Chris and Wendy Look at a Pile of Pandemic

Chris Yi and Wendy Yi take a look at a pile of games. This time, Matt Leacock's cooperative game changer, Pandemic, and its many offspring that have made quite an entire family of games. Then they even do a Top 10 ranking at the end.
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[@kaneklenko]

The real (shortened) story on Rapid Response is kind of in between those options. I pitched Flatline to Z-Man as a stand-alone game. They said they were wanting a real-time Pandemic. Then I designed Rapid Response specifically for the Pandemic line.

[@damobdaking]

Love Rapid Response, the wife and I play it a lot. Glad you were able to design it for the Pandemic line.

[@VaultBoy13]

Flatline is such a great game.

[@rabidkyle6181]

Rapid Response is an amazing game too, I think it would have done well without the Pandemic label too.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

I love the behind the scenes story!

[@DTWendy]

Wow cool story!

[@VerenaFuchs]

Thank you for providing such an insightful overview! I hope Chris and Wendy make more 'Look at a Pile' videos.

[@gleasoneast]

Agreed! I like this style!

[@codainlaw]

I came here to say this. I LOVED this format and more importantly, I love that we’re looking at and talking about something other than WHAT’S NEW AND HOT! Maybe in other corners of the hobby, people are in a different mindset, but the people I intersect with in the hobby are always looking for the new hotness NOW and for the stuff that has not even come out yet. 🤦🏽‍♂️ If that’s you, that’s fine. For me, It’s discouraging and tiring.

[@williambutler2477]

This was excellent. Thanks for sharing. More please. I suggest gathering games together that have similar mechanics even if completely different designers ordered by release year and doing reviews. The evolution of a mechanic if you will.

[@DocChills]

There are a few more Great Old One cards than will be placed in a game of Reign of Cthulhu. So you will have different combinations, not just getting to the same place in a different order.

[@DTChrisYi]

Thanks for the clarification!

[@mikaeki5245]

You know, just based on the video title, I would have not been surprised to see Chris and Wendy just staring at a pile of Pandemics, doing nothing else. That's just their style of humor.

[@JonReid01]

Don't give them ideas 😂

[@DTChrisYi]

​@@JonReid01Too late, the seed is planted!

[@mikaeki5245]

...yup, my bad🤚...

[@robscarpelli]

Thanks for this, would love this series to continue with a deeper dive to other games and their expansions.

[@Noonycurt]

I chuckled at the royalty-free "Does Not Smell Like Teen Spirit" at the end. :)

[@DTChrisYi]

Dave Culling is the guy doing all the new arrangements of the Dice Tower theme we've had lately. I got a good laugh out of this one. "Load up on games, and bring your friends..."

[@sampak7600]

This was great! Gave me strong vibes like the DT Dive series from a few years ago. Glad to see videos like this

[@jacobhawk9311]

I'm happy this exists and you're both taking a look at piles of games

[@GKEK]

Love this compilation! Can't wait to see your take on the Legacy versions. More of these "Look at a Pile" vidz!

[@tvdavis]

I really enjoyed this! Now I’ve got to go look for more videos with Chris and Wendy and a pile of games!

[@JonReid01]

I like this series and I don't mind that they are longer videos.

[@jamielwylie]

I'm happy to hear someone besides me always forgets to deal before constructing the deck. Every time.

[@tonygilbert5256]

That was fun! Glad to see other options on these games. I think Zee's monopoly on Pandemic games at the Dice Tower often makes it seem as if he has the definitive voice on the subject.

[@gregclark1656]

The outro music was a nice touch... is outro a word!?! I assume we have Mr. Yi to thank for this legally distinct tune? Keep the great content coming Chris and Wendy!

[@DTChrisYi]

Credit goes to David Culling for that one. He's the guy that has been doing all the recent new adaptations of the Dice Toeer theme, from disco to Nirvana, western to Star Wars. He's very talented.

