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Matt Leacock had a problem and that he loved playing games with his wife but didn’t like that one would end up winning while the other lost. His solution was perfect as he created not only a new game but also a whole new genre of games. The game was Pandemic and the genre was co-operative games where players work together tto play against the game and won or lost together. Pandemic pitted the players against 4 deadly diseases playing roles that had different abilitis or powers to control the spread of the diseases while they resaerched cures.
My wife Anne loved this medical theme and Pandemic quickly became her favorite game, so much so, we woud pack it and take it on our travels. Sadly she died in May 23 but not before we had played Pandemic in London, New York, Sab Francisco, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney. We naturally played Pandemic throughout the Covid 19 Pandemic with 5pm being the time of the daily news conference but also time to set up the game especially during the lockdowns.
She would occasionally play other games but the best reception I got when showing her the haul from the latest Essen Speil was a game with Pandemic in the title.
To get good feel for the game I suggest you click here to watch the tabletop video here
Get the full free guide to all things Pandemic including the expansions, mini games and find out which of the standalone games is best for you!
Pandemic Legacy games – the cream of the crop
Pandemic Legacy Season 1 is a co-operative campaign game, with an overarching story arc played through 12-24 sessions, depending on how well your group does at the game. At the beginning, the game starts in a very similar fashion as basic Pandemic, in which your team of disease-fighting specialists races against the clock to travel around the world, treating disease hot spots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand.
During a player’s turn, they have four actions available, with which they may travel around in the world in various ways (sometimes needing to discard a card), build structures like research stations, treat diseases (removing one cube from the board; if all cubes of a color have been removed, the disease has been eradicated), trade cards with other players, or find a cure for a disease (requiring five cards of the same color to be discarded while at a research station). Each player has a unique role with special abilities to help them at these actions.
After a player has taken their actions, they draw two cards. These cards can include epidemic cards, which will place new disease cubes on the board, and can lead to an outbreak, spreading disease cubes even further. Outbreaks additionally increase the panic level of a city, making that city more expensive to travel to.
Each month in the game, you have two chances to achieve that month’s objectives. If you succeed, you win and immediately move on to the next month. If you fail, you have a second chance, with more funding for beneficial event cards.
During the campaign, new rules and components will be introduced. These will sometimes require you to permanently alter the components of the game; this includes writing on cards, ripping up cards, and placing permanent stickers on components. Your characters can gain new skills, or detrimental effects. A character can even be lost entirely, at which point it’s no longer available for play.
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST GAMING EXPERIENCES EVER. It is an absolute must whether you enjoy Pandemic or not.
Pandemic Legacy Season 2 – the sequel to Season 1 but with one big problem it is just too hard. Failure after failure is just no fun. It will have you searching online for help. My advie is toplay and enjoy SEASON 1, SKIP SEASON 2 and then enjoy Season zero which is so much fun!
1962 — The Cold War continues as a new threat looms on the horizon, a deadly new Soviet bioweapon, something called “Project MEDUSA”. You and your fellow medical graduates have been recruited by the CIA for the critical mission of investigating and preventing its development. Travel the world using carefully constructed aliases to move swiftly between Allied, Neutral, and Soviet cities. Your missions will require you to neutralize enemy agents, acquire specific targets, and set up other CIA agents on location to execute your operations without a hitch. As you complete objectives over the course of twelve months, each success or failure will bring you closer to the truth.
Combatting this dangerous new pathogen is of utmost importance, but it’s not the only threat you’ll encounter in the field. Enemy agents are taking root in all parts of the world, and it’s critical to your mission that you keep them contained before they can escalate international tensions. Luckily for you, you won’t be without backup. Coordinate with other covert operatives for assistance and make strategic use of these teams at different locations to clean up the board and keep your eye on your main objectives.
Designed as a prequel, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 does not require you to have completed Season 1 and Season 2 before diving into this Cold War spy thriller. As in the first two Pandemic Legacy games, each time you play brings new cards, rules, and conditions that affect future games. Each alias you create will gain contacts and other assets to execute your plans more smoothly. And, of course, the CIA will be watching and evaluating your performance in the field. Work together with your fellow agents to prevent this new bio-threat — the fate of the world depends on it. Can you save humanity once again?
It is so much fun being spies! This is a must have game!
