Pandemic The Board Game

Pandemic the board game was designed by Matt Leacock. In Pandemic, you are a specialist who is watching over many diseases breaking out. Your goal in the game is to prevent a pandemic outbreak. It came out in 2008, with an expansion pack that was out in stores in 2009. Here are some of the basic specifications for this game:2-4 Players
60 Minute Playing Time
Ages 10 and Up
Family Game
Party Game
High Replay Value
Expansion Pack AvailableIn Pandemic, you must work together with other players, using each character’s strength. When you first open the game, you will find 5 pawns, 96 wooden cubes, 6 markers, 6 research stations, one infection marker, one outbreak marker and a total of 115 cards.This board game is geared towards geeks and adults. It does take a lot of planning and strategizing, so you have to be in the right mind to think properly. You might need to play the game a couple of times before you actually win. It is the type of game you will want to play over and over again.GameplayAll players will want to start out in Atlanta, where the Centers of Disease Control is located in. You will be given a role to play in the game. Then, a number of player cards need to be dealt to each person, which you can deal them face up. Then, you can start taking turns and start the game.When your turn comes, you can do one of four things. You can move around on the board, share information to another player, treat a portion of infection, or even put up a research lab. You want to find a cure for an infection. This can be done when a player has five cards of the same color and is in the city.The game may end for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons why the game may end are if more than seven outbreaks happen, you are out of cubes for a specific disease, you are out of player cards to draw or you cure all four diseases. Curing all four diseases is the only way you can win the game. With the expansion pack, you will also need to avoid mutation to win the game, which is an additional challenge.Special events cards may be given to players throughout the game, which help you win. These cards offer one time actions help in gaining the necessary information to help cure a disease. Especially if it is given to the right person, it can help you win the game and avoid a pandemic. It is crucial to share necessary information about an outbreak to your other players to help solve the board game.StrategizePandemic requires a certain amount of strategy in this board game. It is not like traditional board games where more luck is involved. Take advantage of the role you were given at the beginning of the day. For example, if you are the operations manager, you will want to set up research stations and hold onto the cards. You are not required as the operations manager to discard those cards, so hold onto them.As the medic, you can treat the outbreak and diseases easier than anyone else. If you really know the role you are play, you can take advantage of the situation and help the whole team out. The researcher should work with the scientist as they pair their cards well.Keep track of the cards that have been discarded, as well as be conscious of getting rid of city cards. If one is discarded and then needed later in the game, you will be out of luck because there is no opportunity in this game to pick up any of the discarded cards.Avoid outbreaks at all cost. It will deplete the amount of disease cubes, making it much more difficult to win the game. This can be avoided by keep track of all cities that have been infected. This is the main role of the medic.ExpansionsThe very first expansion for Pandemic was called “On the Brink”. It was released in 2009. This expansion gave more options to players. You were given new roles, as well as new Special Event cards. While you were given more to beat the game, you are also given an additional disease to deal with. This disease was called mutation. In the expansion pack, you will now have eight different role cards to choose from.Pandemic won the “Best New Family Game” award in 2009 by GAMES magazine. It has become a quite popular board game because of its uniqueness. It may be a board game worth purchasing for an evening home with the family, or for your next party.

Online Roleplaying Games: Aspiring Combatants – Dos and Don’ts of Beginners Combat

One of the biggest draws to any good MUD is the complex combat system. They can be detailed, complex and in-depth, allowing for a variety of styles and techniques. However, it is also very difficult to get started due to the sharp learning curve. By following some of these tips, hopefully you will be ready to start practicing and one day be able to hold your own in some of the most competitive MUDs out there!DO keep a combat journal. While this seems like a silly idea, jotting down a few notes before and after a text-based fight can help you consistently improve. While some clients (like Mudlet) have a place for you to write down notes, I find it easier to keep a simple notepad application open. No matter what your preferred method is, though, the important thing is to write down the notes. Discuss what you did well, what went wrong, and what you need to improve. By writing it down, you can check over your notes later and minimize the amounts of mistakes you make more than once.DON’T worry about always winning. One of the most frustrating parts of fighting in a MUD is losing, especially when you feel like you should have won. But until you are actually an experienced PKer you shouldn’t worry about winning or losing, only improving. This isn’t an abstract, uplifting point – it’s simple logic. If you win a fight, you get the affirmation and a self-esteem boost. If you lose a fight, though it might sting your pride, it shows you where you are weak and what you have to improve upon with that MUD’s combat system. And, for someone who wants to get better, that’s more valuable than a win. After all, you tend to learn more from a loss than a win.DO talk to others. There are other MUD players out there who are going through the same thing as you, or have before. Talk to everyone who will talk back, even if they aren’t regarded as a ‘top-tier’ fighter. You can learn stuff from just about anyone, if you listen long enough, and hearing bad advice is relatively harmless. If they were wrong, you can simply discard the tactic. If they were right, you’ve gained valuable knowledge. So, make sure to talk to other text-based fighters where you can, swap stories and logs.DON’T be a bad sport about losing. One of the most obnoxious things is a sore loser, and MUDs are no exception. Though it might be tempting to blame a loss on lag, or a system error, don’t. Simply tell the other person ‘nice job’ and fix whatever went wrong. It’s not their fault you set an alias wrong or that you lagged, and these events are random and just as likely to happen to any else in the text game. They’re a part of fighting, and you have to learn to deal with them without complaining. Acting polite and professional will earn you far more friends (and those willing to help teach you!) in a MUD, and far more respect, than crying or complaining ever will.DO keep practicing. Even at the top of your game, you can still get better. Keep fighting people, keep practicing, and keep working at it. There is no such thing as ‘too good’, and there is no real ceiling in MUDs. You are limited only by your creativity, so make sure you keep trying new tricks and tactics. Though it may seem exhausting to think about, fighting at least one or two text-based fights a day is a sure-fire way to stay sharp.DON’T artie up, or buy crazy weapons to compensate. In some MUDs, you have the option to purchase stat-increasing weapons or equipment. Until you are a proper fighter, DON’T. Artifacts and high end weapons, while providing a very useful combat boost, also encourage laziness. Many text game fighters have cited that artifact weapons have actually made them worse at combat, and as a beginning fighter you need to get the basics down before trying to obliterate everyone with your amazing gear. This isn’t to say that artifacts are bad – they can be very useful and they help support that game’s well-being, but starting out with them will promote laziness and make it more likely that you will never break out of mid-tier in your MUD.These tips are just simple things that I have found helpful, and though they don’t guarantee to make you a top-notch fighter overnight, they certainly won’t hurt your chances. Combat journals, manners, and a willingness to talk to anyone and everyone will not only improve your reputation among other players in the MUD, but it will also help you develop good connections and solid skills. Avoiding complaints, a poor attitude and artifacts (for now) will help you develop as a fighter, get used to losing, and most importantly, help you learn from your mistakes. Though simple, these tips will enhance your combat abilities so long as they are followed.Best of luck to you, and see you in the Arena!