Board Game Analysis: Pandemic
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Pandemic is a cooperative board game where between two to four players take on the challenge to cure the world from infection before it spreads all across the world. Win condition: Discover all four cures in time. Lose states (any of these will on its own end the game)
Gameplay Basics In order to win the game, the players have to travel between cities and remove infection cubes to win time to develop all four cures. Once a cure is discovered for a particular color, the cubes of that color will be easier to eradicate and thereby a positive feedback loop is created. The players’ economy is four action points to spend at each turn as well as player cards which they can either use for long distance travel or collecting in order to make a cure. The players are given unique roles in the beginning of the game in which the player has an edge in a particular action. The scientist for example only needs four player cards of a color in order to develop a cure instead of the default requirement of five cards. Our group played through about five sessions in total. The first two times we lost by too many outbreaks. We managed to win after that, but with very close margins. The last playthrough we won at the very last player turn possible. After that we would’ve lost due to no player cards left.
The best and worst sides to the game + Cooperative play To cooperate and play against the game together with everyone else lowers the risk of bad feelings and arguments between the players. Of course, there will be a margin of exceptions due to people handling team work differently, so I say this in a generalizing manner comparing to the risk of ill feelings toward each other in comparison to competitive games. Problem solving through group discussion is a common occurrence in the everyday life of many people and Pandemic definitely encourages practicing this skill. + Well balanced for a varying number of players We played through the game both with four and two players to see if we noticed any remarkable difference in how it played out. We quickly realized that the difficulty was close to the same no matter if you were two or four players. The core system of how the infections spread after each players’ turn is unaffected by the number of players and therefor is naturally balanced. We found two elements that could make a two player session easier to win. One of them is having an ideal combination of two roles which can be used to their maximum capacity due to the players having their turn more often. The second factor is based on a social level, as team work is theoretically more easily manageable the less people there are in a team. – Co-op shortens length of replay value Competitive games allow for an element of unpredictable events since you play against another human being and not a system. This usually makes the replay value of a game longer. Since Pandemic is not competitive, a limited amount of events can happen and the pattern of the game is quickly learned by the player. This most likely shortens the length of how long the game will feel fresh and interesting. At around play session four, the group agreed that it started to feel a bit repetitive. – Freedom of action causes confusion From one viewpoint, one could say that the amount of freedom the player gets is one of the most interesting features in the game. Although, I noticed how the group could not go through a whole round of turns without someone struggling with what kind of move they should make. The possibilities were so wide and the feedback from the game was so discrete that players often struggled with knowing what to do next and having a fixed goal to strive towards all the time. If the infection level was low there was just no other clear goal to strive towards except doing anything to let the game progress. If an experienced group played with a thoroughly planned strategy this wouldn’t be a problem, but due to the short replay value of the game not many players feel like taking it that far. The lack of clear indications in what one should do next brings the game to a halt and takes down the level of enthusiasm and in other words; the level of fun. The Core Game System: Infection Cube Spreading Pattern The infection increases after each player’s turn and is the main challenge that they are fighting against in order to discover the cures in time. It’s defined by a system of how infection stacks and spreads across the map. This system is an abstraction of an opponent and once the players have discovered an effective way to tackle the system, they basically have learned how to beat the game. Infection Cubes Properties: The cubes are divided into four different colors. The placement of these cubes – both in the game world and outside of it – indicates how the game is going. Behavior: The cubes can stack to up to three of the same color per location and after that spread around the location. Relationships: The cubes have close relationships to the Cities, the City Connectors and the Infection cards. The Infection Cards direct where cubes will be added after each players’ turn. If no more cubes can be added to the specific location, an outbreak is triggered. If an outbreak should happen, the cubes follow the City Connectors to all the Cities adjacent to the outbreaking City. The Outbreak event behaves in a way that feels similar to how disease can spread in the real world and therefor feels organic. Outbreak Marker Properties: The Outbreak Marker has a unique type of look and placement in the game world. Relationship: It moves one step forward at every outbreak and if it reaches the end of its scale the game is lost. Infection Rate Marker Properties: The Infection Rate Marker has a unique look and placement in the game world to communicate the Infection Rate to the players. Relationship: The marker tells how many infection cards should be drawn after each players turn. The marker moves forward one step if an Epidemic Card is drawn. Infection Cards Properties: The Infection Cards are attributed with one of the four colors, a city and a placement in the game world. The cards can either be in the draw pile, yet to be drawn by the players, or discarded if they have been used. Cities Properties: Each City is given a color, a unique name and a placement in the game world. Relationship: The Cities work as containers for Infection Cubes and are connected by City Connector for the Infection to spread. City Connections Properties: Red lines which are located in the game world to make connections between Cities. Epidemic Card Properties: These cards have a unique look and are evenly located in the Player Card pile. Behavior: Triggers an Epidemic and is immediately discarded. Relationship: When an Epidemic is triggered, three cubes are added to a City. The Infection Card on the bottom of the draw pile directs which City that is. The Infection Rate Marker moves forward one step.
A basic excel sheet over the relationships of the objects involved in the core system. The most interesting system:: The “Dispatcher” Player Role The Dispatcher is one of the unique roles that a player can have and its special ability is that it can move other player pawns as if they were his/her own. It can also move the pawns to the same City as the Dispatcher’s pawn. This gives a much wider amount of different actions that the Dispatcher can spend its points on, both for good and bad. I’d say that this role is more complicated than the others to understand and master. It takes to play through a few games with the role in order to learn how to apply winning strategies to it. Target Group Interpretation The game is targeted for players aged ten years and up and I’d like to say that I agree that it’s a suitable age range. Personally I’d like to see a lot of ten year olds play the game with their friends and families in order to practice their skills in problem solving through team work. The earlier one can start practicing those skills the better. However, I feel like some aspects of the game – mostly referring to the Dispatcher role – are a bit too complicated for the casual form of playing that the ordinary family would be having. It takes more effort that one gets back in positive feedback in my opinion and might risk falling short for some players that aren’t patient enough. Summation Pandemic has a solid core system in how the infection spreads on the game world unaffected by the number of players. Its gameplay encourages discussion between the players and develops ones team work and problem solving skills. And if the game is beaten, everyone is a winner. In today’s society where digital competitive games are all the rage and people often individually sit in front of their screens, this might be a very useful and refreshing game for players to try playing. The game has its weak spots in the design which can cause complications and confusion for some, such as the wide freedom of action – especially if playing with a Dispatcher. It might be the developer’s way in trying to create a deeper gameplay to make the replay value longer. Since the core system quickly risks becoming predictable and repetitive, I don’t think deepening other aspects make it much better. |
