Z-Man Games | Pandemic in the Lab | Board Game EXPANSION | Ages 8+ | For 1 to 6 Players | 45 Minutes Playing Time

I recently got back into board gaming after many years not playing them and was looking for something different that could be played co-operatively rather than competitively.Pandemic was mentioned many times as a great example so I decided to give it a try.This is an excellent game. I've been learning the game and playing it 2 player with my wife and we are finding it very enjoyable.The core of the game is playing as two people with different roles trying to travel around the world treating disease outbreaks ( of four different diseases) and trying to find cures whilst the outbreaks of these diseases escalate and epidemics emerge. The game has a mechanic to provide the spread and escalation of infection and outbreak, it's very well done. My mind boggles at the game designer coming up with this.It's a clever game yet not too complex and we found it accessible and were grasping it quickly.Soon we'll be adding our friend as a third player and really look forward to it.It's a great game to get your working together, communicating and forming strategy to try to prevent a worldwide unbeatable pandemic.This is an excellent game. Very impressed.

If you are considering buying this item, then you will already be a fan of the Pandemic game series. Pandemic State of Emergency is the third expansion from Z-man Games for this amazing game. The three new games are: The Hinterlands Challenge, the Emergency Event challenge and the Superbug challenge. Of the three challenges Superbug is by far the most interesting and played in our household. The Hinterlands challege is played the least. I the Superbug challenge you not only have to cure the regular diseases but you also have to build vaccing centres and produce vaccines for the Superbug. Vaccines are the only way to treat the Superbug, you cannot treat it as you would a normal disease. It's very difficult but very enjoyable. The Emergency Events challenge essentially allows you to replace Epidemic cards with Events that work against you, these events can continue every round or may be one off events. The Hinterlands challenge expands the board by itroducing some new cities that can only be reached via certain locations. They represent cities that have animal diseases that have mutated to infect humans. At the beginning of each turn a special dice is rolled and depending on the outcome disease cubes are placed on Hinterlands cities.There are of course new roles including the veterinarian who works only in the Hinterlands challenge, the pilot who can travel much further than normal players and can transport another player along with him, the General who is capable of placing quarantine counters on cities, these essentially act to protect cities from infections. The quarantine counters can also be used without the General where placing a quarantine counter in a city becomes one of your actions.If you are reading this and do not have the base Pandemic game, buy it! Buy it now! It is the best game we have played and is also a co-operative game meaning all players work together to beat the game. If you already own Pandemic then buy this expansion, you will thoroughly enjoy the Superbug challenge, and the additional roles and features will enhance your gaming experience further.

Pandemic was the first game to introduce me to cooperative boardgaming. It became an instant favourite and still holds up very well. This should be a staple in every boardgame collection! In Pandemic, you must save the world by working together as a team to control viral outbreaks and cure diseases.How is it played?Pandemic is a turn based cooperative game where you can take up to 4 actions per turn. These actions involve moving around the world to different cities, removing virus cubes from infected cities, building research centres and curing diseases. After each turn, you draw cards to help you cure diseases (some of which may actually cause an epidemic which will spread a disease). And then you draw further cards to advance the viral outbreak. This finely tuned balance is what keeps the virus spreading so you have to work together to stop the spread as well as cure the disease.How do you win?You win if:- you cure all diseases (you don't have to eradicate them by wiping them off the map, but kudos if you do)You lose if:- You can't draw any more player cards- You run out of virus cubes and can't spread a disease further (it's out of control at this point)- You have too many outbreaksThe key is to work together as a team and use each of your unique abilities at the most opportune times. It's a fantastic game that combines strategy, teamwork and luck! It's quite daunting the first time you play it, but after a few playthroughs, the mechanics become clearer and it can be enjoyed by players of all ages. If you have more than 4 players, it works quite well with one person acting as a host for the game and offering their insight to things you may have missed.It also has a lot of expansions which increase the replayability of the game, but in my opinion the core game is enough to start with for a while. This really is a great game!