Everything Pandemic: Ranked - with Zee Garcia

Zee takes a look at all the Pandemic games, spin-offs, and expansions with some thoughts and a complete ranking!
00:00 - Introduction
01:17 - #15
02:25 - #14
04:02 - #13
05:39 - #12
07:29 - #11
09:13 - #10
10:59 - #9
12:54 - #8
15:35 - #7
17:37 - #6
19:28 - #5
21:20 - #4
23:23 - #3
25:23 - #2
27:06 - #1
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[@daveb1101]

It’s just so great to spend half an hour listening to Zee. One of my very favourite people to watch. Plus, Pandemic! 😃🦠

[@edwardliddell501]

I wholeheartedly agree! I watch everything I can find with this fella ini it!

[@WarmCatFurniture]

One of the things I like best about Iberia is that at the end of the game you have not only treated diseases but you have visibly built infrastructure. Somehow this feels like a greater achievement leading to extra satisfaction at a job well done. The abilities of many of the characters are very different to what we were used to in the core games. My favourite too.

[@Patronux]

Zee, your reviews and commentary on games are excellent. Very eloquent, the order in which you explain your points is very well structured. Great job overall and this video, even though it was very predictable to me (I've been following The Dice Tower for 5 years now), was very entertaining. I hope you are doing well.

[@adrielspencer9111]

instablaster

[@PerfectFaro]

This is possibly the best video the Dice Tower has ever done. Congrats, Zee!

[@dunyoss1463]

15. Pandemic: Contagion 14. Pandemic: Rising Tide 13. (expansion) Pandemic: State of Emergency 12. Pandemic: Rapid Response 11. (expansion) Pandemic: The Cure - Experimental Meds 10. Pandemic: Hot Zone - North America 9. Pandemic: The Cure 8. (expansion) Pandemic: On The Brink 7. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu 6. (expansion) Pandemic: In The Lab 5. Pandemic: Fall of Rome 4. Pandemic 3. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 2. Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 1. Pandemic: Iberia

[@jacobstacey6550]

Thank you for doing this! My main issue with Dice Tower Top 10 videos is that not knowing the list means you can't skip ahead to the games you're actually interested in them talking about!

[@Reggie1408]

Now you only need to add time stamps ;)

[@d.diablo3832]

Thanks! Echo what Jacob Stacey said ^

[@iannicholson5107]

I have read a lot of game reviews in my time. That was amongst the very best. Superb work Mr Garcia.

[@marky437]

I was never a big fan of the Cthulhu stuff but it was the minis and the spin on Pandemic which made me buy it and I have to say I loved it. Pandemic ROC is defo my most played Pandemic game.

[@shawncrawley9101]

Months ago I thought, "I wonder if Zee has a video ranking all Pandemics..." Thanks, Zee, for reading my mind and delivering fairly promptly! Lol

[@romainb9174]

Very interesting ! Thank you for such good content on Pandemic (and in general of course ^^)

[@tRav285]

Iberia is my favorite game ever. I just finished a game and was thinking/wishing there was a variant where after you research all the diseases you could start to clear them from the board. It could be like a second round with new rules. I would absolutely love to see any expansion for this game whatsoever.

[@josegodoy8461]

Well done and thank you for this!

[@sebastiancors9519]

My most played is Pandemic The Cure. I just love the custom dice for each character, it has that Dice Masters vibe and I appreciate a lot the fact that the setup takes about 1 minute. You just don't see that very often on games that offer such a complete experience.

[@funkygamesninja2782]

I just played this for the first time, I couldn’t cure a disease in over 12 attempts, this was on the easiest “first time” level, so I think its a very poor game to rely so much on luck (of which I have none 😅)

[@rabardy2992]

Great vid, Dee. Thank you. As an aside, I agree with you about the solo rules included in Pandemic: Fall of Rome. And they can be easily adapted for a lot of the other versions, and are well worth mentioning. I'd like to see this promoted more, because it really increases the appeal of the whole Pandemic family imho... .

