mostlyharmless

I’d heard good things about this game from a coworker and my friend purchased it at GenCon 2012. After a few false starts caused by not reading through the rules very thoroughly in an effort to “just start playing” we had a great time. I’ve since played several enjoyable games with my wife. You can read about game mechanics elsewhere so I want to share the main points I think are so great about this game.

If you like a game where everyone is actively discussing and strategizing about how to best meet the goals – this is the game for you. The concept is simple enough so that discussions are lively and don’t get weighed down with wondering “what if we do this” and having to look it up in the rules. The game just flows.. Also, players don’t have their own goals so everything so sharing of information is uninhibited.

While we’ve had a game where we failed or won early, most of the games, if not won, have been enjoyable and we would end up trying to figure out how many turns we actually were away from winning. It’s surprising how many times it feels like a cliffhanger and even when you fail, you feel like you had a great game.

The roles all seem fairly balanced although having the Scientist along to cure diseases with only four cards seems to be the most helpful. So, everyone playing will feel that they have contributed to the outcome.

Finally, and I know this is a minor point, but the materials are all top quality. The box and board are solid, the cards are durable with a good weight and I’m a sucker for wooden components as in the case of the pawns and research stations.

So, if you’re looking for a fairly simple cooperative game which generates lively discussion and debate among the people playing Pandemic is the game for you. Either way, the world is worth saving.