Pandemic Legacy Season 1 (Blue) Reviews

4.9 Rating 29 Reviews

Pandemic Legacy Season 1, from Rob Daviau and Matt Leacock, is the first in a bold brand-new version of the classic original Pandemic. Set across a whole year, one that the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) and players themselves will never forget. This version of the game bolsters legacy mechanics to its tried and tested formula. Whilst it isn’t necessary to have played the original game, fans of its gameplay will be pleased that this seamlessly builds upon the main game without spoiling the experience. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 adds a progressive story with unlockable elements, rule additions, stickers and many secrets…as you progress through the story, your copy will become unique to you and your friends. The skeleton under the game remains the same, save the world from a global pandemic by sending your disease control team from city to city, eradicating the viruses and locking down outbreaks. Teamwork is paramount and the players must work together against the game engine to survive to another month. Each player role has a special skill set that will help the team. Players spend 4 action points a turn moving to different cities across a map of the world, eradicating disease or using special actions. At the end of each player turn, the game brings out more disease (coloured cubes) and existing locations can spread out via connecting routes. In a first for the series, player characters can acquire new skills, made worse or even be ‘lost’ across the campaign. The game itself sends out more disease by random dispersal of card draws meaning no two games will be similar. Adding in the ongoing legacy mechanic only serves to draw the players into a highly personal story where short term decisions can have long-term consequences. The components are very well produced including a lot of secrets that we cannot possibly describe here. As you progress through the campaign, the story deck of cards (don’t peek…) will tell you what to unlock next as well as giving new briefing information. The game packs down well, saving your game state from month to month as you play over multiple sessions. This version of the Pandemic Legacy Season 1 comes with a Blue box art, different to the Red box art packaging. There is no difference between versions other than the exterior box. Player count: 2-4 Time: 60 minutes Age rating: 13+

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“Haven't played yet but looking forward to it had great recommendations from friends who say it brilliantly builds on the original and way more involved. Time to choose the game crew!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“This is an experience rather than just a game, over 12 games representing the 12 months of the year, you and your fellow players will be tasked with keeping the world alive. Easy right? This is a legacy game and as such the story will develop and new rules will change the way that you play, you will add stickers to the board, rip up cards, gain new cards, all creating your own personalised experience dependent on how the games unfold and whether you win or lose. This is a game designed for the same game group to come together again and again to dive into a world of their own creation and work together to ideally save the world from a pandemic. Holds a bit more gravitas now given recent events...”

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Posted 1 year ago

“There is a reason why this is so highly rated on BGG. This is an actually amazing experience start to finish. Would advise to anyone who is able to do play Pandemic”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“One of the best legacy games on the market. The real in-game impact of your decisions makes each round a race for survival. With the perks and modifications each round is different from the last and you can really make the board your own.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“**SPOILER FREE** Okay...granted I am writing this before completing the entire game but based on my experience of the first few months of Pandemic Season 1, this may be the best game I've ever played. I'm hardly a seasoned board gamer but enough of one to say that it's my biggest hobby and pastime and thanks to lockdowns, I massively invested in story driven games with single player options. This naturally led to me trying some great games and at some point I picked up the standard version of Pandemic. I played it a few times solo and a few times with my 11 year old son and to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed as to why it was so popular. It's good but certainly not up there in my list of 'Best of board games'. I quickly moved it on to someone else but given the enjoyment I've had from story driven campaign games (Seventh Continent springs to mind immediately) I started to look into more campaign style games and this one kept on cropping up at the top of almost every list I looked at. I debated long and hard about buying it - I loved the idea but something inside me kept on arguing about the concept of destroying game components and writing all over them - I like to donate or sell games once I've played them and I realised that this would not be an option should I invest in it. What convinced me was a great gaming group I joined on Facebook after I asked the question about what to get next, the feedback was almost unanimous so I decided to take the plunge. I was almost hesitant about even opening the packaging when it came so I asked my son if he would want to join me for the campaign or if I'd be doing it alone. He agreed and we played (and won - January). I don't think I need to offer any sort of explanation on Pandemic, it's existed forever. The legacy version of the game offers a narrative that spans a year. Successes and failures lead to permanent game changes in future months, cities can fall, viruses can mutate and characters can die. The key thing for me was that the legacy deck is so well executed that I don't care if I'm ripping cards up or writing on the board, I want to continue and see what the next months have in store. We are excited about future months and we are invested in the game so much that we know we'll see it through to the end. Yes, there's the argument about replayability but honestly, it doesn't matter when the experience is so good. And that's what it boils down to - an experience. We will remember playing this for a long time. The decisions we made in one month when we failed directly led to us changing our approach the second time we tried and succeeded. The contradiction fact that the game always feels winnable but always feels as though you're on the brink of a massive failure is consistently impressive. Key decisions on whether not to treat the virus in one place and risk the city falling and impacting future games in order to treat it elsewhere are played expertly and I can honestly say that some turns led to real chin-scratching moments. I think it must be pretty obvious that I recommend this game so highly that if you're even only thinking of getting this a little bit that you should just buy it. Yes, it's more expensive than the base game and yes, you have to rip things up and permanently change the board but I compare it to the price of buying a video game, playing it and letting it then sit on the shelf. If you accept it for what it is then the legacy elements will only enhance the love of the game and the love of the hobby in general. I already know I'll be buying seasons 2 and 0 and I'm researching other legacy style games to buy. You know what? I can't wait!”

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Posted 3 years ago

“Arrived in perfect nick and its such a good game! Its my second round of legacy 1 and it's just as good as I remember it. So brilliant the way they've made it develop.”

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Posted 3 years ago

“Addictive and incredibly fun to play. Worth every penny. A fantastic upgrade on the original game.”