[@fernandorzezinski7205]

Please do more of those!! Memoir 44, 7 wanders and etc. Hate to need to check many videos to check you guys view on a certain game’s expansions. Thank you! Great video!!

[@AthexTube]

Its finally happened, ranking of all the pandemics! good call on the top 6 for sure!

[@dutch_blades]

Great summary! I might check out Iberia after all :) I didn't expect it at first, but Reign of Cthulhu has the most playtime for us at this point.

[@MrScrawnjuan]

Awesome tips for people like me that haven't gotten into them yet. Here's hoping for more similar videos in the future!

[@quantumleap80]

I love it ❣️❣️ have almost every game of it. So much fun 😁

[@scyldscefing3913]

Spectacular discussion.

[@supermegavega]

Thanks, Zee! I appreciate the rundown. I have the original, On the Brink and Legacy 1, but I've been curious about a few of the variations. Iberia is on the list!

[@reverandzombre3755]

this video is super helpful, thanks Zee

[@carlatate7678]

My favourite Pandemic is Pandemic: Iberia, as well. It's beautiful and more of a challenge. We also have original Pandemic. We got rid of The Cure, and I haven't tried any of the rest of them... Interesting review.

[@Liz290895]

Great list, Zee! I love Pandemic and it's always fun to see your enthusiasm about the series. I agree with you almost completely, except that despite being one time plays I still would have put Season 2 first and Season 1 second, then the rest. My thoughts at the beginning of the list-"What can possibly be in last place? -oh yeah, the only pandemic product I don't own and try to forget existed", and then "Why is On the Brink so low?-Oh, right, I forgot about that bioterrorist thing, I threw out that variant!"

[@Mimgreen]

You really love this game. :)

[@dhmcarver]

Such a great video -- very informative. The definitive discussion of the Pandemic family. Thanks for doing it. Iberia's twists on the original theme are great. (I was fortunate in being able to pick one up for a reasonable price.) I'll admit I was underwhelmed by Cthulhu, even though I like that theme. Fall of Rome was great -- and is so challenging. Unfortunately, many of these items are out of print, but this will help to prioritize my purchases if I spot the versions I don't already own.

[@bushibayushi]

I've recently discovered Pandemic the Cure and I have to say that I enjoy it more than the regular base game. The dice rolling is just exciting, your turns are much more meaningful (you can do more stuff) and the upkeep is kept to a minimum. Plus, it takes half the time of its predecessor

[@NATOnova]

Thanks for the list, might have to check out Iberia. Where would season 0 be on this list?

[@ThymeKeeper]

Wow. Some real surprises here :).

[@ThymeKeeper]

Maybe not that surprising when I think about. Good list and good video though.

[@demonicbunny3po]

The only version I own is Iberia. Good to know it is considered the best by the Dice Tower’s Resident Pandemic Expert.

[@hucz]

spoilers

[@cameronlucas1969]

@@hucz Don't read comments if you don't want to see spoilers man!

[@JayRutley]

Now where would you place the Forbidden series of games? :D

[@alvasaiel]

Excellent video 🌹 I would like to answer the question regarding Hot Zone! I found the game easier to play with my young children as it's a fast to set up, teach and finish 🌹

[@BadassBeazly]

I've never played the original Pandemic game. However, after watching a lot of reviews, I was intrigued by both yours and Rahdo's review of Pandemic: The Fall Of Rome. I made my purchase based based on these reviews and I must say you are spot on Zee! Thank you for your recommendation. I look forward to experiencing more Pandemic in the future. Your content is great!

[@GeorgiosD90]

Rahdo doesnt review games. He only says good things about every game.

[@HackWeight]

@@GeorgiosD90 He only "reviews" games that are in his wheelhouse and he thinks he's already going to like.

[@susanjohnson318]

#16 Forbidden Island. It's Pandemic light and pretty!