[@gregclark1656]

@DTChrisYi Well kudos to him then. This just reminded me somewhat of the obviously legally distinct theme song from the top 100 that you did. It just had that Yi'ish feel ( I know that's not a word, but I intend to use it until it becomes one!).

[@SpartanResistance]

Funny because « Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu » is our favorite by far !

[@ESCTom]

5:22 This needs to go in the end of year compilation 😂 Also excellent editing of the close ups 👏🏻

[@baleyrobinson]

I love the Chris and Wendy segment! Encore Encore haha. Also unrelated, but I am an infrequent commenter so I'll just get it all out now haha. But Wendy - your voice - so amazing! I love when you do any singing. And Chris Yi - as a fellow accountant and board game lover I have highly enjoyed your stats on the channel as well as all of your humorous editing and intros! Your humor is right up my alley! Appreciate you both! 😊

[@cay6857]

I enjoyed this video. I hope you both do more “Look at a Pile” videos. Thank you.

[@Bleuchz]

I consider Pandemic: The Cure to be super underrated. The push your luck mechanisms make for a great coop experience.

[@chrissiestern9359]

The only pandemic I have played in person is legacy season 1. I would really like to try some of these other ones out! I loved this video. I hope you guys do more like this.

[@boardgameplays]

Wendy and Chris, thanks for the awesome video. I really liked the extra editing touch and work you put into it! I've come to like Fall of Rome quite a bit (more than base Pandemic). I love the "landmine" mechanic. Dropping off 1 legion here and there in key areas of the map so they can kill the next barbarian placed there. I think, because of that (and the supply lines) the goal and/or tactics can be more obscure. I lost this one my first play too, Wendy. For example: I have 3 Legions. Rather than taking all 3 into battle, I'll recruit 3 more to keep here in this city with a fort (which is now basically secure for the rest of the game) and then travel 3 spaces to trade cards with an ally, dropping off a Legion in each venerable city along the way. Not saying you'll love the game now, but I think when I started viewing Legions as a resource rather than an army the game was much more fun for me, and winnable. (obviously the characters you play can greatly alter strategy as well, this is just painting with broad strokes here)

[@tiagomarques9822]

I have Pandemic Iberia: since I live in Portugal, that game attracted me more than the base game - the good reviews also helped. I was fearing the hype and the threat of it selling out quickly, so I bought it from the US, paying about double the price because of the shipment costs. When I went to get it at the customs, someone made a mistake and applied taxes to the whole amount I paid, so in total I paid about 3 times the game’s value: it is my most expensive game ever. Despite this bad experience, it still is worth having this game. (Some time after, it was being sold here in Portugal, but it was a version in Spanish; I prefer the original one.)

[@DTChrisYi]

Wow, the taxes on top of importing is brutal but I'm really glad you enjoy the game! It really is gorgeous and such a fun version of the game.

[@ESCTom]

omg I love Chris' Family Guy reference in how he pronounced Will Wheaton 3:12 😂

[@mez561]

I like the short Ticket to Ride games (London, NY etc) as a teaching game. I feel it takes people about half way/three quarters through to "get it". With a 20-30 minute game, it's easy to play again, where I wouldn't necessarily want to play the full 60 minute game again. I haven't played the small pandemics but I imagine they're similar.

[@mikec5563]

The On the Brink expansion gives just enough modular options to the original game to keep it at the top of the list for me. I've had almost all of these in my collection at some point or another, but now I'm just down to the original and Clone Wars.

[@robertthurman9866]

Thanks, a very nice job.

[@squared82]

I’m a bit of an apologist for Pandemic the Cure. Especially with the expansion there’s so much cool content and roles available.

[@VaultBoy13]

It's the best non-Legacy Pandemic.

[@nathansutterfield]

I love Fall of Rome and I have been meaning to play Iberia. Chris, Fall of Rome actually has a solo mode and it is stellar. I definitely recommend it and also if you want an even greater challenge, play the Roma Caput Mundi an other official variant where you can't have legions in Rome. So good. Love the series- please make more of these.

