Thanks, Zee! I was nervous about this one, knowing you don’t usually care for real-time games. “This is my favorite real-time game” may not mean much, but it’s a great quote. :)
Thank you so much for designing this! I'm personally meh about Pandemic (largely because of Alpha player issues) but like Fuse a lot. When I first saw this I thought, "Hey, looks like a Pandemic/Fuse crossover." Then I saw you were the designer (well, I saw the Fuse designer was the designer; I didn't know your name), and that's when I started getting excited!!
Very excited about this one. Am a huge fan of Fuse and wanted to live Flatline, but unfortunately it was a but overwhelming and I never really feel like I had any idea what to focus on or what a good strategy looks like. This game looks like what I wanted Flatline to be, and I can't wait to try it out!
Thanks for giving us great games! You're an inspiration to me and started designing a real time game because of your and other real time games. Looking forward to Proving Grounds even though I don't usually care for solo board games. Congratulations! 😃.
We probably can't see it, but there's a gun pointing at Zee's head, hidden outside the frame. Otherwise, I don't see how they made him review a Pandemic game.
Hey Roy, can we get a neutral color on Zee's initial review points, and then change them to green or red once he states whether they are positive or negative? Starting red doesn't make sense visually, and color-coding as we go will help from a visual standpoint....thanks for the consideration!
Some people have been mentioning an issue with player count and there being an issue with less players because of more dice being tied up? Did you see any of this in your plays?
I thought the same thing! I love Fuse and Flatliner and thought that this was like that but when I saw the name it all made sense! Seems like it's between Fuse and Flatliner in complexity. Definitely on my buy list now!
Quick question, would you suggest using an audible timer? I could see my group not paying attention to the sand timer and accidentally stealing more time for each round.
I sold my big box of Escape some time ago, was just too much, too many modules and all. It was a great game but yah. I will be getting this one however, looks goooooood
I've never played Fuse but it's a little different from the Cure. Cure is more of a re-imagining of Pandemic but with dice instead of cards. There are still outbreaks, you have to pick up cubes around the world, and find cures for the four diseases to win. Cure still feels like you're playing original pandemic but at a smaller scale.
This game arrived only recently in France and It’s clearly my favorite real time game : theme consistent, logical set of actions, material Ok and real time plus turn by turn. Great !
So I got pandemic not too long ago. Thought it was going to be a challenge to play. It was highly praised. Well I discovered with my friends that the game feels like it takes a little bit longer playing it than it takes to set it all up and pack up. Not too bad that point. The disappointing bit was the game can't be lost unless we tried (like not doing anything). Played it on all difficulties with random characters each time, and while having all 5 horrible cards in the deck added a little bit of difficulty, it was never a huge agency. Us 6 wins - game 0 wins. The game has become a joke to us: play it for an easy victory every time. We made sure we played it correctly since my first conclusion from our very first game felt it was too easy. Disappointed with the resulting self discovery. Any expansions that would make the game more difficult and still keep it simple to play? I own the 2013 version that includes the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist.
I have the same feeling. We have never lost in a classic pandemic game. On the contrary, Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu or even Forbidden Island is almost 50/50. I don't know if with any expansion Pandemic gets better, but I prefer to try alternative versions of the Pandemic than get expansions for the original one.
Anybody who has played a lot and never lost is playing it wrong. I have played it HUNDREDS of times on the app, which is exactly the same as the board game, with five Epidemics and I still lose. With four players I've upped my win percentage to around 80%. With two players - which I've just recently switched to - I win about 65%. I guarantee you are not better than me at this game. You are definitely misunderstanding a rule, which is very easy to do, as there are many MANY rules. Some people think they can go anywhere on the board as one action, which they can't. Some people trade cards illegally. Some people count Outbreaks incorrectly. Some people remove all cubes as a single action. Some people stop infecting cities after that color has been cured. Some people forget to discard cards when they get 7 in their hands. Some people forget to infect cities (probably the most common mistake, as even longtime players do this on occasion). Watch a playthrough of the game and you'll figure out what you are doing wrong. Because you definitely are.
