Way, way back in the prehistory of the Tabletop Co-Op column, more than six years ago, we covered our very first cooperative board game here at Co-Optimus: Pandemic. In the time since that first article ran, Pandemic has become one of the most popular board games in the world, spawning a dice game, an upgraded reprint, and several expansions. Last fall, a campaign-based version of the game, Pandemic Legacy, was released, and it is one of the best cooperative gaming experiences I’ve ever had, tabletop, console, PC, or otherwise.
Pandemic Legacy, at its most basic level, is the same game as Pandemic. The world has been overtaken by four virulent diseases, and the players take on the roles of a team of specialists looking for the cures. Players must balance treating diseases in order to prevent rampant spreading with ending the game by finding the cures. Characters have different abilities that allow them to break the rules, and that’s a good thing because the game can be very difficult! At various points through the game, the action intensifies, and you must work harder and smarter in order to cure all the diseases before it is too late.
So how does Pandemic Legacy differ from the original? As you might surmise, it’s all about the “Legacy”. In 2011, the board game Risk Legacy was released, and it featured the concept of a series of Risk campaigns where the actions and events of one game would carry over into the next, and the rules changed over time. Risk Legacy was unique, but flawed, and Pandemic Legacy has taken the idea of the “Legacy” persistent gaming experience and turned it into something truly special.
It’s difficult to discuss the Legacy aspects of the game without spoiling it, so if these descriptions seem generic, it’s for a good reason. Pandemic Legacy is played out in a series of scenarios taking place from January to December of the in-game year. The game changes from one month to the next, sometimes in minor ways, sometimes with massive events that change the very nature of the game itself. What begins as a mostly normal game of Pandemic in January shifts and alters throughout the year’s sessions into something far different.
One of the most important aspects of Pandemic Legacy is character growth. The characters that players choose to use the most often will change over time. You might be able to upgrade them, gaining new abilities to make them more effective at their job. But if you aren’t careful, your character could become scarred, and have to choose a permanent disadvantage. You will develop a close attachment to these characters, but be careful: you can lose a character forever!
(Note: there are two versions of the box art for the game; contents are identical.)
The game board itself also changes throughout your year long campaign, in both good ways and bad. You might be able to create permanent research stations that are added to the board before future games begin. If diseases are allowed to outbreak in cities, panic levels increase. At first, these panic levels have only minor effects that are mainly annoying, but as the rioting gets worse, it becomes much more difficult to navigate to these cities. This of course can lead to increased rioting which further compounds the problem. It’s a challenge, indeed, to manage both the objectives of the current game as well as play with the long-term board state in mind.
One mechanic in Pandemic Legacy, the funding level, ensures that the balance between fun and challenge is always where it needs to be. When you win a game, your funding level goes down, and when you lose, it goes up. You can add special funded event cards to the player deck based on the current funding level. These cards can be played anytime, and have powerful effects like removing disease cubes from anywhere on the board, or moving a player directly from one city to another. You can even remove a city card from the current game, ensuring that the disease doesn’t get any worse there than it already is in that city. These effects go a long way towards making the game easier when you fail, and there is even a more powerful catch up effect in place if you lose four games in a row. These mechanics keep the game fun and exciting no matter what went wrong in your previous sessions.
Before you run right out and buy a copy of Pandemic Legacy, there are a few other things to be aware of. First of all, the “Legacy” parts of the game mean you are writing on cards, putting stickers on the board, and even (gulp) destroying cards forever. This might put some people off. Also, there is little replay value once the campaign is finished beyond some fan-made variants. You will play between 12 and 24 games, though, which is a good run. I’d also only recommend playing with a persistent group of players; much of the experience will be lost of everyone isn’t there from start to finish.
I can’t really say enough about how much I enjoyed playing through Pandemic Legacy with my family. There are so many great moments throughout the game, when the game changes in huge ways, or you manage to pull off a win out of nowhere, or even when something you did in the previous game comes up roses later on. We played through the entire campaign in 19 sessions, and it took us just over a month. We rarely play the same game that much in such a short time, but that’s how great Pandemic Legacy is. If you have even a passing interest in cooperative tabletop games, and a dedicated group to play it with, I’d advise you to get a copy as soon as possible. The world needs your help!