[@CoryLovec14]

I love to see so many different rankings, both in your video and by the commenters. I think it shows there is some pandemic for everyone. My ranking: 1: Rising Tide 2: The Cure (with expansion) 3: Fall of Rome 4: Pandemic (with expansions) 5: Iberia 6: Reign of Cthulhu 7: Rapid Response 8: Clone Wars 9: World of Warcraft 10: Hot Zones I really like the new versions and the twists I have seen; they are neat adaptations, a little less crunchy which can be good depending on the group, but I think is why they drop a little lower for me. The series around the world just hit for me. Rising Tide I rank a 10, and Fall of Rome a 9.5, Iberia not too far behind that. The Cure I was actually nervous about before I purchased, then fell in love with, I think we have ~75 plays of it. So fun still for me but a little easier to teach. I do love Rapid Response too, and it’s actually my favorite real time Kane Klenko game (shoutout love to Kane). For me, it appears a lean a little towards pandemic versions Matt is involved in, so it makes me excited for future Matt products, even non-pandemics (ie Daybreak).

[@JonoNZBoardGamer]

Fantastic video idea!

[@pjjpversteeg]

Great video! What about base pandemic plus one of the original expansions such as On the Brink?

[@SharlzG]

Super interesting video, guys. I really enjoy the clone wars, also. It's different enough that it doesn't replace pandemic, but still has the feel of pandemic, while still definitely feeling true to star wars. Very impressed.

[@RockCh4lk]

Over the past few years, Pandemic the Cure is my most played Pandemic by far.

[@adamg4912]

34:30 Thank you Wendy for describing my pain. I've done that too many times to count LOL What are both your thoughts on the expansions?

[@anthony449]

My mom and I LOVE playing Rapid Response

[@tteshera]

Iberia and Clone Wars have become our top 2. Don't own some of the ones you covered, but based on your top 10 lists, I feel good about these two being the ones we play all the time.

[@KissellMissile]

I wanted to like Cline Wars, but we just found it didn't have much tension. You just draw cards to get a good squad and roll around the map. I really wanted it to be better.

[@garcipat]

Fall or Rome sounds like Risk. Where risk was always criticised for its dice rolling in combat.

[@patricksteele]

I have multiple Pandemic games so this was great to see a comparison between them all. I guess I have more games to buy 😉

[@nerdyjawsh]

I'm hoping for a Lord of the rings themed pandemic this year 🤞

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

32:36 I can't believe that Chris has the same feel good binge-while-sick show as my spouse 😁

[@DTWendy]

Oh that is wonderful!

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

​@@DTWendy She enjoyed the clip and it gave us a good chuckle

[@NachoElephant]

Nice They Might Be Giants reference!

[@Coralou]

Is this going to be a new series with Chris & Wendy? I love it! More please!

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

I like the outro!

[@nathanwegner]

Pandemic Iberia is the only one in my collection, I really like the extra disease manipulators that make the game super challenging. And of course like Chris said, it's gorgeous.

[@Vypper7]

As some of the other comments stated, Fall of Rome is great. It does a lot of different things. Especially great if you are a history fan, it is more “thematic” . And the dice rolling is actually more interesting, every fight’s outcome becomes suspenseful.

[@KissellMissile]

Recently played them all, (and have played all three Legacies) just to rank them. For me, Fall of Rome is by far the best, and Iberia and Reign of Cthulu are both very good. P:RoC is more simple, but I think it's better than base pandemic at being thr accessible pandemic. Iberia's main problem was that, while I didn't struggle too much as I've lived in Spain, there are a lot of more obscure cities on the map and a lot of time is spent looking for them.

[@JonTripp115]

I have Pandemic, Iberia, Rapid Response, WoW, and Forbidden Island on my shelf. Do I need them all? Nope! Am I culling any of them yet? Nope!

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

And here I can't see the need to own Pandemic and Forbidden Desert because they feel too similar 😅

[@jatedin1077]

Honestly I think Wrath would be top tier if they made that end boss battle less underwhelming. Like the quests are kinda basic but they are fun because you have to juggle them with the rest of the game. But that end boss flight is so underwhelming and usually super easy. Like if you are going to lose you probably lost before or right as he got unlocked.

