Happy New Year! I just watched Rahdo’s December 2021 Round-Up. He is a big fan of Pandemic in general. He brought forth a new variant I was not aware of. I think Z-Man has the rules online. It involves both the North American and Europe Hotzone games at the same time as a two player game, thus you together are dealing with six diseases and there is the ability to work cooperatively between the two boards. He said both he and his wife loved it and they’ve played every form of Pandemic and this may be their favorite way to play it. It is called the “Hemisphere Variant”. In his December 2021 Round-Up video list he has it rated at number three ( but his whole list-and it’s just for December!!) is interesting).
Pandemic Iberia is super hard to find. I played the classic pandemic (the one in all the stores) a long time ago and didn't really get it. So, I gave it away. I'm ready to try again. Pandemic Contagion sounds good to me. I like how the bit that holds the cubes looks like a petri dish.
Great job ranking the games. I haven't played the World of Warcraft or Rapid Response ones, so I can't speak for those. For the others, our rankings are similar. I think the biggest difference is Contagion, which I rank last, and Rising Tide, which I rank above Fall of Rome. The problem with Fall of Rome is there is a specific strategy that once you figure it out, makes the game so easy you'd have to intentionally not play that way in order to have a challenging game. Your negative on Rising Tide is what I really like about it. I think the water mechanic, how it flows, and how you can control where it goes is really cool. I agree with your top three, but to me they're so close they could go in any order. I've heard there are rules for playing the two Hot Zones together as a single game, but I've not seen them. Finally, if expansions were included, then Pandemic In The Lab would be near the top for me. I think it adds a lot more theme to the game, and being an experienced Pandemic player, the added complexity keeps it interesting.
Thanks for the response. I would bet every single one of the pandemic games someone out there has that as their favorite of the series which is definitely something to be praised.
be interesting to see where you would put the legacy games on your list. I love Cthulhu and think it could be themed into a kid friendly game, as i find it a lot easier than some of the other variants. I have a hard time with Iberia, something just feels a little bit off when playing it that we havent quite figured out yet
I can't decide if Iberia or Fall of Rome is on the top for me... then I'll put the original game on the podium. The Cure is a weird one for me: even if that was the first version I considered buying (wasn't available, so I picked up the original), I ended up really liking the card version(s) more. Probably not having a big map to move on and the luck you often need with dice made it less epic, too abstract idk... still it's really fast to set up and play, so it's perfect for a quick solo. Now I really need to find a copy of Chtulhu (maybe also Rising Tide, why not), while I can skip Hot Zones, thanks for the video!
So helpful thanks a bunch. I love that u can some solo!!
Nice ranking!!!! The only two i have in my collection are the cure and the Cthulhu ones, for the same reasons you just point out. such a coincidence 👌
Hey, well those are two good ones to have! Haha
Happy New Year! I just watched Rahdo’s December 2021 Round-Up. He is a big fan of Pandemic in general. He brought forth a new variant I was not aware of. I think Z-Man has the rules online. It involves both the North American and Europe Hotzone games at the same time as a two player game, thus you together are dealing with six diseases and there is the ability to work cooperatively between the two boards. He said both he and his wife loved it and they’ve played every form of Pandemic and this may be their favorite way to play it. It is called the “Hemisphere Variant”. In his December 2021 Round-Up video list he has it rated at number three ( but his whole list-and it’s just for December!!) is interesting).
Pandemic Iberia is super hard to find. I played the classic pandemic (the one in all the stores) a long time ago and didn't really get it. So, I gave it away. I'm ready to try again. Pandemic Contagion sounds good to me. I like how the bit that holds the cubes looks like a petri dish.
Great job ranking the games. I haven't played the World of Warcraft or Rapid Response ones, so I can't speak for those. For the others, our rankings are similar. I think the biggest difference is Contagion, which I rank last, and Rising Tide, which I rank above Fall of Rome. The problem with Fall of Rome is there is a specific strategy that once you figure it out, makes the game so easy you'd have to intentionally not play that way in order to have a challenging game. Your negative on Rising Tide is what I really like about it. I think the water mechanic, how it flows, and how you can control where it goes is really cool. I agree with your top three, but to me they're so close they could go in any order. I've heard there are rules for playing the two Hot Zones together as a single game, but I've not seen them. Finally, if expansions were included, then Pandemic In The Lab would be near the top for me. I think it adds a lot more theme to the game, and being an experienced Pandemic player, the added complexity keeps it interesting.
Thanks for the response. I would bet every single one of the pandemic games someone out there has that as their favorite of the series which is definitely something to be praised.
Great video! Thank you for your thoughts! Where Star Wars Clone Wars get in this rank?
I'd put it right around the world of warcraft version.
be interesting to see where you would put the legacy games on your list. I love Cthulhu and think it could be themed into a kid friendly game, as i find it a lot easier than some of the other variants. I have a hard time with Iberia, something just feels a little bit off when playing it that we havent quite figured out yet
I may do a shorter one where I rate the legacy games once I finally get to season 0
Nice list. Contagion remind me of Plague inc. Pandemic Iberia is my favorite in the family.
Iberia is really good. A good improvement from the original.
Pandemic Contagion actually has a decent solo variant on big.
I'll have to check that out. Thanks!
I can't decide if Iberia or Fall of Rome is on the top for me... then I'll put the original game on the podium. The Cure is a weird one for me: even if that was the first version I considered buying (wasn't available, so I picked up the original), I ended up really liking the card version(s) more. Probably not having a big map to move on and the luck you often need with dice made it less epic, too abstract idk... still it's really fast to set up and play, so it's perfect for a quick solo.
Now I really need to find a copy of Chtulhu (maybe also Rising Tide, why not), while I can skip Hot Zones, thanks for the video!
I almost bought Reign of Cthulhu a couple months ago but I didn’t. :-( I wish Iberia was still in print, that is the one I want the most.
I got very lucky with Iberia. I walked into a disc golf store that keeps like 3 games and one of them was Iberia.
@@TheBoardMeeting that’s awesome!!
I found a copy of Reign of Cthulhu for 30 at Emerald City Comiccon
@@benanddaniellereviews hope you enjoy it
Thank you! I hope so!!!