Pandemic In the Lab Board Game EXPANSION Race Against Time to Discover Cures! Cooperative Strategy Game for Kids and Adults, Ages 8+, 1-6 Players, 45 Minute Playtime, Made by Z-Man Games

Another must-have expansion for fans of Pandemic! It's fun and interesting and offers up fresh, new ways to play. Some things you might be interested to know... 1) Ideally, you should have the base Pandemic game and the first expansion, On the Brink, to play In the Lab for full compatibility. For the cards to match, you should either have the second editions of Pandemic and On the Brink, or have the two compatibility card packs for the first editions of the base game and On the Brink. 2) The lab portion of the game takes a playthrough or two to adjust to, but it's reasonably easy to get the hang of if you're not impatient. :) Essentially, instead of curing diseases with 5 cards of the same color, you have to first discover, sequence and test the cure in the lab, before you can officially cure it (with 3 cards instead of 5). This replaces the previous method of curing, so if you're playing the In the Lab expansion, you CANNOT cure using the old method (and the Field Operative role is not used). I actually really like this because while cubes are more in demand, I worry less about having to discard city cards. 3) I can't yet review on the team games as I've only played this with 3 players so far, but it's pretty neat that there are so many variations. 4) There's even a variation on the game where you can play single player! I've only tried this out a couple of times, but it works similarly to the regular game, only you play with the "assistance" of the CDC. Works with both In the Lab or traditional play. 5) The new boxes/inserts for the latest editions are capable of carrying ALL the components for the base game and the two expansions, with admittedly some lifting to the cover (there are two boards now after all -- the base game board plus the new lab board), but still, it's nice that I can carry it with just one box. 6) Z-man is offering FREE additional scenarios/challenges for Pandemic. This isn't specific to the On the Lab expansion, but I only just learned of it so I'm including it here. There are two so far, "Isolation" and "Government Shutdown," available on Z-man's site. "Isolation" is for 4 players, while "Government Shutdown" is for 2-5 players. IMHO it's cool that they're providing extra value so we can change things up from time to time. 7) Tom Lehmann, the co-creator of On the Brink and In the Lab, seems to frequently check the Pandemic boards on Boardgamegeek. It's great because if you ever have questions about specific rules, for example, he and others on the board will provide clarification (I've had personal experience with this). So with this game, I don't feel like I'm just some anonymous person who bought a game from some faceless corporation, given some instructions and a "good luck with that." Don't get me wrong, the rules are for the most part very clearly laid out, so you're not going to be running there with a bunch of questions. But sometimes when you're just not sure about something, the fact that you can get answers from one of the guys who actually designed the game is awesome. I did not have any issues with my vials as another reviewer did, so hopefully they've fixed whatever that problem was. I did buy my second edition of Pandemic and On the Brink early, so that I had the problem with the misprinted board (missing the connection path between Sao Paulo and Lagos) and the edge-to-edge printing of the cards (that lets you "see" what cards are coming up), but at this point I believe all the latest editions have fixed those issues, and with In the Lab itself I didn't have any problems.

If you're buying this expansion, you're getting it for the lab expansion. The other two variants included (solo and competitive team) could and should be considered bonus content to the real purpose. For that reason, I'm rating this expansion on how the lab plays. And it plays really, really well! As many have said before, discovering cures in the lab is SO much more thematic than merely collecting five cards. The biggest benefit is that players now really feel like they are dealing with the diseases instead of coordinating travel plans to meet in cities to exchange cards. Players can spread out a little more freely now, instead of always lingering in packs so that one person can get all five cards. And, best, multiple players can be part of finding the cure (characterizing the disease, then testing the cure, then the three-card cure itself). Processing the diseases may seem like a complication... and let's be fair, it is... but all it takes is one play-through before people will get it. It's not nearly as complex as it looks, even if it does add a whole new board. My play group has played Pandemic many times before. We read through the rules once and started playing. Within a few turns, we had the basics down. Did we miss a few little, rules? Yeah. That's to be expected learning any new game or expansion (namely, take your free lab action when you build a research station!). The materials are of good quality, as to be expected. Not every role is a winner, but they all do have their uses. That being said... the Pilot can be crazy good moving people around the world in the blink of an eye every turn! This is an expansion worth getting. After three games (losing the first two, winning at the last possible second on the third), we all agreed that this is how we'll play the game from now on. BUT, nice thing about this expansion, if you ever want to go back to the original rules for curing diseases, that's easy. Just don't pull out the lab board.

Pandemic is my favorite board game. In The Lab, when used with Pandemic's other expansion 'On The Brink', adds new roles, events, epidemic scenarios (virulent strain), new mutation strain game play (with additional purple cubes), team play, official solitaire (more clever than just playing two roles), replacement upgraded cure indicator markers and a separate board with a whole new system of how to cure a disease -- thus the title, "In The Lab". For me, a primarily solitaire player, I really appreciate the solitaire rules, as after twenty or so plays this way, it feels a lot more like a dedicated solitaire game and a lot less like playing both sides of the table. I've heard a lot of people posh posh this addition, saying it's already a solitaire game -- but it shows they don't play this solitaire a lot -- as game play is changed a great deal when working with the CDC. The added cards for additional event, roles, mutation and virulent strain options are all very fun. The added pieces are really nice and will come in handy even when playing the base game. The added board and new way to cure diseases feels a lot more thematic and adds a team mechanic to curing disease (even when playing solo with the CDC). If you'd like to know more about this aspect, I would recommend watching youtube videos, as there are several that describe the basics to the the 'In The Lab' board. To me this is a must have for frequent players and solitaire gamers. You will need the base game (Second Edition) and 'On The Brink' (Second Edition) in addition to this to play.

