Pandemic Legacy *NO SPOILERS!*

Polly and I are playing through this and are now at the halfway point, having just finished June.

Verdict so far: It's fantastic!

We've had some hair-raising, final second victories snatched from the jaws of defeat and we've had a couple of games where we breezed through and won it all with hardly any extra cities getting panicky. Either way, every game was exciting and played its part in developing a really gripping narrative.

Mid-way through game 1 the legacy deck throws something at you which is really just a little change, but it changes how the game works and how you deal with the problems on the board. In some ways it makes things easier but it gives you a different problem to worry about. Later on, bigger and bigger things start to happen. Some changes are from the various Pandemic expansions and they just add an extra element to the game, enabling you to tweak a character or giving you another way to deal with diseases. Other changes shift what the fundamental game is. At the end of July, we're looking at a very different task than the basic Pandemic game we faced at the start of January.

Because some of the changes relate to the characters you're playing, starting with giving them names, you get a narrative for each one as they adapt to different situations, gaining a personality and a history along the way, so every time something changes in the rules of the game, or they get one of the upgrades or scars, you aren't just looking at it as a mechanic to be understood and a problem to be solved, it's a plot twist in the story of these people.

I was starting to think it was going to be a bit too easy for us. Maybe playing with four players would have given us more difficult logistical problems to solve. But then after after our first five games went "win", "win", "win", "win?", "win!", we hit June and everything went wrong. The game gives us two attempts at each month and in our first go at it, we were progressing nicely and weren't far off achieving victory, but then a really bad epidemic card draw happened and suddenly we've lost on outbreaks, Lagos is burning, and my character is suffering recurring nightmares about South America. On our second attempt at June, everything went even worse. The world is now a very scary place. I can't wait to see what's waiting for us in July.

I've just finished our first session of this, and have completed Jan and Feb, and am already very much hooked - can't wait to continue.

We're playing a four-player group. The first game never seemed too bad - we were on top of things throughout (although still nearly ran out of cards before we finished). The second game felt like we were fighting a constant holding action - I was convinced we were screwed from the first epidemic card but somehow we managed to hold on for the win there too.

Really looking forward to the next session!

Can someone who has finished (or nearly finished) Pandemic: Legacy answer a question, please?

I understand that most people will only expect to play the game once. But a recent Dice Tower podcast in which Tom and Eric were discussing what they were planning to do with the components when they'd finished confused me a bit. I always assumed that you would play the game once, and then sell it on, or pass it around a succession of friends who had never played. But the Dice Tower discussion seemed to almost imply that the game is "ruined" (for lack of a better word) after it has been played; that the genie has left the lamp and you can't just shove him back in there to pass the lamp to a new owner. If it is possible to explain how this game works without spoilers, could someone please clarify if the game is reusable, or if it becomes nothing more than a paperweight (albeit one which serves as a memento of the joy you had playing it)?

Similarly, does the same apply to Time Stories? Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions.

Colonial Andy wrote:Can someone who has finished (or nearly finished) Pandemic: Legacy answer a question, please?

I understand that most people will only expect to play the game once.  But a recent Dice Tower podcast in which Tom and Eric were discussing what they were planning to do with the components when they'd finished confused me a bit.  I always assumed that you would play the game once, and then sell it on, or pass it around a succession of friends who had never played.  But the Dice Tower discussion seemed to almost imply that the game is "ruined" (for lack of a better word) after it has been played; that the genie has left the lamp and you can't just shove him back in there to pass the lamp to a new owner.  If it is possible to explain how this game works without spoilers, could someone please clarify if the game is reusable, or if it becomes nothing more than a paperweight (albeit one which serves as a memento of the joy you had playing it)?

Similarly, does the same apply to Time Stories?  Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions.

I've only played through a little of Pandemic Legacy, so this is from what has widely been writted about legacy games rather than anything specific to this (no spoilers after all!), but they seem to involve altering the board, destroying components, writing on things, etc. Risk Legacy and Pandemic Legacy are basically designed to be played through once (which, in the case of Pandemic Legacy, is 12-24 games). Can't then be used by another group or usefully sold on.

Time Stories, as I understand it, doesn't have any of the above 'destruction and alteration'. The base game is a framework for playing stories, and is bundled with one such story. They're releasing more stories (for which you need the base game) every few months. So, whilst you wouldn't want to play through a story that you had already completed, you could lend it to another group to play through or sell it on.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I have this wrong!

Colonial Andy wrote:Can someone who has finished (or nearly finished) Pandemic: Legacy answer a question, please?

I understand that most people will only expect to play the game once.  But a recent Dice Tower podcast in which Tom and Eric were discussing what they were planning to do with the components when they'd finished confused me a bit.  I always assumed that you would play the game once, and then sell it on, or pass it around a succession of friends who had never played.  But the Dice Tower discussion seemed to almost imply that the game is "ruined" (for lack of a better word) after it has been played; that the genie has left the lamp and you can't just shove him back in there to pass the lamp to a new owner.  If it is possible to explain how this game works without spoilers, could someone please clarify if the game is reusable, or if it becomes nothing more than a paperweight (albeit one which serves as a memento of the joy you had playing it)?

Similarly, does the same apply to Time Stories?  Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions.

Hi Andy

Not finished but I have done some reading around the issue....

The main issue is that the game board and parts are changed by the events of the game - you will be applying stickers, writing on the board, destroying cards and so on.

As a result you will only be able to play the board as it is at the end of your run through the season.