[@jessicaside]

Who is doing all this new music? It is very smart and creative.

[@DTChrisYi]

Dave Culling is the arranger doing all these cool new versions! He's fantastic.

[@robertcrist124]

Neat idea for a video, I’d welcome more.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I've always played board games. But couldn't afford those $40 games that I saw on the shelves. I got into the hobby after playing Puerto Rico.

[@ashrael37]

I enjoy most of the Pandemic games, but The Cure was one of the most painful gaming experiences I ever had. Fall of Rome and Clone Wars are my favorites. Iberia is fun too, but boy is it hard.

[@brianthomson3095]

Nice nod to Nirvana in the outro. And a great list and discussion.

[@terry3733H]

Iberia is my #1 too 😊it's historically based so the game feels more real and tense

[@CountDewkeww]

For me the Hot Zones are my go to for solo. Super quick to set up and get through. It’s not a game that if you get pulled away from you have a hard time keeping up with what you were doing. A single person can control 4 characters super easy. I’m not a big solo player but for me Hot zone has a place perfect just for solo.

[@neilbiggs1353]

I want to say that base game plus expansions is much better than just the base game, BUT I have a hard time recommending the expansions to buy, at least at full price. Each expansion has at least 1 great Module (OTB has a lot of extra roles and the virulent strain epidemics, ITL has the brilliant lab board which mitigates a lot of the card swapping and adds in a neat cure puzzle, and SOE has the best 5th disease variant, the Superbug module) but they all have bits that I'm really unlikely to play with. If you have access to library, I highly recommend trying the expansions, my favourite way to play is probably: -All extra roles across the three expansions -The lab board from ITL -Virulent Strain Epidemics if I want the game to be a bit harder or Superbug variant which adds a pick up and deliver element I'd love to try the other versions at some point, but I must admit I'm getting tired of Star Wars which will make it hard to give The Clone Wars a shot (combined with the fact I think the prequels are utter drivel...)

[@mattlewis5095]

The new printing of Pandemic Iberia is just 'Iberia' now, with "Pandemic System" labelled at the base. They even rearranged the board a little to delineate this. So you could legally argue (if you ever needed to!) that it's technically now a game called Iberia! Pandemic System is a much better approach I think - and who needs Limited Edition Only prints of games like this one too! Boo! I've never played Matt Leacock's Thunderbirds, but that uses the system too apparently.

[@petergross7235]

I was a huge warcraft fan and was really looking forward to it. The designers definitely didn't do the final battle justice. Just completing a bigger quest wasn't really doing it for me. Looking out for variants to make it better. I also played the original pandemic and The Cure. I liked both of them ok. The Cure was definitely my favorite out of the three.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I only have the original Pandemic. I really want to play the Legacy versions.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I think that my #1 nostalgia game is Inner Circle, which is a horrible game when you play it again today. 😂

[@ZombieFood1337]

I own the first edition of Pandemic, and I love wooden bits, but c'mon. The graphic design of the second edition is way better. It looks and feels like you're in the command center, staring at monitors, and trying to figure out how best to use your resources.

[@soltydog]

I have Pandemic and all it's expansions. Love it. I have Iberia, Rapid Response, and The Cure because they are still Pandemic with different mechanics. I did get Fall of Rome based off another content creators love of it. It's alright. I have none of the other gimmicky ones though as I'm not a fan of any of the IPs.

[@waferjuice]

this is my list ----- : Iberia --- Clone Wars -- WOLTK -- Reign of Cthulhu --- Rising Tide - Cure - Fall of Rome - PAndemic

[@CHIPSSALTY]

Deciding hard between Pandemic: Fall of Rome and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Suggestions? :D

[@wayner396]

I'm one of those who still owns the original pandemic and likes the map better. I just bought the upgrade cards so i could use the expansions. No regrets

[@drittz7840]

Shame you didn't cover the original Pandemic expansions as they really change the game dramatically.