Of all the expansions, we like the In the Lab play best. It adds far more realism and allows for a more cooperative, players-involved game. Pandemic can sometimes become a one-person-dominates coop but this expansion mostly eliminates that possibility, and forces cooperation without forcing group think; very realistic. We play with this mode incorporated all the time, and it does seem to reduce the impact of luck of the draw when dealing role cards, as it makes weak roles more capable and reduces the lick associated with getting good pairs of roles. Admittedly challenging, yet we often do allow the basic game "cures" as well as this feature's, as that will allow you to win once in a while, and adds realism. There are several varied game variants/expansions in this Expansion. The other play variants included in this box are good, and I feel equal to or better than some in the other expansions. Yes, this several-things-in-box expansion does also include a few cards to expand on other expansion sets but these 3 cards are not used for In the Lab play, and certainly not a reason to avoid buying this one awaiting purchasing the other expansions. If starting over I would get this expansion first and simultaneously with basic game if possible.

I am new to Pandemic but after watching the reviews I had to try it out and once I did I was hooked and had to get any and all expansions. This expansion adds a few additional play options, more roles & replacement roles and a new way to cure diseases. The new play options allow for team play with different team goals and achievements. I can't rate these as I just play this with another player. There are 4 new roles and some supplement the new way to cure diseases with bonus lab actions. The 2 replacement roles now have a new special ability of lab actions which again supplement the new way to cure diseases. Next is the main purpose of this expansion, the lab board and sequence cards. This introduces a new way to cure diseases by maneuvering and manipulating the disease cubes within the lab (the lab board) instead of using just 5 cards of the same color to discard at a research station. I won't get into the details of how this works as the instructions span over 2 to 3 pages but just search for Pandemic In the Lab rules and you can review for yourself or just search YouTube and you can see the Gen Con review video. I do enjoy curing diseases this way as it adds more of a thematic approach and makes it more engaging while playing vs. just discarding 5 cards. My experience playing this with only 2 players may contribute more to this as we find it difficult to cure diseases the original way since the hand limit is 7 and either of us can only go for one disease at a time and usually when we lose it's because we ran out of cards. Also when you play using the lab board, you only cure diseases this way, you don't have the option to use this or play 5 cards, I confirmed this with a designer. Lastly, the components. First the good, the cards are of the same quality and there are 51 of them, new wood player pieces and additional achievement cardboard chits, along with some team colored research stations. You also get an additional 12 purple disease cubes to add to the other 12 cubes from the In the Brink expansion. Now for the one and only negative I had with this game (the reason for 4 stars), the new disease vials. These are used to replace the existing smaller wooden disease markers as well as they are used on the lab board to represent each disease you are working on a cure for. I was very excited to see these on some Gen Con review videos but once I got this, I wasn't so excited. My first game came with some of the lids off of the vials (glue didn't hold) but they are just a solid plastic. There were also some that were scratched on the side and on the bottom side the "Eradicated" symbol was scratched and faded. The ones that did have the lids still glued were very uneven and lopsided when flipping them over to show the eradicated side. This might not matter to some of you but I was just disappointed of this quality as previous games and expansions have always had no issues with quality components. I am not the only one that received vials in this condition as others on BGG site also mention this. So rather than just re-glueing, I returned this as the game box was also crushed when I received this so in hopes that maybe that's why these vials were like this, I got another one sent but unfortunately it was the same outcome, everything else was fine, the box was not crushed but the disease vials again had some where the glue didn't hold and the tops were completely off along with the same issue of being lopsided when setting them upside down on their eradicated symbol side. This time I just added some super glue and made my peace with it. Overall the one negative should not outweigh the other positives for this expansion, and it's probably just my OCD nature that gets in the way but I just wanted to put this out there so in case this happens when you get your copy you know that you weren't the only one and this appears to be a common problem. Happy Gaming!!!

Our favorite of the Pandemic Board Game Expansions.

My husband and I love Pandemic (especially the fact that it's cooperative between players but still challenging to win.) The In the Lab expansion just adds to the fun. I don't find that it makes the base game harder or easier, just different. Instead of one player needing 5 cards of the same color to cure a disease, different players can contribute cards to the cure without (much) need to meet up in a specific city in order to pass cards between hands, freeing up players to move to trouble spots for disease control. This makes the expansion a little easier. However, disease cubes must now be harvested from the board, be processed through the lab, samples characterized, sequenced and tested all before a cure can be discovered. These all require player actions and ties up disease cubes from the supply. Also, only two cures can be "worked on" at a time. All of which makes the game a little harder. It washes out in the end so that this expansion just changes the strategy enough to make the game interesting all over again. To really add to the options and complexity, I recommend getting the On the Brink expansion as well. The bonus? The base game with both expansions fits into one expansion box (clever insert design, there) so you don't have to tote around multiple boxes if you want to play the expansions.

EDIT: After playing this game I highly suggest having a rule of no "backseat" players. It is inevitable the more experienced players will basically take over command of the game. It is essential to enforce rules that each player make their turn decisions themselves I have never played a co-op board game before. I played this at a friend's house and had to instantly buy this afterwards. It is a very unique concept and is a blast to play. You must work together and really understand the rules before you start playing. It is somewhat difficult for new players to just step into the game as there are a large amount of rules that you have to follow. The only big con is how the gameplay can be a bit one-sided towards experienced players. Since all players can communicate during turns sometimes it ends up being a single person making the decision for every turn which makes it not much fun for inexperienced players.

Now THAT is a neat mechanic. Makes things 10x more interesting now. And they were interesting as it is. I still cant decide if it makes it harder or not. But either way it seems to add to the game in a brilliant way. