Board Games Like Pandemic

There’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Pandemic, or possibly seen it on store shelves. If so that’s no surprise as it’s considered one of the most popular and successful cooperative board games to reach the mainstream market. Since its release in 2008, it’s gone on to receive positive critical and commercial reviews, having been described as a ‘modern classic’. It combines both simple and compelling gameplay and serves as both an excellent gateway game for new or casual players, as well as a challenging strategy game with various difficulty levels for those more experienced. Thanks to its simplicity and clear mechanics, Pandemic is an easy game for new players to learn and engage with. Its success and the millions of copies of the base game sold have led to many spin-offs, expansions, and alternative versions being released over the years.

Pandemic is a cooperative board game that balances strategy and luck in a perfectly fair way. Based on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each threatening to wipe out a region of the planet. Two to four players take on one of seven roles and use their special abilities to trek the globe, working together to try and combat and wipe out the four diseases plagueing mankind. Every turn that goes by poses a risk of one of the diseases spreading or getting out of control, so players will need to plan ahead, think on their feet, and of course work together.

If you’re a fan or coop and/or strategy games, Pandemic should certainly be in your library. If you’re looking for some similar board games like pandemic to join it, those below should compliment Pandemic perfectly.

What is a Cooperative Game?

A cooperative game is a type of game where players work together to achieve a common goal or objective. Unlike competitive games where players vie against each other, cooperative games emphasize teamwork, communication, and strategy. In these games, players unite to overcome challenges and defeat a common enemy, making the experience both engaging and rewarding.

Cooperative games come in various forms, including board games, card games, and video games. They are designed to promote social interaction, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Whether you’re navigating a sinking island, defending a castle, or solving a mystery, cooperative games offer a unique way to bond with friends and family. Typically, these games can be played with a small group of players, ranging from 2 to 8, depending on the game.

Cooperative Game Genres

Cooperative games can be categorized into several genres, each offering a unique way to experience teamwork and strategy:

• Cooperative Board Games: These games are played on a physical board and require players to work together to achieve a common goal. Examples include Pandemic, Forbidden Island, and Castle Panic.

• Cooperative Card Games: Played with a deck of cards, these games also emphasize teamwork and strategy. Players must collaborate to achieve their objectives, often involving intricate planning and communication.

• Cooperative Video Games: These digital games allow players to team up and tackle challenges together. Whether it’s battling monsters or solving puzzles, cooperative video games offer an immersive experience that promotes teamwork.

Forbidden Island

By: Gamewright     Players: 2-4     Time: 30 Minutes     Ages: 10+

Playing as one of four adventurers, players are tasked with two objectives: find four hidden treasures and escape with them before the island sinks. Players will make their way around a randomly generated island made up of tiles and take actions that will enable them to get closer to achieving their goal. They’ll have to work quickly though as there’s no telling what part of the island will sink next, and they’ll have to reach the escape helicopter before it’s too late.

Each turn, players can take several actions in order to get them one step closer to successfully completing their objective. As they move around the board, players can capture treasures if they have obtained enough treasure cards, and if not, can trade cards they have to another player in order for them to capture it themselves. This is easier said than done though as parts of the island slowly become inaccessible or harder to reach as tiles begin to sink.

Players can shore them up on their turn to slow the sinking of the island but this isn’t always an option. Depending on which characters the players have chosen, they may find their abilities will help them significantly in certain scenarios. The game features variable player powers, allowing players to specialize in their roles, enhancing strategic gameplay and team dynamics. Once all four treasures are collected, if the players can make it to the escape helicopter in time they’ll win the game. If enough of the island sinks, however, the players lose.

A great game where teamwork and utilising a characters unique skills are paramount, especially as time is short.

Castle Panic

By: Fireside Games    Players: 1-6     Time: 30-60 minutes     Ages: 8+

An army of monsters is marching towards the castle, and it comes down to the players to work together to defend it. Utilising the right tactics and units, players will need to do their best to repel the horde from all sides to prevent them from tearing down and destroying the castle walls and towers.

Castle Panic is played on a game board segmented into six different arcs representing three different colours and made up of several rings. The game is played predominantly using cards that represent different units: kinghts, archers, and swordsmen. Players will use these cards to repel the monsters that gradually make their way closer to the castle, one space each turn and two new monsters being drawn each new phase. Each card a player possess is colour-coded and can only be played when a monster is in a certain ring. However, if a player cannot play a card or sees another player benefitting from it more, they can trade cards in order to maximise their strategy. Once all monsters are destroyed the players win the game and whoever has killed the most monster is dubbed the best slayer. If however, the players fail to repel the intruders and the castle falls, they lose the game.

Castle Panic is a great game that offers a fun and entertaining experience each time. With simple rules, a solo mode, and several difficulty levels, it’s an excellent fun game for all.