KevyB that's exactly what I wanted to say. Thanks! If it's too easy for you there is a verry very high chance you are overlooking one or more rules. It's very easy to miss a rule in classic pandemic and that's enough to win every time and not lose once!
@@kevinbhieey9188 We are playing it correctly. We made sure of it. Not only following the rule book to the letter, but also watched a how to play video. So we aren't doing anything wrong. The game is simply too easy for us. I fail to see how anyone could lose unless they never bothered doing anything.
@@kevinbhieey9188 Can't go anywhere in one action unless you hold the city card you are currently on and discard it, very rare instance that ever to happen. Can't trade unless both players in that city and the card has to have that exact city name too, unless you are the Researcher which doesn't require the city name on the card. Yes, it is a one action per card trade. We've had her in one game so far. It's clear as day in the book that each city can only have 3 cubes of each color on it, the 4th causes one cube of that color to be added from the box to cities connected by a line, and should that add a 4th cube of the same color to another city that city has an outbreak too but doesn't give a 4th cube of the current cascading color to the previous city. In short, they don't ping pong infinitely between each other. this raises the Outbreak meter on the left side of the board for each outbreak incident.
An Agents of SHIELD version of this would be cool. You could split the team and send people off in a Quinjet to a crisis on the other side of the world.
Giving a plus or minus review for game length is i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶i̶c̶ questionable. Giving a critic of downtime is okay but to say this is a good game because it only takes 20 minutes is a̶b̶s̶u̶r̶d̶ questionable. If anything it tells me there is not enough there to keep your interest.
Are you serious? You know reviews are subjective, right? You know that, as a review, Zee sees that play time as a plus for the specific game he's reviewing, right? If that's not a plus for you, so be it, but who the hell are you to say that his positive opinion on the game length is absurd for this particular game?
Giving a game a plus because it is short is like saying a meal is good because it did not take to long to eat. That is what he did. I like Zee but just like he might give a game a negative review I gave this review a some negative feedback. That is my opinion.
Joe Mueller When I talk about game length, I mean it to be a commentary on whether the game's playtime fits the amount of interest/involvement the game generates. A very simple game that takes 30 minutes is a good ratio, as is a deep and evolving game that takes three hours (such as Fury of Dracula, which I like and would get a "positive" in that category). It's not just about a game being short or long. Some games are over before I feel the experience has had time to blossom. That would also get a "neutral" or "negative" tag from me.
@@stoneybrookjoe It's 20 minutes straight of every player needing to be focused on every aspect of the game with no real break (other than the few seconds it takes to flip the timer and place a new city card). Not like regular Pandemic where you can stop paying close attention for a couple of turns and then focus when the player before you is taking their turn.
Looks good but getting tired of Pandemics, are they going for 100 expansions like Dominion? milking it for all it's worth? Zee you did a great job, I'll say that much.
@@sharkycat4494 It's a solo game that would probably make a good app and take half as long to play. But worse, there is nothing to get people involved, nothing to encourage player interaction, nothing to prevent alpha gamer. On top of that, you can be put in a no win situation depending on the card shuffle. There is no fun to be had once you see through the veneer
Because what the stressful game of Pandemic needed was the added stress of being on a timer...
Great review!!
Thanks, Zee! I was nervous about this one, knowing you don’t usually care for real-time games.
“This is my favorite real-time game” may not mean much, but it’s a great quote. :)
Thank you so much for designing this! I'm personally meh about Pandemic (largely because of Alpha player issues) but like Fuse a lot. When I first saw this I thought, "Hey, looks like a Pandemic/Fuse crossover." Then I saw you were the designer (well, I saw the Fuse designer was the designer; I didn't know your name), and that's when I started getting excited!!
Love your game Fuse! And when I saw this looked like Fuse+Pandemic I pre-ordered immediately =D
Very excited about this one. Am a huge fan of Fuse and wanted to live Flatline, but unfortunately it was a but overwhelming and I never really feel like I had any idea what to focus on or what a good strategy looks like. This game looks like what I wanted Flatline to be, and I can't wait to try it out!
Thanks for giving us great games!
You're an inspiration to me and started designing a real time game because of your and other real time games. Looking forward to Proving Grounds even though I don't usually care for solo board games.
