Announcing Pandemic 10th Anniversary

Pandemic turned 10 this year, which is of course worthy of a special celebration. We managed to steal away a few minutes with Z-Man’s Head of Studio, Steve Kimball, for a brief retrospective from him on the past decade of Pandemic: 

I still recall my first exposure to Pandemic. It was during a very different era of modern gaming; Unlike today, when foreign publishers forge their own North American distribution deals, back then we only saw games from overseas if they were imported. At the time, the German game scene was really booming, which spilled over throughout the rest of Europe. There were only a few US publishers (like Rio Grande Games, Überplay, and of course Z-Man) who were tapping into the European game scene and bringing over the very best titles to the budding (and hungry!) North American frontier.

I had recently rediscovered tabletop gaming over the past year or so, and my wife and I regularly got together with friends to play all kinds of games. Like many of us do when we rediscover the hobby, I jumped in the deep end: I played everything I could get my hands on—El Grande, War of the Ring, Stone Age, BGG’s #1 game at the time, Puerto Rico, and the hip new kid on the block storming up the charts to eventually overtake #1, Agricola. I even started working part-time on Saturdays for a local game store that set up tents near the university campus to raise awareness and sell a menagerie of board games to eager college students.

So in late February 2008, after spending way too much of a chilly, overcast Saturday on campus studying for an upcoming exam, I shambled home to my basement apartment in Provo, Utah, to get ready to host game night. The week before we had played an epic 7-player game of Shadows Over Camelot. This week we had a smaller group, so Citadels and Blue Moon City were on the menu. When our friends arrived, they had brought this new co-op title that I hadn’t heard of: Pandemic. Based on how much they enjoyed Shadows, they were seeking a shorter game that achieved the same feel of teamwork and eliminated the traitor. Being the sucker that I am to try something new, we ended up starting with Pandemic. Suffice to say, it was the only game we played that evening, finally managing to win our third and final game.

Obviously I bought my own copy once it was back in stock, and I was first in line for the On the Brink expansion that came out the following year. Over the years I took Pandemic to all sorts of family gatherings, and I was amazed at how accessible and appealing it was to non-gamers. The gameplay was simple but engaging, challenging yet intuitive. It has been a mainstay in my personal library, and it holds some very special gaming memories for me.

Jump ahead to SPIEL 2016 when I took the helm at Z-Man, I found myself sitting across from Matt Leacock at Essen. After handing me the final prototype of Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 for my team to digest, we tossed around ideas for what would be a fitting celebration for 10 years of Pandemic. In its lifetime, the base game has become a huge international success, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide in nearly 30 languages, not to mention the various expansions and spin-off games that have also done well both critically and commercially. Based on all this, doing a special edition of the base game resonated with both of us, so with that simple direction we were going to brainstorm ideas and reconvene to discuss further.

Well, on the flight home, I couldn’t help myself. In a creative burst, I jotted down a flurry of ideas for what a Pandemic 10th special edition might entail, including things like unique packaging, special production techniques, any unique content, etc. Some of my original ideas included “What if it looked like a first aid kit!”, “I’d really like to make some amazing plastic sculpts,” and “To hark back to 1st edition, it would be cool to include wooden bits again.” The project was truly a labor of love for my team, and most of those original seeds survived to this special edition of Pandemic; so, today I’m pleased to announce our way of commemorating the 10th anniversary of the original game that started it all: Pandemic 10th Anniversary.

Thanks for that insight, Steve! If you’d like to secure your own copy of this limited edition, click here to pre-order. Now, let’s take a closer look at what comes inside Pandemic 10th! (The rest of this article assumes familiarity with Pandemic, so if you’re new to Pandemic, go hereto learn about the original game and see what all the rage is about.)

Click here to pre-order your copy of Pandemic 10th Anniversary from our website.Pandemic 10th Anniversary will be releasing in Q4 and will be $99.99

Gameplay-wise, this is the classic, beloved co-op—you and your team are still the only things standing in the way of deadly diseases that threaten the world, and you must work together to avert disaster. Yet again, the fate of humanity is in your hands! But with this beautifully rendered edition of the game, you’ll be saving humanity in style. It includes:

Custom Metal Box

This custom metal box was inspired by the look of early 20th century first aid kits, and it really grounded the entire product’s design. The minimalist design and font choices work together to make this feel like a truly exceptional vintage product. The game itself weighs an impressive 6 pounds, with the metal box contributing a significant amount of heft. And, for you hardcore Pandemic fans, the box comes with gaskets that allow you to mount it to the wall of your game room.

Plastic Figures

This has been a long time coming. Not only has this been one of the most-requested topics that appears on seemingly everyone’s wishlist, but at least once a year someone launches a crowdfunding campaign for a set of generic “disease-fighting” minis. The anniversary edition provided us with the perfect opportunity to introduce highly detailed figures into Pandemic. Each figure has been carefully sculpted based on the 2nd edition character designs, and they’ve been painted with a wash to really make those details pop!

Wooden Bits

One of our goals with Pandemic 10th was to highlight the very best of both 1st and 2nd edition. We know many Pandemic fans appreciate the look and feel of the wooden components from the game’s 1st edition and we wanted to pay tribute to that aspect of the original game. We splurged on wood pieces for this special edition, and inside you’ll find wooden cubes as well as wooden cure markers screenprinted with the virus symbols.

All-New Art & Graphic Design

To complement the box’s minimalist design, Pandemic 10th features all-new art and graphic design. Even the character illustrations (which we kept from 2nd edition) get some special treatment to match the vintage aesthetic. The color palette, the layout, and even some special effects that render some of the printed materials as if they were made in an antique printshop really complete the whole design.

Everything Else

In addition to all of the above, Pandemic 10th features a larger board, converts the role cards into large ID badges with fingerprints and profile data, and has custom screen-printed Petri dishes. All in all, we are quite proud of the final product.

Join us as we celebrate a decade of curing disease and pre-order your copy of this special limited edition of the classic cooperative game! Pandemic 10th Anniversary will be $99.99 and will release in Q4.

Everyone who pre-orders at least one copy of Pandemic 10th Anniversary from the Z-Man Games website will receive a single set of pre-painted figures for free with their order while supplies last. Click here to pre-order or talk to your local retailer about how to pick-up your set of Pandemic 10th Anniversary pre-painted figures. Retailers should reach out to their distributors for more information about these figures.

UPDATE: As of 2:30pm CST on 10/25/18 the pre-painted figures are sold out. Pre-orders placed before that time will receive one set of painted figures in addition to the game. Pre-orders placed after that time will just receive the game, which includes a set of unpainted figures. Check with your local gamestore about additional stock of the pre-painted figures.