[@blakium1]

Awesome! I only have the base game and two first expansions. I agree 100% that in the lab is the best of those two. My group just LOVES IT. I mean, it is just more thematic and it allows players to not be constantly worried about trading cards (the hard hat guy who builds CDCs gets overpowered though).

[@greggersgreggers3990]

I only got Iberia by accident. I gave away my copy of the original Pandemic and regretted it and went with Iberia instead of retreading old ground. I prefer it to the original base game (I have not played the expansions) and it is such a pretty map. I enjoy having to plan long ahead laying down rails where most makes sense to me for the developing situation. I know this was meant to be a one-off game, but I hope they will reprint it. Great overview, Zee!

[@FranciscoArena]

1 - Pandemic Iberia 2 - Pandemic Fall of Rome 3 - Pandemic The Cure 4 - Pandemic Rising Tide 5 - Pandemic (vanilla) 6 - Pandemic Cthulhu ... 99 - Pandemic Contagion

[@Iamwrongbut]

Pandemic helped get me into board games. Once I played Spirit Island, however, I haven’t looked Pandemic’s way once.

[@pooyaostadpour5298]

Top 3 for me: 1. Pandemic The Cure 2. Fall of Rome 2. Reign of Cthulhu

[@fja3924]

Thanks Zee! Pandemic Iberia is going for $99.99 on Amazon, probably because of this list! J/K

[@nobodywantsthethimble]

I love Iberia. After we played Legacy Season 1, vanilla Pandemic felt too easy. Iberia gave us enough challenge, yet still felt like we could manage it. It saved Pandemic for us.

[@gadushholl3469]

Thx for this compilation Zee. There is no right or wrong. I would've skipped the Legacy's just because of the "play once mechanic". Thx for your info on the expansions. Very informative overview.

[@xzgun100]

Is the small white table on the right a subtle wink to the letter 'Z' as in Zee!?

[@dlrbrian]

Hey Zee, where would Pandemic Legacy Season 0 fit into this list?

[@mydemon]

yeah a pinned post from the staff would be nice. my guess is that it would take the #2 spot.

[@NATOnova]

Why was season 0 not included?

[@aj_8009]

Is that an old school Board Game Blender t-shirt!? Love it

[@miistercrayon]

I think season 1 is way better than 2. I think the narrative pacing in season one is much tighter and therefore more satisfying. The trust they give the player - and their ability the exact right amount curious and motivated by the secrets- in 2 means it’s easy to have games with low progress. I think also the balance of any individual itself goes a bit wonky too

[@S0nyb1ack]

I agree on the pacing completely... But I have to say I loved that the 2nd one fealt a bit more "open", I really liked having more control about how much discovering the players wanted/could afford to do, but that was a double edged sword, since it probably also caused the pacing "issue". However - not a Pandemic game, but Clank! Legacy has finally managed to combine both the freedom and GREAT story pacing. I would strongly recomend it to anybody who likes legacy games and I've played it a lot even after the campaign ended, in my opinion the best legacy game currently out there :)

[@draheim90]

Hah the first modern board game I played was Contagion in 2014 when someone brought it over on I believe our first date as her attempt to introduce me to modern games. I remember really liking it, as I did Catan when I played that a couple years after and Forbidden Island some years after that. When your only reference is classic/mass-market board games even more average modern games blow you away.

[@brechtvanboxstael1522]

I completely agree with your vision on the two legacy games. I have so much respect for the designers for throwing the system upside down in the 2nd season. Gameplaywise I even had more fun with that 2nd installment, so I'd also put it slightly higher then Season 1. Can't wait to see what they'll do with the 3rd part.

[@mireah]

Are they doing a 3rd season? I'm with you on thinking that season 2 is better gameplaywise than 1st. Although I did love it too.