[@ziomalZparafii]

9:45 whoa, there are lots of them. I own ~100 games and played a bit more and I've never played any Cthulhu game at all O_o [also haven't played Agricola nor Catan and they are supposed to be starters and classic and cult or something]

[@ChrisSmithSmooth]

My Favourites: 1. Iberia 2. Pandemic with Expansions 3. Rising Tide 4. Fall of Rome 5. The Cure with Expansion 6. Wrath of the Lich King 7. Reign of Cthulhu Legacy's fit in as: 1.5: Season One 4.5: Season Zero 5.5: Season Two Wrath and Reign are very disappointing titles, and are why I haven't been able to bring myself to try Clone Wars. I really hope we get more *real-world* Pandemics as the themed ones just don't feel like a good direction for the system to me (I do like other IP themed games, just not for Pandemic!) I've not played the real time or short ones, not for me I think, though I'm down for trying hot zone if a friend got it.

[@aarondowning5791]

Iberia is the best iteration by far.

[@tryhardmyass]

what about the star wars one ? :(

[@DTChrisYi]

We cover it a little over a half hour in! The stack goes beyond the framing of the lense 😅

[@pbabuik]

I have og and cthulu

[@violentfrog_]

Personally I still prefer the dice game to all others because it's such a short play time. If you lose you just try again or playing something else. Hate losing coops that take a decent chunk of time; makes me feel like I wasted my time (that's my own problem...it's still fun while playing)

[@blakekaveny]

How is losing a coop that takes a long different from losing a non coop that takes a long time. Does that also make you feel the same way.

[@DTWendy]

I get the sentiment of losing a long co-op game. I feel similarly about overly hard/lucky co-ops. If I don't have a good chance of winning, it feels like wasted effort.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

Good idea for a series, though I have to question "Look at a Pile of Games". Was the Punmaster sleepy on Title Card Day? Not even a mild try like "Chris & Wendy Pile On"?? Or "Chris & Wendy Dash Once in a Pile Colon The Unpiling"?

[@kevinbhieey9188]

I agree with most of your points - and my list is closer to Chris's than Wendy's - but I have some points: 1) No In the Lab? It changes up the Pandemic formula quite a bit, so it's an actual expansion, unlike the one I can never remember the name of. 2) Rising Tide is crunchy... in the early plays. And then I figured out that focusing on building dikes will almost always win you the game. Once I beat it a few times on Basic, I increased difficulty until I beat it my first three times on the hardest level and then I put it away and haven't touched it since. Which is too bad because it's one of the more attractive Pandemics. (The Variants are a hot mess. The Population thing could've been an interesting wrinkle, but it was obviously rushed to meet its Pandemic Survival Series deadline.) 3) My biggest issue with The Cure is that some characters are fairly useless. My favorite part of OG Pandemic is figuring out how characters work with each other. Having several I refuse to play with limits the fun of these working relationships. 4) You mean Hot Garbage Zone, right? If I want the taste of Pandemic without this My First Pandemic crap, I'll just pull out Solar Storm. 5) Chris, I encourage you to play Fall of Rome solo. Some of the characters don't move around well, so I found the "share pile" to be a great addition. Wendy, you might want to try it too, because it's definitely not a difficult game to beat. I can't remember my strategy, but once you figure out what it is, you will have to increase difficulty for it to have a chance against you. Also, make sure you are playing it right. I've had issues with every Pandemic game - especially considering the rulebooks never cover every situation you will encounter - but this one was easily the hardest to learn. It probably took me 7 tries before I figured it out, and I wasn't even having issues with how to add villains to the board, which is a bugaboo for most. 6) Speaking of easy... the Cthulhu one is super easy to beat if you have OG Pandemic down. I too would rather just play Forbidden Island, but if you want to get someone into Pandemic, this is the best intro. Unfortunately, I absolutely HATE being reminded that Lovecraft was worse than any monster he ever created, and it sickens me that these game companies keep going back to his well of bigotry. I am currently in the process of turning mine into Pandemic: Treehouse of Horror. (Back when those Simpsons dioramas were all the rage, I bought most of them so I'm using the inaction figures for both the protagonists and antagonists (Mr Burns, Patty, Selma, Nelson, Snake...) It's been slower than I had hoped, and these figures are way too big for the board, but at least it's not ANOTHER game with that GD tentacle thing! 7) Iberia really is the best Pandemic. The railroad mechanism corrected three of the biggest "problems" with the OG game. In the beginning there are wasted actions because you have to get to hot zones and get rid of cubes. No more wasted actions... Lay some track! The endgame is similar in that you usually need to just trade one card with someone but the cubes don't care. No more sweating over traversing the map thanks to the (railroad) engine you built earlier! There reallly aren't ANY wasted actions anymore. You get to a city to wait for someone and you haven't used all your actions. Build some tracks! They might come in handy later.