Horrified

By: Ravensburger     Players: 1-5     Time: 60 minutes     Ages: 10+

What’s worse than a monster ravaging a town? How about seven? In Horrified, all the classic movie monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon are out to wreak havoc. Each monster has a unique and individual way to be stopped, and it’s up to the players to work together to figure out how.

Horrified sees players take on the role of a character that’s out to stop up to three monsters that are terrorising a small town. Each character has a number of actions they can perform, a special ability, and starts on a specific space on the town map. Players control their characters’ actions and abilities, making strategic decisions to defeat the monsters. Likewise, each monster plays differently, has different objectives, interactions differently with players, and must be defeated in a specific way. Players will use their turns to move around the board collecting items that are used in one way or another to defeat the monsters.

Along the way, they’ll have to guide townsfolk to safety and will be able to trade items with other players in order to aide them. Monsters will get the opportunity to act regularly however, and will all have their own objectives they’ll be trying to fulfil. As the cause more trouble, the terror maker will move up the board and if it goes to high on the track, the players lose the game. If however, players can eliminate all the monsters they win the game.

Each game of Horrified offers a different and unique experience. With plenty of combinations of player characters and monsters, the game has a high replay value with each game truly enjoyable.

Sky Team

By: Scorpion Masque Games     Players: 2     Time: 15 minutes     Ages: 12+

The best way to experience the fun and stress of flying a plane, players are put in the pilot and copilot seat and tasked with safely landing a plane at airports all across the country. Combining strategy, cooperation, and predictive reasoning, it makes for a challenging but rewarding game.

Sky Team is a co-operative game for two, in which players act as pilot and co-pilot at the controls of an airliner. Working together as a team, they need to safely land their plane whilst navigating the air traffic and working the controls as flawlessly as possible. Over a series of turns, players will roll dice and assign them to various controls on the panel in front of them. The different slots the dice can be placed in will affect the aircraft in different ways, but the interesting mechanic is that players cannot confer with each other and will assign these dice where they think they should go.

The players will have to balance all kinds of aspects like drag, altitude, speed, and tilt and will have certain restrictions when assigning dice. This creates a challenging but fun experience where players need to not only work together but anticipate what the other will do. If pulled off properly, players will land safely at the airport runway and win the game. If not, then they may end up crashing, or worse.

Simple to learn quick to play, Sky Team offers a fun and interesting experience that is highly enjoyable and truly unique. It’s a great choice for a fun and engaging game night with a friend.

Board Games for Cooperative Play

Cooperative board games are a fantastic way to spend time with friends and family while promoting teamwork and social interaction. Here are a few examples of popular cooperative board games:

Mysterium

Mysterium is a cooperative board game where one player takes on the role of a ghost trying to communicate with the other players, who are psychic mediums, to solve a murder mystery. The ghost gives visions to the mediums, who must interpret them to uncover the truth. This board game is perfect for those who enjoy puzzle-solving and teamwork, as players must work together to piece together the clues and solve the mystery.

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a cooperative trick-taking game where players work together to complete missions and explore the ocean. Players must communicate and collaborate to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. This game is ideal for those who enjoy strategy and teamwork, as it requires careful planning and coordination to succeed.

Other popular cooperative board games include Flash Point: Fire Rescue, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, and Spirit Island. These games offer a fun and challenging way to spend time with friends and family while promoting teamwork and social interaction. Whether you’re rescuing people from a burning building, defending Hogwarts from dark forces, or protecting an island from invaders, these cooperative board games provide endless hours of entertainment and camaraderie.

Pandemic Legacy

By: Z-Man Games     Players: 2-4     Time: 60 minutes     Ages: 13+

With so many spin-offs and expansions to the base game, it felt prudent to include at least one of them. Arguably, Pandemic Legacy is the next best game to Pandemic, as it takes what’s great about the original and enhances it significantly, making it a great cooperative game.

Legacy plays out in much the same way the original Pandemic does, but it does so with an overarching story arc played over 12-24 sessions, depending on how well the group performs. Early scenarios involve players traveling to different locations and researching and treating diseases just like the base game. As the campaign progresses, scenarios become more complex, and more components introduced. Some of these rules permanently alter components for later scenarios and can have a profound effect on the subsequent ones. Likewise, characters will gain new skills as the game moves on, offering new strategies when tackling tricky situations. For those wanting a more robust, campaign like experience of Pandemic that they can keep coming back to, this is the perfect option.

There are plenty of excellent strategy games out there, many of which utilise cooperative gameplay just like Pandemic. Those listed above are some we find particularly enjoyable, but there are plenty more out there like them. If there’s any we’ve missed that you think are just as good as Pandemic, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

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