[@brechtvanboxstael1522]

@@mireah Yeah, Pandemic Leagcy will be a trilogy. The 3rd and last part would have come out in 2020 but Z-man Games is postphoning announcements due to Covid19. You can read more about it in this article; www.dicebreaker.com/series/pandemic/news/pandemic-studio-postpones-series-updates Aswell as you, I have love for both the Legacy games :)

[@shellyjiang3365]

Is pandemic legacy season 0 included in this video? I heard that it is really good

[@jamesboyce2460]

I just picked up pandemic Iberia recently it is very good

[@nicolaszhang2174]

I agree, Iberia is also my favorite of the non legacy ones!

[@karldoughty7996]

Pleased to see Fall of Rome near the top. Completely agree with the excellent solo mode. My favourite solo game.

[@jorisschelfhout2348]

This is also my choice for a solo game. 😁👌

[@iancarvalho8371]

Are Emergency, In the Lab and On the Brink compatible with Iberia?

[@Twineandribbon]

Thanks

[@chablemon]

What about season zero…??? Where in the rank would it be?

[@keel1701]

"Everything that's come out with the name Pandemic on it" So where's Knit Wit? 🤣🤣

[@ComodinZero]

I love em! I put 2 below 1 tho, 2 was a little too con klutz

Aren’t you missing that On the brink brings a 5th player option to the base game. That’s so nice.

[@cromanticheer]

Yeah, honestly if you only play Pandemic without the scenarios/challenges OtB is probably the most bang for your buck with 5-player rules/balance and the new events and roles.

[@chrisfong8929]

I don’t even like pandemic but I do enjoy a good Zee video

[@slenkhar]

May be an honourable mention for Thunderbird? Sure it wasn't Pandemic, but definitely had it's ties in it.

[@rulico]

I understand the arguments but was impressed for Legacy S2 placed above Legacy S1 😯

[@Ray_Argues]

Does any of the expansion increase the number of players for the Pandemic base game? I feel like we should be able to play with 6 players instead of just 4. 😅

[@matthewporter5048]

Surprised to see Iberia in the place that it was. I liked that one a lot.

[@shelbeeray]

Where would you place Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 ?

[@ktotheramer]

No Anniversary Edition, huh?

[@riloh58]

Zee - I am with you on this. I love pandemic and I think it will always be in my favourites list. Legacy Season 0: Am I a joke to you? (I realise it wasn’t released at time of recording).

[@scyldscefing3913]

Your top three mirror mine.

[@twdpepper6012]

I have not played anything Pandemic. I do plan on eventually playing all of the seasons though. What I ask is, Would it be reasonable to start off with Season 1? Or should I get the base game first? I'm just thinking, with about ten games in a season, that's 30 plus games right there. And if I plan on jumping into that relatively quickly anyways, should I just skip the original and go season 1? The seasons are not replayable is the problem. But I'd have 30 games to go through before that becomes a problem. Also I wouldn't be able to play a casual, or solo, game of pandemic between Campaign sessions. Is the pandemic app a good implementation to fill that hole? Thoughts?

[@joethomas1775]

Great list! I hated the Cthulhu one, but I do agree on the Iberia one.

[@marcosseven8872]

hi, I'm wondering, can you play On the Brink expansion with everything but the Bio-terrorist past? if that aspect of the expansion they say its not nice, can one, just not play with it? thanks!

[@freekingfreaking246]

yes

[@CHIPSSALTY]

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

[@ronnieballs8145]

The Bio-terrorist mode is really fun. It's a fresh way to play Pandemic and a great way to get an 'Alpha player' to test his mettle against the group. The feeling of sneaking around and causing mischief as the bio-terrorist is really great!

[@rogerst-arneault3522]

Wish you had an update for this one...

[@gamesafire4744]

Thanks for ranking these! Interesting video

[@waldemarcordero5932]

Do you think soon will come out a version of Pademic 2020 The covid-19 Crisis.????

[@MichaelJones-yp8gj]

paxsims.wordpress.com/2020/03/29/c3i-magazine-covid-19-scenario-for-pandemic/

[@conraddevera]

What's the diff between legafy and the original pandemic?

[@michaelmuchness]

Rome is my fave. Have not played # 3-#1. Will get Iberia some day.

