2–4 players45 minAge 8+

Base game, 2013 edition · Checked against the rulebook, Oct 2026

In short

A cooperative game: the team travels the world treating disease and collecting cards to find cures. Each turn you take 4 actions, draw 2 cards and infect cities. Cure all 4 diseases to win together, before 8 outbreaks happen, cubes or cards run out.

How does Share Knowledge work?What happens when you draw an Epidemic card?How do outbreaks and chain reactions work?
1

Setup

  1. 1Lay out the board, sort the disease cubes by color, and put a research station in Atlanta.
  2. 2Put the outbreaks marker on 0 and the 4 cure markers near the cure indicators.
  3. 3Deal each player a role card, the matching pawn (in Atlanta) and a reference card.
  4. 4Remove the Epidemic cards, shuffle the rest of the Player deck and deal hands: 4 cards each with 2 players, 3 with 3, 2 with 4.
  5. 5Put the infection rate marker on the first space. Flip 9 Infection cards and put 3, 2 and 1 cubes on three cities each.
  6. 6Pick 4, 5 or 6 Epidemics (Introductory, Standard, Heroic). Split the Player deck into that many piles, as equal as possible, shuffle one Epidemic into each, and stack them with the smaller piles on the bottom.
  7. 7The player holding the City card with the highest population goes first.

Rulebook pp. 2–3 (Setup)

2

How a turn works

Do 4 actions

Move, treat disease, build a research station, share knowledge or discover a cure, in any combination.

Draw 2 cards

Draw 2 Player cards. Resolve any Epidemic right away, then discard down to 7 cards.

Infect cities

Flip Infection cards equal to the infection rate and add 1 cube to each city. A city already at 3 cubes of that color outbreaks instead (no 4th cube). Eradicated diseases get no cubes.

Rulebook pp. 3–7

3

How to win

Cure all 4 diseases

You win together the moment the fourth cure is found. You all lose on:

8th outbreakNot enough cubes to placeCan't draw 2 Player cards

Rulebook p. 7 (Game End)

4

Rules people get wrong

8

Pandemic rulings

Can you play an Event card on another player's turn in Pandemic?Does the research station have to match the disease color to cure in Pandemic?How do outbreaks and chain reactions work in Pandemic?How do you win or lose Pandemic?How does Share Knowledge work in Pandemic?What happens when you draw an Epidemic card in Pandemic?What is the difference between cured and eradicated in Pandemic?What is the hand limit in Pandemic?

Official sources

Official rulebook (PDF)
Z-Man Games

Play better with

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On the BrinkNew roles, events and challengesCheck price at Amazon
Pandemic Legacy Season 1A campaign version of PandemicCheck price at Amazon
Card sleevesFor the player and infection decksCheck price at Amazon
Organizer insertCheck it fits your edition's boxCheck price at Amazon
If you like Pandemic, try
Forbidden IslandThe CrewSpirit Island

Last checked Oct 2026 · Report an error