Pandemic is a cooperative board game designed by Matt Leacock and first
published by Z-Man Games in the United States in 2008. Pandemic is based
on the premise that four diseases have broken out in the world, each
threatening to wipe out a region.
The game accommodates two to four players, each playing one of seven
possible roles: dispatcher, medic, scientist, researcher, operations
expert, contingency planner, or quarantine specialist.
Through the combined effort of all the players, the goal is to discover
all four cures before any of several game-losing conditions are reached.
Three expansions, Pandemic: On the Brink, Pandemic: In the Lab, and
Pandemic: State of Emergency, co-designed by Matt Leacock and Tom
Lehmann, each add several new roles and special events, as well as rule
adjustments to allow a fifth player or to play in teams. In addition,
several rule expansions are included, referred to as "challenge kits".