Pandemic - The Cure

I much prefer this one over the base Pandemic. Movement around the "board" is smoother and feels less fiddly. The base game is so spread out it's difficult to play with only 2-3 players because you can never get where you need to be fast enough. With this one, movement is quick whether you're using ship or plane - you will never be more than a couple of dice away from anywhere. Simply put, this version plays well with any number of people, including solitaire play with 1 person controlling 2 characters.I also love the wide variability in complexity. This one scales in difficulty depending on where you start out on the infection rate and outbreak tracks. There's still some stress involved on the easier settings, but they're generally easy to beat. Perfect when playing with kids or new/light gamers. Once you master the intro/easy levels you can challenge yourself - it can become increasingly difficult to beat on harder settings.Overall, everything pulls together really well in this version of the game. The theme still comes across strong - maybe even better. The dice don't feel any more luck-based than the cards did. Actually, I sometimes feel like I have more control and am less at the mercy of luck. Small footprint makes this easy to take to work or when traveling. It's easier to teach to new players and seems to be easier for them to get into playing. All in all, I have nothing to complain about and highly recommend this to anyone interested in the Pandemic series.

This is a great twist on the original Pandemic game that introduces my favorite tool for randomness: dice! We have a ton of fun playing, and it's a staple in my sister's collection now. I got it for her birthday because we love Pandemic, and she's in Medical School, so it seemed like a very appropriate gift.I absolutely love this game, and I think it's a staple for any coop lover. However, there are two downsides to the game that I like to warn people about:1) It's VERY luck driven. Unlike the original Pandemic where you cure diseases by playing card sets, you have to collect dice and then roll them to hit a certain threshold. We've had games where we weren't able to roll successful saves against crazy odds, including one time where we rolled 13 or 14 1s out of 18 total dice to lose the game. If a few really bad rolls making you lose the occasional game will drive you crazy, this is not the game for you.2) I find the expansion basically mandatory, so I'd recommend getting it too if you choose to buy this one. The mutant dice are a very fun twist, and it adds my personal favorite roles to play in the game.Highly recommended, as long as you understand that this is a dice game with a ton of randomness, and sometimes there isn't anything you can do about it!

This is a very solid, lighter version of the board game we know and love. What is very surprising is how well the theme of the board game has been translated to the dice game. Leacock has knocked it out of the park again!!!Likes:Easy to setup and play. If you don't feel like setting up the board and just want to play a fast game, here you go.Rules are not complicated at all if you familiar to the game. If you have never played the board game, it may take a little time.Very nice game components with lots of dice to roll for you dice lovers out there!The dice adds a unique randomness of luck to the game which is a bit refreshing.Once you get the hang of it, games take around 30 minutes to play. Like I said earlier, quick and easy to play!It feels a bit easier to win this version than the standard game. Maybe a plus or minus depending on how tough you like your co-op games.DislikesNot many at all except difficulty of the game is a bit easier. Once again, this depends on how difficult you want your co-op games to be.Lots of dice to keep track of. Store carefully so you don't lose them.Overall, this is a delightfully lighter version of the board game and is a great alternative if you just want to play a fast game of Pandemic. It does not replace the board game for me but if I just want to introduce someone to the world of Pandemic, I might introduce them to this first. Highly recommend the purchasing of this one.

Pandemic: The Cure is a fast-pasted version of the original Pandemic. By reducing the number of infection zones (the Pandemic board game has major cities on each continent while The Cure only has 6 major continents), the traveling actions players take are greatly reduced. The Cure features many of the same character roles as the original game (Medic, Scientist, etc.), but in this game, each character role has a matching set of action dice. The action dice are rolled at the start of a player's turn to determine what actions he/she can take. Most of the available actions actions mirror those of the original Pandemic (treat disease, travel, etc.). The game includes a LOT of dice. Infected are not represented by small colored cubes in this game, but by colored dice. Rolling the infection dice determines on what continent the infections appear. Treating diseases puts these infection dice into a "treatment center"...with appropriate actions, players can then "bottle up" these samples and roll the collected sample dice to try finding a cure (players must role 13 or greater to find a cure). Once cures for all 4 diseases are found, the players win. Players lose when the game's "Outbreak" counter reaches its limit, or there are no more infection dice left in the included dice bag. Overall, Pandemic: The Cure is a fun and fast-paced alternative to the more complex original game. It's fun, and easy to learn. Highly recommended.