CraftyFoe

One of the problems we’ve found in this game, especially with two players, is that the game ends so quickly. Upping the total number of points needed to win to 20 can extend it, but still… Sometimes you want an epic game.

One house rule we play during 1-on-1 battles is an initial race to 20. At this point, you put all the dice you’ve collected so far back into your bags, reset the score and play to 20 again. The loser of the previous game at this point is defending his honour while the winner of the previous game is aiming for match point. This can also mitigate some of those “oh, it’s all just random luck” arguments when the winners deck manages to score two games at once.

Quick rules:

1. Play as normal, until one player reaches 20
2. Put all dice back into your bags / Reset both scores back to 0
3. Loser of previous game goes first
4. Play to 20 again, if “Loser” wins he defends his honour, if “Winner” wins then he is declared Epic Quarrior King Lord God

One of the biggest problems with Pandemic (and Co-Op games in general) is to know when to allow new players to get a feel for the game without taking over yourself.

While it sounds simple, the best way to play Pandemic with new starters is to have a good understanding of the core rules yourself, and allow your virus-defeating companions to vocalise their actions before they take them. Feedback the pro’s and con’s of their plan, get them to identify with their own role as well as the roles of others; essentially, outline their options to them without telling them what to do.

If you play the Commander General and take over the game then no-one is having fun – but steering people in the right direction and,sometimes allowing your team to make mistakes will eventually push them in the right direction to understanding how to win. This method worked wonderfully with two new players that I introduced the game to (we also won!) and it was great to see people thrashing out ideas before settling on a plan (only to see it foiled by the next epidemic or outbreak). It seems like an obvious tip, but controlling players will definitely see the long-term benefit by taking a back seat.

I introduced my wife to this last night, who isn’t a big games player in any sense. I introduced her by playing with 3 epidemic cards – this kept the difficulty relatively high (it’s a tough game anyway, especially for 2) while allowing her to pick up on the rules and order of play.

We won that game, I explained the difficulty level was pretty much set to “amble” and she’s now fully ready for a proper 4/5/6 card Epidemic game. A good introduction!