[@DTChrisYi]

​@@kevinbhieey9188 Great thoughts. We'll see if we play Rising Tide enough to feel like we've mastered it, haha. Agreed on Iberia, there's so much it offers especially with the rail building.

[@nomascontrol]

Yahoo still exists lol

[@DTWendy]

True, but who really uses it?

[@nomascontrol]

@@DTWendy Me lol! I'm clearly old!, but yes your right lol

[@imthestas]

For me: Clone Wars Fall of Rome Rising Tide Pandemic the Cure Pandemic ...sold all the rest. ...including Forbidden games.

[@jonathanmaner1157]

Iberia forever!

[@rexology_bg]

Of the ones I've played, I would rank them Iberia as best, Rapid Response, base Pandemic, Cthulhu. Not the biggest fan of the system in general.

[@ChewieHuey]

Star Wars > Rails. Wendy knows.

[@christalmadge8306]

No Pandemic: Contagion ???

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

Is it a “Pandemic System” so Matt Leacock doesnt get royalties??? :-/

[@darinherrick9224]

Rapid Response is the best Pandemic game. Naturally it's not on the list.

[@DTChrisYi]

It's visible fright from the beginning. We definitely discuss it partway into the video.

[@DeltaDemon1]

I like Rising Tide but it is the only game that you can lose before you start.

[@Wolforce]

My preferred one is actually missing xD It's the Warcraft one

[@DTChrisYi]

It's there, just further down the pile. It was too big to get them all in frame.

[@Noonycurt]

What do you mean missing? They talk about it at 30:00.

[@Wolforce]

I had to leave mid video but wanted to leave a comment for the algorithm

[@DeltaDemon1]

I hate Cthulhu Pandemic. In the first 3 games we played, the second game lasted 3 turns which means one of use did not get to play at all. The third game lasted 6 turns which means two of us only played one turn. My win percentage with Pandemic is 80%. This game it's 0%. We did win once (fourth game) by partially ignoring the insanity rules. Double checked the rules and we did get it right. I still don't know how people win at this game.

[@DeltaDemon1]

The original Pandemic was not even close to 80$. I bought it when it was brand new (I had been eagerly waiting for it) and it was 35$CDN...If it was 35 dollars Canadian, then it would've been 25$ American. Maybe they mean with the expansions.

[@DTChrisYi]

Wendy said at that point it was sold out when we were looking for it. It was likely between printings as the second edition was coming out so the $80 was inflated online prices.

[@KissellMissile]

Pandemic didn't hit in the US with a huge splash, so there was a decent stretch where it had a lot of hype but you couldn't buy a copy except for inflated prices. That is specifically what they were talking about, not MSRP.

[@DTWendy]

I was definitely looking on Amazon between 1st and 2nd editions.

[@petergross7235]

No world of warcraft pandemic or star wars in the stack yet. How many more are they planning to make I wonder?

[@DTChrisYi]

They are there, just out of frame. Too many games to fit in there, but we cover them.

[@DeltaDemon1]

It has nothing to do with nostalgia. The new edition looks crappy (I'm talking about the art, not the cubes)

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

I disagree, the reprint art and overall aesthetic is a major improvement