Congratulations! 😃.
We probably can't see it, but there's a gun pointing at Zee's head, hidden outside the frame. Otherwise, I don't see how they made him review a Pandemic game.
Hey Roy, can we get a neutral color on Zee's initial review points, and then change them to green or red once he states whether they are positive or negative?
Starting red doesn't make sense visually, and color-coding as we go will help from a visual standpoint....thanks for the consideration!
Some people have been mentioning an issue with player count and there being an issue with less players because of more dice being tied up? Did you see any of this in your plays?
I love Pandemic but not a huge fan of real time games. Thanks for the review, Zee. You sold me on at least trying it.
Didn't know Kane Klenko made it! Wasn't interested on it because of that, but after the review, well, I might get it!
I thought the same thing! I love Fuse and Flatliner and thought that this was like that but when I saw the name it all made sense! Seems like it's between Fuse and Flatliner in complexity. Definitely on my buy list now!
Just bought it, can wait to play it thabks for the review
Quick question, would you suggest using an audible timer? I could see my group not paying attention to the sand timer and accidentally stealing more time for each round.
You could always use a phone timer, might be more visually apparent.
Thanks for the video, great content! How does it compare to Flatline?
I sold my big box of Escape some time ago, was just too much, too many modules and all. It was a great game but yah. I will be getting this one however, looks goooooood
Crossover between pandemic and fuse?
Did ZMan games lose the license to an Agents of Shield tie in game but not want to scrap their development work on a super plane themed game?
I'm currently doing the legacy campaign with a group for Pandemic Legacy season 2. Maybe when that's over we can try this.
I own Flatline, which is a little too similar to this game (both designed by Kane Klenko).
Saw Kane Klenko on the box. Ah, now i see where it comes from :) Turn based real-time sounds less frantic than say Fuse.
I wonder how this compared to Pandemic: The Cure & Fuse
I've never played Fuse but it's a little different from the Cure. Cure is more of a re-imagining of Pandemic but with dice instead of cards. There are still outbreaks, you have to pick up cubes around the world, and find cures for the four diseases to win. Cure still feels like you're playing original pandemic but at a smaller scale.
picked up the game for like 8 bucks. def worth it, but still figuring out how to play cleanly.
This game arrived only recently in France and It’s clearly my favorite real time game : theme consistent, logical set of actions, material Ok and real time plus turn by turn. Great !
How to catch the alpha player, play this game.
Pandemic: Flatline
Ahhh great to see it got the 'Zeeal' of Approval *giggles,snort* 🤣🤣
Zee liked a Pandemic game? What?! No-way! Lmao 😅
So I got pandemic not too long ago. Thought it was going to be a challenge to play. It was highly praised.
Well I discovered with my friends that the game feels like it takes a little bit longer playing it than it takes to set it all up and pack up. Not too bad that point. The disappointing bit was the game can't be lost unless we tried (like not doing anything). Played it on all difficulties with random characters each time, and while having all 5 horrible cards in the deck added a little bit of difficulty, it was never a huge agency. Us 6 wins - game 0 wins. The game has become a joke to us: play it for an easy victory every time.
We made sure we played it correctly since my first conclusion from our very first game felt it was too easy.
Disappointed with the resulting self discovery.
Any expansions that would make the game more difficult and still keep it simple to play?
I own the 2013 version that includes the Contingency Planner and the Quarantine Specialist.
I have the same feeling. We have never lost in a classic pandemic game. On the contrary, Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu or even Forbidden Island is almost 50/50. I don't know if with any expansion Pandemic gets better, but I prefer to try alternative versions of the Pandemic than get expansions for the original one.
Anybody who has played a lot and never lost is playing it wrong. I have played it HUNDREDS of times on the app, which is exactly the same as the board game, with five Epidemics and I still lose. With four players I've upped my win percentage to around 80%. With two players - which I've just recently switched to - I win about 65%. I guarantee you are not better than me at this game.