I have seen on BGG and Reddit some threads about how to preserve or reset the board to the start so you can pass the game on but I don't know how successful they are.

Personally since that game is a shared experience between a (hopefully) consistent group I rather like the idea of having the players sign the board, and then frame it along with the player cards and so on as a bit of unique game art.

As far as TIME stories is concerned my understanding is the replayability limitation there is simply due to knowing how the story plays out now - you don't make changes to the components or anything so you can pass that one along once you're done with it.

Hope that helps

PaulG wrote:
Time Stories, as I understand it, doesn't have any of the above 'destruction and alteration'. The base game is a framework for playing stories, and is bundled with one such story. They're releasing more stories (for which you need the base game) every few months. So, whilst you wouldn't want to play through a story that you had already completed, you could lend it to another group to play through or sell it on.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I have this wrong!

Paul is correct. TIME Stories is a framework for playing stories. The base game comes with one story, there is another one available and a number of other stories in production.
There is no destruction and alteration per se, but since you are effectively solving a puzzle whilst playing through a story the same people can't play that same story again.

I would really like to play this - but can't bear to own a game that I have to deface.

So if anyone has it, or wants to buy it, I'd be happy to play it with you!

Thanks so much for the responses. I was going to go looking for my answers by trawling the internet, but I am super paranoid about accidentally reading spoilers, so I thought I'd just ask here. I really appreciate that people took the time to answer.

DaveB wrote:Personally since that game is a shared experience between a (hopefully) consistent group I rather like the idea of having the players sign the board, and then frame it along with the player cards and so on as a bit of unique game art.

I love this idea. Didn't even think of it. I love that it will serve as a reminder of who you played it with, bringing those friends to mind, and the shared experience.

I would like to one day purchase it and play it in its entirety with Mrs Colonial and a couple other gamers. Paul C: if by the time I manage to acquire it you still haven't played it, this might be you!

Colonial Andy wrote:I love this idea.  Didn't even think of it.  I love that it will serve as a reminder of who you played it with, bringing those friends to mind, and the shared experience.

I wish I could take credit for it, but I read it online somewhere - the idea very definitely struck a chord with me too, but the copy I'm playing isn't mine so it's ultimately not up to me

Colonial Andy wrote:
I would like to one day purchase it and play it in its entirety with Mrs Colonial and a couple other gamers.  Paul C: if by the time I manage to acquire it you still haven't played it, this might be you!

\o/

Looks like a re-print is forthcoming. Anyone fancy getting a group together to buy and play through it?

karl_b wrote:Looks like a re-print is forthcoming. Anyone fancy getting a group together to buy and play through it?

Me!

Me!

Awesome. How do people feel about splitting the cost of it (about £10-12 each)? I'm not fussed about personally keeping the board afterwards. If you two are happy I'll order a copy and we'll see if we get a 4th.

I'm fine with splitting it and also not bothered about keeping it

Fine by me.

Aneurin makes 4.

So we finished December and were wondering what to do with the game, I bought a cheap frame and mounted it on the wall - I stick some of the characters and cards in there as well.  When we finished we both signed and dated the board.

Extra small picture to avoid spoilers!

RikTheChief wrote:So we finished December and were wondering what to do with the game, I bought a cheap frame and mounted it on the wall - I stick some of the characters and cards in there as well.  When we finished we both signed and dated the board.

Nice!

How long did it take anyone to play through to December? Me and Leanne played our first game last week, then yesterday in our hungover state got through another 3 games so we've now finished April.
We lost our first game as we ran out of cards, but we're putting that down to the fact that neither of us have played Pandemic for over a year. So I would definitely recommend before anyone starts Legacy, to play the original again if it's been a while!
Loving the game though, and the plot twists keep it really exciting. Can't wait to play the next one

Carl_H wrote:How long did it take anyone to play through to December? Me and Leanne played our first game last week, then yesterday in our hungover state got through another 3 games so we've now finished April.
We lost our first game as we ran out of cards, but we're putting that down to the fact that neither of us have played Pandemic for over a year. So I would definitely recommend before anyone starts Legacy, to play the original again if it's been a while!
Loving the game though, and the plot twists keep it really exciting. Can't wait to play the next one

We've not quite finished yet (we're in November) We've generally played 2 games per session - sometimes 3, sometimes 1 but the main limiting factor has proven finding times we can all play together - we've averaged roughly one session a month since we started in December.

And we're done! Think we played 19 games in total out of a possible 24 and had an excellent time with it all. Can't wait on Season 2

DaveB wrote:And we're done! Think we played 19 games in total out of a possible 24 and had an excellent time with it all. Can't wait on Season 2

Yeah, it was really excellent. The story and supporting mechanics are really well done. There's plenty of scope for groups to have quite different stories and challenges. I just listened to the SUSD podcast where they talk about the second half of this game and their groups all had pretty different experiences to each other and to us. Very, very clever design.

paulyg wrote:

DaveB wrote:And we're done! Think we played 19 games in total out of a possible 24 and had an excellent time with it all. Can't wait on Season 2

Yeah, it was really excellent. The story and supporting mechanics are really well done. There's plenty of scope for groups to have quite different stories and challenges. I just listened to the SUSD podcast where they talk about the second half of this game and their groups all had pretty different experiences to each other and to us. Very, very clever design.

Was very pleased how we did in the final analysis. I think we got amazingly lucky with the initial setup on the last game though!

Season 2 preorders live at Chaos Cards. ETA is late September!