Pandemic Legacy: Season 1

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 Review: Best coop game ever?

The Campaign Board Game That Changed Everything

Pandemic was not the first game to introduce a Legacy element to board games. But it was the first to really make its mark on the world for this type of games. Before Pandemic Legacy: Season one you could count the number of leagacy board games on one maybe two hands. After it came out there has been made thousands of board games with a legacy element.

Which is a huge praise for this masterpiece.

Why the Game Works

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 takes the cooperative disease-fighting game and turns it into a story. You play a team over twelve months. Decisions carry over. Cards get torn up. Stickers get stuck on. The game changes for good.

A month is a few plays at most. Each turn, you do four actions, draw cards and then watch the diseases spread. Win or lose, you move on. The tension is real because what you do now affects the rest of the campaign.

When we were told the first time to tore up a card, we looked shocked at eachother. Trying to tore it up but decided to do a slight tear and cover up with some tape. We just couldnt´t make our selves tear up a component.
We all looked at each other. Then somebody said, “Well, that’s it.” I love this moment. This feeling, we´ve never had before in a board game. It was magical.

No spoilers.

Gameplay & Rules in a Nutshell

The base game is the familiar Pandemic structure. The legacy elements change it as you go.

• Actions: Each turn you get four actions to move, treat disease, build or share knowledge.
• Draw: Draw two player cards. Watch out for epidemic cards.
• Infect: Cities get new disease cubes. Too many and an outbreak happens.
• Win: Cure diseases to win the month. Run out of cards or have too many outbreaks and you lose.
• Legacy: Between games, you add new rules, upgrade characters and open sealed packages.

Please keep the box closed unless instructed. No peeking. The surprises are the whole point.

Who Is This Game For?

• Players: 2–4
• Playing time: roughly 60 minutes per game, 12–24 games in a campaign
• Complexity: medium, around 2.8 out of 5 on BGG weight
• Age: 13+

Best with the same group. You need a table where you can leave the game set up for months. It is not a game you can lend to just anyone.

Why Is This Game Good?

Reviewers describe it as unforgettable. Many call it a landmark that proved board games can tell a real story. The drama, the surprises and the sense of ownership are the usual highlights. It has also been praised for being easy for Pandemic fans to start.

Drawbacks: Once you finish the campaign, replay value is limited. And the game is not cheap for what is mostly a one-time journey.

I played it through with my wife. We played it through the whole campaing in less than two weeks. As soon as our son went to sleep we put it up and played one or two games a night.

We just couldn´t wait to see what was i store for us. And the feeling of opening up a new envelope, reading a new rule, tape something new on the main board, tear up some cards or add new components was just magical to say the least.

It´s a bit on the pricer end but you´ll for sure get all of your moneys worth.

Lets be honest even seasoned board gamers seldom plays a game more than a handful of times.
We played this game at least 15 times and it was the only game we played for 2 weeks or more.

That is a sentiment to how great this game is.

 

Our Verdict

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bring a steady group and a pen. A must-play for anyone who likes story and teamwork.

Play it 2 players, play it 3 players, play it 4 players. It doesn´t really matters. It is still fantastic. Yes I know, getting the same 4 players to play the same game 15+ times is a reach.
But it´s really not that complicated of a game, anyone can jump in.
In my opinion no legacy game has even come closed to this game for me.
Therefore i give it a 10/10 would absolutely play again… even if I know what is going to happen.

Buy at Amazon