You are definitely misunderstanding a rule, which is very easy to do, as there are many MANY rules. Some people think they can go anywhere on the board as one action, which they can't. Some people trade cards illegally. Some people count Outbreaks incorrectly. Some people remove all cubes as a single action. Some people stop infecting cities after that color has been cured. Some people forget to discard cards when they get 7 in their hands. Some people forget to infect cities (probably the most common mistake, as even longtime players do this on occasion).
Watch a playthrough of the game and you'll figure out what you are doing wrong. Because you definitely are.
KevyB that's exactly what I wanted to say. Thanks! If it's too easy for you there is a verry very high chance you are overlooking one or more rules. It's very easy to miss a rule in classic pandemic and that's enough to win every time and not lose once!
@@kevinbhieey9188 We are playing it correctly. We made sure of it. Not only following the rule book to the letter, but also watched a how to play video. So we aren't doing anything wrong. The game is simply too easy for us. I fail to see how anyone could lose unless they never bothered doing anything.
@@kevinbhieey9188 Can't go anywhere in one action unless you hold the city card you are currently on and discard it, very rare instance that ever to happen.
Can't trade unless both players in that city and the card has to have that exact city name too, unless you are the Researcher which doesn't require the city name on the card. Yes, it is a one action per card trade. We've had her in one game so far.
It's clear as day in the book that each city can only have 3 cubes of each color on it, the 4th causes one cube of that color to be added from the box to cities connected by a line, and should that add a 4th cube of the same color to another city that city has an outbreak too but doesn't give a 4th cube of the current cascading color to the previous city. In short, they don't ping pong infinitely between each other. this raises the Outbreak meter on the left side of the board for each outbreak incident.
An Agents of SHIELD version of this would be cool. You could split the team and send people off in a Quinjet to a crisis on the other side of the world.
I thought we jumped the shark with Pandemic Rome... Pandemic is getting as bad as Ticket to Ride
Oh come one. Some recent Ticket to Ride expansions are actually quite excellent
meh... I'm good with my base pandemic.
Giving a plus or minus review for game length is i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶i̶c̶ questionable. Giving a critic of downtime is okay but to say this is a good game because it only takes 20 minutes is a̶b̶s̶u̶r̶d̶ questionable. If anything it tells me there is not enough there to keep your interest.
Are you serious? You know reviews are subjective, right? You know that, as a review, Zee sees that play time as a plus for the specific game he's reviewing, right?
If that's not a plus for you, so be it, but who the hell are you to say that his positive opinion on the game length is absurd for this particular game?
Giving a game a plus because it is short is like saying a meal is good because it did not take to long to eat. That is what he did. I like Zee but just like he might give a game a negative review I gave this review a some negative feedback. That is my opinion.
@@stoneybrookjoe your own analogy shows how flawed your mentality is.
Guess what genius, fast food is STUPIDLY popular for a reason.
Joe Mueller When I talk about game length, I mean it to be a commentary on whether the game's playtime fits the amount of interest/involvement the game generates. A very simple game that takes 30 minutes is a good ratio, as is a deep and evolving game that takes three hours (such as Fury of Dracula, which I like and would get a "positive" in that category). It's not just about a game being short or long. Some games are over before I feel the experience has had time to blossom. That would also get a "neutral" or "negative" tag from me.
@@stoneybrookjoe It's 20 minutes straight of every player needing to be focused on every aspect of the game with no real break (other than the few seconds it takes to flip the timer and place a new city card). Not like regular Pandemic where you can stop paying close attention for a couple of turns and then focus when the player before you is taking their turn.
Looks good but getting tired of Pandemics, are they going for 100 expansions like Dominion? milking it for all it's worth?
Zee you did a great job, I'll say that much.
Pandemic is the only game I’ve played that I truly disliked.
Would you care to explain why?
well, to be honest, this game is nothing like Pandemic, other than theme, so I wouldn't make any decisions based on your dislike of original
Pandemic.
@@sharkycat4494 It's a solo game that would probably make a good app and take half as long to play. But worse, there is nothing to get people involved, nothing to encourage player interaction, nothing to prevent alpha gamer. On top of that, you can be put in a no win situation depending on the card shuffle. There is no fun to be had once you see through the veneer
Oh look another Pandemic! That's fantast... yaaaaawn.
Wait that doesn't look very pandemic-ey
yeah, not really.