[@anjvillegas]

Fall of Rome's solo mode makes it an easy #1 for me!

[@CJM3407]

Also, major parts of In The Lab are not playable if you don't have On the Brink

[@chieparras4815]

are the legacy games replayable?

[@soenketrzaska]

What about the 10. th anniversary edition? Did I miss this one? 🤔

[@mirtevic9016]

It is very similar to/almost the same as the original game. I thought it was just a repackaging, that’s why I think he didn’t include it

[@chrispymiles]

Would be interested to see where you would now put Pandemic Season 0 and Pandemic Hot Zone Europe.

[@chrismusix5669]

THIS IS THE VIDEO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!! And I don't even LIKE Pandemics.

[@chrismusix5669]

True story btw: I was going to trade my copy of Agricola for a duplicate copy of Iberia that someone owned. Only caveat was that I couldn't let the trader have any of the pieces to Agricola because my kid liked playing with them so much. So I told the Iberia fellow I'd do the trade if he could supply his own meeples and resources (for which, upgraded pieces are easy to find). So during one of our monthly game sessions, I gave him the stripped down copy of Agricola and he said he'd bring his extra copy of Iberia in next month. I told him no big deal if he brought it or not! I never did get that copy of Iberia :(

[@shawnkuhn4753]

Great list! It's a shame that it's all but impossible to find Iberia anywhere at it's original retail price.

[@garybraddick5042]

I just bought a copy of Iberia at Funagain Games for $40.

[@shawnkuhn4753]

@@garybraddick5042 That's awesome! Z Man Games has it back it stock now too! I bought it last week and played it last night for the first time. Great game!

[@edmundbloxam2714]

Right, this is the definitive Zee Pandemic list. He's done this, he's done all the characters. Now he needs to do all the pieces. Which is the better meeple, the pink or the brown one?!!

[@robertmaniac]

Favorite character? Nah! everyone knows the Best Is the quarantine expert.

[@thurlynox]

What about Legacy Season 0?

[@stevenfinnerty5915]

Where does Legacy Season 0 fit on this list?

[@kamikazehansu]

Zee: I won't play long games. Also Zee: Pandemic Hot Zones? Who is this for?

[@BigWetTits1]

Regular pandemic is already short enough for a co-op game.

[@robertmaniac]

I'm actually interested in hot zone, i like portable games, for when you're in a cafe, and want to play a short game, that's why I have ticket to ride New York.

[@concon424]

thoughts on the warcraft pandemic?

[@tjuggerboss8049]

Still have to play legacy season 2, after watching this. I literally cannot wait... Damn u Corona virus!!

[@KlaasDeCorte]

It was one of the best legacy games I’ve played! You’re really going to enjoy it! Have fun

[@tyrionfiresworn]

I've been playing Seasons One over Zoom and it's worked pretty well (with one person running the cards and board and the others tracking cubes on their copy of normal Pandemic).

[@tjuggerboss8049]

@@tyrionfiresworn I bet that's a great way to play board games at a distance, but having played season one, and loved it.. I'm waiting till this Corona szjizzle is over, cause we want to play it 'live' so to speak. :)

[@cameronlucas1969]

@@KlaasDeCorte Interesting, season 2 felt like half as good a game that season 1 was

[@jesseklei4074]

Zee, you're WRONG! ;) Rising Tide is a GREAT variant in my opinion. My list would be as follows: 15. Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu 14. Pandemic: Rapid Response 13. (expansion) Pandemic: The Cure - Experimental Meds 12. Pandemic: The Cure 11. Pandemic: Contagion 10. Pandemic: Hot Zone - North America 9. (expansion) Pandemic: State of Emergency 8. (expansion) Pandemic: On The Brink 7. (expansion) Pandemic: In The Lab 6. Pandemic: Rising Tide 5. Pandemic 4. Pandemic: Fall of Rome 3. Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 2. Pandemic: Iberia 1. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 Where there is a HUGE drop off after #9 and #10-14 are basically all interchangable for me. Pandemic Legacy Season 1 is a clear #1 for me, and #2-4 can flip around from time to time. Nonetheless Zee, nice video! Keep the great content coming! :D

[@jorisschelfhout2348]

Love your list📃😍 rising tide is indeed a good game👌

[@evahagerman2118]

I second guessed your entire list after seeing you had season 2 so highly rated. 😆 Not finished with season 0 yet. But so far I find it and season 1 to be superior by far!