Click here for a review of season 1 – click here to get it from Amazon
Click here for a review of season zero – click here to check it out on Amazon
Robinson Crusoe – is excellent but also really difficult!
- obinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is an epic game from Portal. You will build a shelter, palisade, weapons, you will create tools like axes, knives, sacks, you will do everything you can to survive.
- Take the role of one of four characters from the ship crew (cook, carpenter, explorer or soldier) and face the adventure. Use your determination skills to help your team mates, discuss with them your plan and put it into practice. Debate, discuss, and work on the best plan you all can make.
- Search for treasures. Discover mysteries. Follow goals of six different, engaging scenarios. Start by building a big pile of wood and setting it on fire to call for help, and then start new adventures. Become an exorcist on cursed Island. Become a treasure hunter on Volcano Island. Become a rescue team for a young lady who’s stuck on rock island
- Let the adventure live!
Click here to watch a review then click here to find out more on Amazon and buy it if you’re up to the challenge that is Robinson Crusoe,
Skyteam is a brilliant 2 player game with the players taking the roles of pilort and co-pilot to sucessfully land a plane at some of the world’s most challenging airports.
Each player rolls dice at the start of each round hidden from the other player. The game requires silent coordination to allocate the dice to slots representing components of a plane, simulating the management of an aircraft’s axis, speed, flaps, landing gear, and communication with the control tower. The objective is to adjust these components over multiple rounds so that the plane lands safely at the arrival airport. Sky Team ends in failure if the plane stalls, overshoots, or collides with other planes from the mismanagement of these components.
Click here to watch a review then click here for more info and to get your copy on Amazon.
Dorf Romantik – the mini legacy campaign game
Rippling rivers, rustling forests, wheat fields swaying in the wind and here and there a cute little village – that’s Dorfromantik! The video game from the small developer studio Toukana Interactive has been thrilling the gaming community since its Early Access in March 2021 and has already won all kinds of prestigious awards. Now Michael Palm and Lukas Zach are transforming the popular building strategy and puzzle game into a family game for young and old with Dorfromantik: The Board Game.
In Dorfromantik: The Board Game, up to six players work together to lay hexagonal tiles to create a beautiful landscape and try to fulfill the orders of the population, while at the same time laying as long a track and as long a river as possible, but also taking into account the flags that provide points in enclosed areas. The better the players manage to do this, the more points they can score at the end. In the course of the replayable campaign, the points earned can be used to unlock new tiles that are hidden in initially locked boxes. These pose new, additional tasks for the players and make it possible to raise the high score higher and higher.
It works so well as a 2-player mini campaign game with the scoring track opening up the boxes of additional gameplay and components.
Click here for a review and here to find out more from Amazon and to add it to your collection.
The Crew the quest for Planet 9 – the co-op trick taking card game
In the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, the players set out as astronauts on an uncertain space adventure. What are the rumors regarding the unknown planet about? The eventful journey through space extends over 50 exciting missions. But this game can only be defeated by meeting common individual tasks of each player. In order to meet the varied challenges communication is essential in the team. But this is more difficult than expected in space.
With each mission the game becomes more difficult. After each mission the game can be paused and continued later. During each mission it is not the number of tricks but the right tricks at the right time that count.
The team completes a mission only if every single player is successful in fulfilling their tasks. The use of a dummy player allows the game to be emjoyed y 2 players.
The game comes with 50 missions.
Click here for a review of this award winning game and here to grab your copy on Amazon.
Exit advent calender = this could become an annual tradition
Your part-time job as a pizza delivery driver was pretty boring — until today! You are about to deliver pizza to one of the most famous film studios in the world. Shooting of the new Christmas blockbuster should be in full swing, but when you arrive, the set is dark and deserted. Something is very wrong here. Where’s the film crew? Oh, and where is the Hollywood star you were desperate to get an autograph from? All you find are spooky footprints in the fake snow that lead straight to a gaping hole in the studio wall.
Do you have the courage to follow the trail and go deep behind the scenes of the film studio? This advent calendar is an EXIT game and an adventure story in one: To find the missing star, you must open a little calendar door every day. Behind each, you will find an exciting new riddle, the solution to which will help you to move onto the next day. Only if you follow the clues and solve all 24 riddles, will you uncover the secret and save the Christmas blockbuster.
Click here to find it on Amazon.
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