Review Details

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 - Blue

Product Review (submitted on November 9, 2015):

If you’ve played the Pandemic board game, then you already know the game dynamics. If you haven’t played Pandemic, play that first and then several times over (it’s great anyway) so that you can appreciate what the Legacy series does for the game. There is a story arch that plays out over 12 months, i.e., a minimum of 12 game sessions if you win every time (this WON’T happen) and a maximum of 24 games if you lose every time (this probably WON’T happen either). If you fail your first attempt you get a second attempt to complete the mission goal(s) for that month, hence the potential 24 game sessions.
Understand that the game is a story/campaign and it will only be played through once- events happen, you make decisions, permanent changes are made to the game rules, game mechanics, the game board and your characters. This is why I gave it 4 stars for value– some people may feel like there is diminished value since you can only play through the entire campaign once. Personally, I have no problem with this and don’t think it diminishes the value because this is such a unique, memorable and gripping game experience. Players literally don’t know what to expect from game to game because each session will introduce new elements that are only revealed per the instructions when you begin a new month.
No spoilers here, but beginning with the first game, the game play of Pandemic begins to change. New twists and unique situations come up that make the game a very intense and entertaining experience precisely because the game dynamics change from month to month. It is still Pandemic with its core mechanics of co-operative game play to cure the diseases. However, it is also a completely new Pandemic experience. All sorts of sacred gaming etiquette is broken – you write on the board and your character cards, you permanently alter the board, oh you will also TEAR UP cards! Your campaign over the 12 months will become a completely unique path based on the choices you make as players and the permanent modifications you select to battle the diseases. Your strategies and player characters will change out of necessity with the twists and turns of each game.
Having played up until June, we’ve won 4 times and lost 3 times – it’s Pandemic after all. We can’t wait for the next time we can all get together to play, discussing strategy and assessing previous mistakes in the interim. The game experience is unlike any I’ve had; I can’t recommend it enough.