[@ms2752]

You should do a live playthrough for each one of theml ;)

[@wellesradio]

Except the Legacy of course.

[@slashdotjeo]

Does Z have his own channel?

[@goldbug371]

is it just me seeing things or the white table on the right side of the video behind Zee is actually Z shaped? :D

[@teacherliw]

The first cooperative game that gives me legacy feel is Legend of Andor.

[@marcoschaub8978]

Legends of Andor has a campaign, but it's not a legacy game because there are no permanent changes

[@teacherliw]

I know that it is not a legacy game but it feels like one to me. During a legend, something happens and make permanent changes to that legend. Although it doesn't carry forward to future legends, but it gives me similar feel.

[@KabukiKid]

Yeah, aside from the Legacy games, Iberia is the best Pandemic all in one box. Great game.

[@johnjones6115]

Was hoping this would be a DL announcement for Legacy Season 3 :D

[@mireah]

They're only just now putting out Hot Zone. So while I'd love to hear this announcement, I'm sure it'll be a while before we see it.

[@rosu3870]

I really liked the idea of "The Lab" but I found the necessity of being in a research facility in order to perform a lab action rather cumbersome. There isn't enough time to fight the diseases AND regularly return to the research facilities to do lab stuff. In addition to that, the process of finding the cures takes longer which always resulted in almost certain defeat. At least, that's what my group experienced. Has anyone else experienced this (or maybe the opposite)? We houseruled that 1 lab action can be performed for free every turn. That shifted the gameplay experience from "nearly impossible" back to "fairly challenging".

[@mattchild3435]

In my experience with the Lab Challenge, I think failing happens when forgetting how much this variant depends on cooperative play. Oftentimes, each player will get stuck thinking about how he or she will individually contribute to the cure and forget about setting up other players to do way more on his or her turn. This shows up a lot when players abandon the Share Knowledge action, which is still extremely important, but now moreso for effective use of actions and timing. I also think a good amount of difficulty is added when the team doesn’t build a second research station within the first round of turns and then use early actions to Sequence a Disease to get favorable sequence cards. This will give a much easier path to follow regarding both treatment and card usage.

[@vwilliams9365]

Thank you so much, Zee, for doing this. For the first time, I have a real sense of what makes each of these good and bad. I have not played the base Pandemic game. When I bought my first Pandemic, I bought Pandemic the Cure. We enjoy that, but usually it’s just my wife and I playing. So we have other games that we feel are better for two people. However, I recently purchased Pandemic Iberia with the idea that if we didn’t like it, I could always sell or trade it later. We have not tried it out yet, but now I definitely I have to get it to the table. Because we play mostly two player, especially nowadays, do you feel Pandemic and Pandemic Iberia work well for 2, or do you really need to have more people to enjoy the game?

[@TV-bz2ur]

My gf and I play Iberia often. It's our favorite. We usually play with a third "ghost" player if we don't have a third person to play with. Everything Zee said about it in the video is spot on. Lots of variants, which add to the replay factor, very challenging, and a very beautiful game aesthetically. Excellent game. I wish they made expansions for it, or made a digital version for it. We play The Cure all the time too, especially when we are short on time. But Iberia is far superior. Enjoy!

[@jorisschelfhout2348]

I always play with 2...iberia is soooo good

[@gergelypapp82]

If I don't own any of them(I know shame on me). Should I get Iberia, Legacy or the original?

[@jorisschelfhout2348]

Iberia or lagacy 1