpoint, Space Alert and Battlestar Galactica (not a pure coop). Flashpoint and Space Alert still risk the whole "one player tells everyone else what to do" but there are more unknown variables in both, which allow individuals to make their own decisions. Also, in Space Alert, one person cannot keep track of 4 other players.
This game is like Jumanji. Me and my friends started to play it and never end since early 19. Unfortunately, I guess the COVID-19 is our fault. Sorry, world citizens...
Eh? I don't get this perspective and it seems to come up a lot whenever a company releases new product. You're not entitled to anything when you buy a product except for the product you've purchased. If you're happy with the game you have then don't worry, if you're not then it is your choice as a consumer how you spend your money. For whatever reason this sort of fan (tribe) thinking seems to be prevalent even though there is no logic to support this type of attitude.
Just realised how much of a goldmine that is. Paste "Walking Dead" franchise on it and they will sleep on money. Replace roles with characters from the show, maybe change the map to USA only and there, you have it.
You already own On the Brink and Pandemic. They reprinted Pandemic with different art and will reprint On the Brink with different art. You already own both. What is your problem?
We need a 2020 edition with some player roles who are trying to sabotage. E.g., the social butterfly and the person allergic to wearing a mask, and the guy who can't afford to miss a paycheck so he'll show up to work sick.
But it's just going to be a version of On The Brink that is compatible with this reprint. So you already have it. It's just because Pandemic has become popular like Catan or TTR that they made a reprint with more appealing (to the mainstream market) graphics. Stop acting so entitled.
so I'm supposed to buy a brand new game and a brand new expansion, even though I already own the original and on the brink expansion, just because it looks nicer and the new expansions won't be compatible? Sounds like a rip off and middle finger to all of those dedicated fans who have owned the game when it was originally released, especially because they don't change the game all that much.
That's all well and good, people are entitled to their thoughts, but that doesn't make them logical. I understand you're upset, but I will stress that no one is forcing you to buy anything here. The company can reprint their property as they see fit. The company has chosen expanding its audience over fan service. Even if it is just a cash grab when did that become a bad thing? You've decided to participate in capitalism, so don't cry when individuals and companies behave appropriately.
I've always wanted to play this game, but it seems to me it's too expensive, around $30 plus the shipping :( and all the expansions look super cool, but again, expensive
Pandemic is $20.40 on amazon as I'm writing this (U.S.). It was $20 when I checked around a week ago, so it may be on the rise again. Still, it's a great price.
