Board games Like Pandemic

I’ve been where you are. I’ve played Pandemic, the Pandemic expansions, and even Pandemic Legacy. I was ready for more board games like Pandemic, but wasn’t sure where to start. For games like Pandemic, start with Flashpoint, or Forbidden Desert. For more games like Pandemic keep reading. In order to find good board games like Pandemic, we need to take a moment to identify what we are looking for. What made Pandemic so great!

Forbidden Desert	Magic Maze
Betrayal at House on the Hill	Zombicide
Flash Point	More Pandemic

Cooperative

When it comes to cooperative play, Pandemic put that idea on the map. It was such an eye-opener to players when games didn’t have to be you against everyone else. Now it can be the team against the game. It made games easier to learn and more fun to play. No one would flip over a board in disgust from losing unless it was a shared experience. Likewise, it is team high fives when the players beat the game.

Variable Player Powers

Everyone has a job to do. How well you execute your job will influence how you help the team. With variable powers, you don’t have to know everything – you can just be good at doing your specific job. Players will feel like they have a contributing part to play.

Easy to Learn

One of the reasons Pandemic had such wide appeal is that it is an easy game to learn. One reason it is easy to learn goes back to the above two points. As a cooperative game, it lends itself to being not afraid to ask questions of others to learn the game. Another reason is by using variable player powers, each person can focus on one part of the game. Pandemic also holds our attention because nothing is overly complicated in the game. With Pandemic you had 4 actions that you took that were all very easy to understand.

Forbidden Desert

Released as the sequel to the successful Forbidden Island. Forbidden Desert pits your team inside an ever-changing desert looking for your way out. A great transition for those that played the earlier Forbidden Island. The gameplay is very similar, but with a few added wrinkles.

• Cooperative – Forbidden Desert always feel like in you are in quicksand. Which I guess scores points for theming. Players will need to prioritize between digging out from under sand, moving around the board, excavating tiles for benefit, and of course claiming parts of the flying ship.
• Variable Player Powers – Much like its predecessor, Forbidden Desert will set different player powers to each character. Some will clear sand better, some will make movement easier, etc. It becomes a game of efficiency leveraging the special powers to maximize your chances of survival.
• Easy to Learn  – If you played Forbidden Island before you’ll slip right into this.  If you’ve never played Forbidden Island before, you’ll slip right into this.  Forbidden Desert, by design, is a gateway game.  It’s a game that is easy to learn.  There are only 4 different things you can do each turn and one of them includes moving.  Its all pretty straightforward as far as what you can do each turn.  What’s isn’t as straightforward is what you should do.  That is where the tension and fun builds in the game.  You’ll feel that quicksand moving under you quicker than you think.

Magic Maze

While I admit the theming here isn’t the greatest, it is still a fun game. What is unique about this game is that there are only certain circumstances where you are allowed to talk. During the game, you are in a race to escape out of a shopping mall. The mall is a maze early on you won’t even know where the exits are. You and your team will be using non-verbals and a watchful eye to exit the maze. As you move through completing the mazes they become more challenging each time.

• Cooperative – This will test you to the limits. Players must use those few times that they are able to speak to lay out clear directions. From there you will need to rely on your teammates to execute them because the next time to speak isn’t always clear. The goal is to get each color out of the maze. It is unique because at first glance you might think you are the orange or purple token. But actually all players control all the tokens.

• Variable Player Powers – “Powers” might be overstating what you are doing. Most players will have a specific direction they are allowed to move tokens. For instance, there will be a player that can only move tokens “up” one will be “left” so on and so forth. There are a few other actions players will have access to as well to accommodate more players.

• Easy to Learn – You know that cliche’ easy to learn, difficult to master. They were talking about this game. It is very easy to understand – “I move tokens left” or some other singular command. Winning and losing the game won’t be based on understanding the rules. Winning and losing involves acting quickly when you have a move, and knowing where to make it. Players are under a very short time limit to exit the maze, and it is very tough to get time back once gone.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

I had heard of Betrayal at House on the Hill, but even when I first played it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. While I do think that Betrayal has a shorter lifespan (as far as replayability), I still think it’s a great cooperative game to have. The game has great theming. You are part of a team drawn to the House to “learn” its secrets. At some point, the house turns on your and your teammates and you seek to escape the house alive. Ultimately one of your teammates will turn against you. Not of their own will, but because the house has possessed them. Each game will involve a “haunt”, and it is a mystery of when and where it will occur. So much of the fun is in the discovery of the game itself. Players never know what to expect in the game until they are hip-deep in it.

• Cooperative – Oh it all starts as one happy group exploring the house, but soon you will find that one of your teammates has become possessed. You and the other players are laying down tiles, gathering heirlooms, and having a grand ‘old time. The next thing you know is that you’ve gone too far into the house, and now the house has you trapped. Now the possessed player is forced to act on behalf of the house and work on eliminating the rest of the players. During the game, everyone is working together at the start. Once the haunt begins, well it’s us against them.  While you are exploring the house, you are actually running straight toward the “Haunting”. The Haunting is the apex of the game. Once triggered, there are detailed instructions for both the person who has become possessed, as well as the other remaining players. Neither side will fully know the objectives of the other. This hidden knowledge and discovery mechanism breathes all kinds of fun into the game. In some ways, it is also its Achilles heel. As the more you play, you may after a time, end up running into a scenario you’ve you’ve already played. That said there are expansions and plenty of fan-made content on board game geek.

