Pandemic Review

The guys and I tried our hand at the board game Pandemic last week. (sometimes ya just gotta play something not GW related!) This is a cooperative game where you are trying to stave off a series of viral outbreaks throughout the globe. The game is stacked against you and if you don't seriously plan your moves out you will lose many, many times. We lost all three games we played!
Each player takes on the roll of a disease fighter. I liked being the scientist best, but there was also a medic, researcher, dispatcher. Each turn the virus will pop up in at least two regions of the globe, adding a block to that area. If there are already three blocks on the area it will add a block, instead, to all areas touching the target. Random outbreak cards make you pop up even more and reshuffle the regions that have already appeared back to the top of the deck.
On your turn you can do a few things. Trade cards with folks, move, remove a block, or try to find a cure. To find a cure you need 5 cards of the same color, and you only get to draw two per turn. Since you can only hold 7 cards, its tough to get a cure. If you get a cure you don't win - it just means you can remove disease tokens faster.
This game is a huge blast and is a lot of fun to play. After so many vs. games, it nice to try to beat a super difficult game together. I recommend this game highly, and it plays in about 45 minutes. Check it out!