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first impressions is a series of board game reviews.  all commentary is based upon the first time the author and companions play the game “straight outta the box,” and do not reflect prolonged exposure to the game.  reviews are designed to give a quick ‘first impression’ of a board game, with the hopes that it will encourage more thoughts (and support) for some of the more uncommon board games out there.  we will also heavily refer to board game geek, which is widely considered the spot on the internet for board game news.

pandemic is a cooperative game where the players are specialists in disease control; their goal is to develop the cure for four separate, distinct diseases that have simultaneously developed across the globe.  you manage your own hand of cards, travel across the world, and use your special abilities to create these cures before time runs out.

each player has a specific, specialized role within the team.  for example, the scientist can develop cures quicker than any other role;  the medic can treat diseases more effectively than any other role.  there are five roles in all to choose from between four players, each with their own particular way of providing an exception to the rules.

but why is it so hard to communicate in the game?  in a world where a cure can be developed in a few turns, when you can travel intercontinentally each turn…why oh why can the players not tell each other the information they have?  i am referring to, of course, the cards the players receive and play throughout the game.  they are colour-coded and named, referring to cities across the board.  either that, or they’re special event cards that have a variety of effects (the explanation of which isn’t necessarily essential to a review).

the answer is that the card mechanic is essentially flawed from the beginning.  i think this is due to the cards not actually having a clear concept as to what they represent.  are the cards bits of information about the cities?  are they “strands” of the virulent disease that need to be decoded to develop the cure?  are they a combination of both?  are they neither?  are they currency of some type?  are they plane tickets?  and what about these special event cards?

the cards are all those things, all at the same time.  the result is that some truly odd restrictions are placed upon them.  this leads to players essentially playing against the strengths of a cooperative game to finish the job.  for example, if you play the game as it’s intended, you can only guess at the cards the other players are holding in their hand.  the only time you’re supposed to ever learn about another player’s hand is when you and they share the same space.  furthermore, the role of the dispatcher has the ability to move other players across the board instead of themselves.  why would the dispatcher aimlessly move other players around?  again, the restrictive card mechanic is to blame for a weakened role. meanwhile, the uber-combination of dispatcher and researcher can’t hardly ever be beat in terms of effectiveness…

you can’t have it both ways: have complete communication and collusion between players, and one player in the bunch will most likely dominate the strategy involved.  have limited communication, and it becomes less of a cooperative game and more of an educated guessing game between all involved.  pandemic loses in this regard, because the way it is set up is to be both simultaneously, and it fails.

that being said, i still enjoy pandemic quite a bit.  sure, it’s frustrating to deal with the fact that the cards can’t be shared between players as much as you’d want.  but watching the world being overrun with diseases (cute little coloured boxes), players moving around and eliminating the diseases; chatting with other players in the limited occasions when you share the same space…these all make for a inscrutably fascinating game experience.  oddly enough, i liken it to games such as the card game solitaire, which are nearly impossible to beat most of the time, but you keep coming back for one more round.

to solve its flaws, but still maintain some level of challenge (because the “introductory” version of the game makes it clear that complete communication makes the game waaaaaaay too easy), i’m thinking of instituting a house rule of some sort that allows written communication a few times each game.  maybe six times per game?  that would at least allow for the invention of e-mail…

please note: all photos taken from board game geek.

Tags: board games, game-making, writing //