• Variable Player Powers – The player powers aren’t quite as wide and varied as other games on this list. For the most part, all players the same stats, just with different starting values. For instance, some players may start with more “speed” or more “might” than others – but everyone has the same basic traits.

• Easy to Learn – The game starts off fairly linearly. Players will draw a room tile, place it, and then resolve icons that show up on the tile. Different monsters may appear or other tricks as the house works against you. All very straight forward and most of what you need to accomplish is outlined on a card you end up drawing from various decks.

Zombicide: Black Plague

Nothing drives cooperation quite like a zombie apocalypse. The funny thing is, even before I write what the game is, the title alone reveals it. Yes – In Zombicide, you are warding off a plague of zombies. Zombicide: Black Plague gives its a nice little wrinkle by changing the setting to a medieval dungeon.

You and your cohorts will take on a role as a survivor. You may find yourself as a paladin, wizard, knight, or something similarly thematic. As you might expect, each one of the characters differs a bit in what they can do. Likewise, the baddies you will be facing differ slightly as well. Zombicide does a great job driving home the idea of hordes of zombies you must defeat. The way the game uses sound reminds me of watching a zombie movie, and how everyone has to be quiet, lest they will attract the horde.

• Cooperative – As mentioned to survive the zombie plague, you are going to need to work together.  Within Zombicide you have plenty of opportunities to lend a hand.  Of course, you have your standard share/trade items capabilities, but even on a tactical, there are opportunities to lend a hand.  For instance, you may opt to “make noise” in an attempt to draw zombies away from your teammates and towards yourself instead.  

• Variable Player Powers – Similar to RPGs, you will a variety of characters with traits that vary between them.  Some will be geared towards hand to hand fighting, while others may have a preference for magic, or ranged attack.  Likewise, your players will “level up” through the game allowing them access to other abilities and more damaging attacks.  In addition, there are various pieces of equipment that can either complement a player’s attributes or make up for deficiencies.  

• Easy to Learn – Each turn is played in two phases.  The player phase allows a player to take a number of different actions, which are all very intuitive – move, attack, make noise, etc.  After the player phases, zombies get a chance to move and/or spawn. Again, also very intuitive.  The manual is easy to follow with clear examples.

This game hits a couple of sweet spots. This particular style of game is called a dungeon crawler. You can think of a dungeon crawler as a simplified version of Dungeons and Dragons. There are hundreds of dungeon crawlers, and this is a great gateway into that genre. I also like the zombie theming. The game pulls it off well, and I feel like I’m carefully navigating a zombie horde. Fans of the Walking Dead TV show, or have played the game Dead of Winter, will get a kick out of this game as well.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Of the games listed to this point – I feel like Flash Point: Fire Rescue might be the most similar to Pandemic. Pandemic had that sense of dread of viruses begin to spin out of control. Flash Point has that same feeling, but instead of an out of control virus, you have an out of control fire. Within that fire, you and your team must rescue people trapped in the fire and bring them to safety.

Since its initial release Flash Point has released multiple exciting expansions. The expansions add new buildings and specialists. They use the same system that provides new life into the game, without damaging the nature of the game.

• Cooperative – Divide and conquer. That’s the only way you and your teammates will have a chance to win this game. Players will need to work together, taking a look at the current game state, and forming a plan. Players will need to rework that plan as the fire spins out of control. You just can’t let their guard down. Often it is the case that when you think you and your team have the fire wrapped up, an unexpected flair up can spell your doom. If your team can work together well, you have a better chance to mitigate the damage.

• Variable Player Powers – The game has multiple specialist roles that players can assume. The roles are described in the “Experienced” version. We had more fun playing in the Experienced version because that is where you have access to the Specialist cards. The cards are what we found really added fun to the game. The powers are great and add flavor to the game. Some allow more actions, some make you a better rescuer, etc.. Another feature is that as the game evolves, you do have the option to pick another specialist that may help you better handle the fire. It’s also a nice way to add variety to play if all of a sudden you were bored with your current assignment.

• Easy to Learn – The game is designed to provide a “Family” (easier) experience and then an Experienced (advanced) experience. That game isn’t so complicated that you need to start with the Family experience, but if you are playing with boardgame newbies or a younger audience, then it is nice to have. This is a great little family game as well. Firemen and women are easy to understand, and kids like taking on that role.

One of the more interesting points of gameplay is that one of the actions that you’ll often need to do use (break walls) will bring you closer to the situation where you would fail the game. So you are constantly trying to balance taking actions that both help you win the game, and bring you closer to losing as well.

Final thoughts

There are plenty of games like Pandemic.  Pandemic really brought forth the beautiful mechanic of cooperative play.  It did it in a way that was easy to understand, making it one of the best gateway games to have.  As you can see, there are several games to choose from to give you and your play group a similar feel.  Challenge yourself to try a mechanic you haven’t used before.  Try playing a game with a traitor like Betrayal or Shadows Over Camelot.  Try a dungeon crawler like Zombicide, or a miniatures game like Zombicide or Mechs and Minions.  

Finally, if you just can’t get enough of Pandemic, check out these great options.