Board Games Codexery

Pandemic

An epidemic of an infectious disease spreading across a large region, affecting a substantial portion of the human population.

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Pandemic is a cooperative board game where players work together to stop four diseases from causing a global pandemic.[1][2] It is considered one of the most successful cooperative games to reach mainstream market sales.[3] Matt Leacock is the designer of Pandemic, which Z-Man Games first published in the United States in 2008.[1]

Last updated 2026-10-07 from the source article.

Making and release

The original Pandemic appeared in 2008 and played like most non-roleplaying games, resetting initial conditions each time.[4] Three expansions were co-designed by Matt Leacock and Tom Lehmann: On the Brink, In the Lab, and State of Emergency.[5] State of Emergency, released in March 2015, added three new challenges including a Superbug that cannot be treated.[6] A 10-year Anniversary Edition was released in July 2018, containing detailed miniatures and a metal box representing a first aid kit.[7]

The Pandemic Legacy series, which adds an ongoing storyline and permanent changes, encompasses three seasons.[8] The SARS outbreak that occurred from 2002 to 2004 served as the inspiration for the Pandemic board game.[9] A second expansion, In the Lab, became available during the summer of 2013.[10] Kane Klenko designed Pandemic: Rapid Response, a real-time cooperative game that came out in 2019.[11][12]

What the cited sources add

The Ars Technica review notes that Pandemic Legacy begins with the base set of Pandemic rules and uses an infection deck that spreads disease cubes.[4] The same source states that the legacy version starts with most of the same rules but quickly morphs into something more complex.[4] The Polygon article reports that Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace have finished work on Daybreak, a tabletop game about climate change published by CMYK.[13][14] The ICV2 article specifies that Pandemic: Rapid Response was released exclusively to Target stores in the U.S. on June 23, 2019.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pandemic", BoardGameGeek (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ihnat, "Break free from the screen: The best card and board games for your kids", The A.V. Club, September 28, 2017; "(20140113) Pandemic rulebook" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chabris, "The Rise of Cooperative Games", The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Anderson, "Pandemic Legacy is the best board game ever—but is it 'fun?'", Ars Technica, March 12, 2016. facts only, no text reused. arstechnica.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pandemic:OTB" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pandemic: State of Emergency", BoardGameGeek; "Pandemic State Of Emergency Universe", Z-Man Games (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plunkett, "Pandemic Getting A Very Fancy Re-Release For Its 10th Birthday", Kotaku, July 24, 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Beginning of a Legacy: From Pandemic to Season 0", www.zmangames.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leacock, "No Single Player Can Win This Board Game. It's Called Pandemic.", The New York Times, March 25, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "5 years of Pandemic: the virus is growing stronger!", Z-Man Games, 2013-01-14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019; Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019; Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019; Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019; Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Bunge, "'Pandemic: Rapid Response'", ICV2, 22 May 2019. facts only, no text reused. icv2.com
  13. Hall, "Pandemic creator's new board game, Daybreak, is about climate change", Polygon, 2021-04-13. facts only, no text reused. polygon.com
  14. Wikipedia, "Pandemic (board game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hall, "Pandemic creator's new board game, Daybreak, is about climate change", Polygon, 2021-04-13 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pandemic (board game) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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