Pandemic – Let’s all save the world together
It’s a cooperative board game that has everyone trying to beat the game – you either all win or all lose. And believe us, there are many ways to lose.
Players take on different roles and work together to rid the world of diseases. Not only do you have to stop them from outbreaking, but you also need to find the cures. It’s like working out a puzzle together – with the fate of the world in your hands and time ticking away.
Check out Caleb’s video review of Pandemic to see what it’s all about.
It’s actually the first video review Caleb did when we were first getting started doing video reviews of board games. Pandemic was picked because it’s a great family game. And Caleb shows that even a 6 year old can pitch in to save the world.
Can the whole family enjoy Pandemic?
Although all 6 of us can’t play at once, it’s okay – because with it being a cooperative game even those sitting on the side can chime in with their suggestion on what to do next.
But be careful, because it’s addicting too. When you lose, you’ll just want to start all over again. And when you win, you’ll want to increase the difficulty level and try again. Of course, we have yet to win on the highest difficulty level.
But we don’t mind trying again, and again, and again…
So when we started thinking about doing game reviews, Pandemic and BANG! were the ones we started with. This video review was our first test run with just our standard camera that we use to snap photos. But since it had a video option, we gave it a shot. So the video may look grainy, but it was a fun start.
Take our word for it – you really want this game in your family game collection.
Of course, you better watch out there too, because an expansion for the game came out and we’re warning you now that you’ll want it. We got the expansion for Christmas 2009 and it takes Pandemic to an even greater level. Keep an eye out for our video review of Pandemic: On The Brink coming soon.
Update 2013: We’ve now posted our review of Pandemic: On the Brink and you can read about all the great things it adds to the game in our review.
Buy a copy of Pandemic for your family.
Interested in what others think of Pandemic?
Check out these other opinions:
* Board Game Reviews by Josh Pandemic review
| The Board Game Family Game Ratings | |
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Caleb |
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Brooke |
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Jaden |
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Trevor |
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Mom |
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Dad |
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Average |
This looks super fun! I'm going to have the rest of the family take a look at it when they get home.
We LOVE this game! The expansion is wonderful, too, although it’s just the two of us, so we haven’t been able to use the Bioterrorist, yet!
The expansion sure is super fun. We don’t play without the expansion anymore since it even gets a higher rating from all of us. And the thing they love the most is the bioterrorist option – everyone wants to play that role.
Thanks for the review, I was just wondering how you make sure everyone has a say in what they do each turn, especially with younger kids playing? I’ve noticed, even with adults, there’s a tendency for the more experienced players to almost micro-manage everyone else, completely taking away from the co-operative feel.
This is a typical complaint we’ve heard about cooperative games in general – that they’re prone to having 1 person dictate what everyone else does. I think it comes down more to the type of personalities you have at the table. In fact, sometimes I think this argument is more pronounced with adults.
When we play with our family, we look at it as a shared experience and thus encourage a lot of talking and suggestions. I don’t know if we did it consciously or not, but I’ve found that a lot of times we just ask each other what they think. For example, I’ll ask our youngest what he thinks I should do and why. I’ve found it a great way to develop his thinking (and the others as well) as we talk it out.
And when we do play with someone that consistently doesn’t take initiative on their own turn we simply outline the options once again and practice patience. 🙂
Thanks for the review! This might be our next game. We haven’t tried anything like that yet, and I’m a little tired of all that competition that happens when we play ordinary games…
Aleksey – Cooperative games are great for families and Pandemic is perhaps the most popular one out there. Depending on the age of your kids, you might also want to take a look at Forbidden Island and Defenders of the Realm.
im reviewing this in 2021 and this isn’t just a game anymore *sigh* but overall the actual game is pretty good