How to Play Pandemic: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you are looking for a challenging board game that combines tight time frames, intense survival struggles, and difficult tasks, then Pandemic is an option you cannot afford to miss. In this article, we will explore what makes the board game Pandemic so appealing and provide you with detailed instructions on how to play.

To learn more about board games and their appeal, you can read our article: “What is a board game? Summary of board games for multiple players with simple rules”.

1 Introduction to the board game Pandemic

Set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a pandemic and facing the threat of extinction, Pandemic is a battle between experts from various fields who are fighting against a mysterious disease that is decimating the world’s population.

Pandemic is one of the best and simplest board games, making it suitable for both new players to the genre. With a duration of approximately 60 minutes, players are sure to have many interesting and intense experiences.

If you want more detailed instructions for beginners, you can read our article: “Instructions for beginners”.

Introduction to the board game Pandemic

2 Understanding the rules of Pandemic

Components of Pandemic

• 7 character cards: Each character has different skills and is represented by a unique color.
• 7 pawns: Representing the 7 characters.
• 59 player cards: Including 48 city cards, 6 disease cards, and 5 event cards.
• 1 game board: Symbolizing the world map with famous cities and outbreak locations.
• Infection cards, disease cubes, cure vials, research stations, and other instructional documents.

Components of Pandemic

If you need even more detailed instructions, you can read our article: “Most detailed instructions”.

Preparing the game

• Arrange the board and playing components: Lay out the board and place 6 research stations and disease cubes nearby. Divide the disease cubes into 4 regions with different colors. Place 1 research station in Atlanta.
• Place outbreaks and treat diseases: Place an outbreak marker on the “0” space on the Outbreaks track. Place 4 disease cubes near the Discovered Cure Indicators.
• Place infection rate markers on 9 cities: Place infection rate markers on the “2” space on the far left of the Infection Rate track. Shuffle the Infection cards and reveal the top 3 cards. Place 3 corresponding color disease cubes in each of these cities.
• Flip 3 additional cards: Place 2 disease cubes on each city. Place a total of 18 disease cubes, each cube corresponding to the color of the cities. Place these 9 cards face down on the Infection Discard Pile.
• Select character cards: Players take turns choosing character cards and place their corresponding pawns in the Atlanta city. Divide the 48 city cards and 5 event cards equally among players. Keep the disease cards separate.

Initial game setup

Instructions for playing Pandemic

Each turn consists of three basic parts:

• Perform 4 actions.
• Draw 2 player cards.
• Spread disease within the city.

After a player has completed their turn, the player to their left will take their turn.

All players should discuss and provide assistance to add to the excitement of the game, but the player whose turn it is has the final decision-making authority.

Players have City cards and Event cards. City cards are only used for certain actions, while Event cards can be used at any time.

Actions

Players can perform a maximum of 4 actions per turn.

They can choose any actions and perform an action multiple times, with each repetition counting as 1 action. The actions can vary depending on the skills of each character.

Draw additional player cards

After completing 4 actions, the player continues to draw 2 cards from the player deck. If there is only 1 card left in the deck when a player is about to draw, the game ends and that player loses.

When drawing a card, if an Infection card is chosen, follow these steps:

• Increase the movement speed: Move the infection rate marker on the track forward by 1 space.
• Infection: Draw the bottom card from the infection deck and add a maximum of 3 disease cubes to the city printed on that card.
• Increase the infection rate: Shuffle the discarded infection deck and place it on top of the remaining infection deck.

If all 8 types of diseases occur simultaneously, there are not enough disease cubes when needed, and there are no longer enough player cards, the game is lost.

Game end

Players win as soon as they find a cure for all 4 diseases. After all diseases have been cured, the game ends and the player wins immediately, regardless of how many cubes are on the board.

Detailed instructions on how to play the board game Pandemic

3 Examples and notes when playing Pandemic

Example: In the first turn, Anna performs 4 actions:

• Drives from Atlanta to Chicago.
• Then drives to San Francisco to treat the disease.
• Removes 1 blue disease cube in San Francisco.
• Continues to treat the disease in San Francisco for the second time, removing another blue disease cube.

Thus, Anna has completed all 4 actions in one turn.

Notes:

• You do not draw a replacement card after drawing an Epidemic card.
• You can think and speculate about new methods of treating diseases at any Research Station, and the color of the city does not necessarily have to match the disease being treated.
• In your turn, you can take a card from another player if both players are in the same city and the card matches the one you are holding.
• Your card limit applies immediately after receiving a card from another player.

Examples and notes when playing Pandemic

4 Play Pandemic board game online

In addition to playing in person with physical cards, you can also play Pandemic online through websites or by downloading the game from the CH Play or App Store. The following are the links to play Pandemic online.

• vi.boardgamearena
• Play.google.com

Play Pandemic board game online

In conclusion, this article has provided you with the most detailed and comprehensive guide on how to play the board game Pandemic for beginners. Pandemic is a game that presents players with numerous challenges and requires quick decision-making throughout the game. We hope this guide will help you experience exciting moments while playing Pandemic with your friends!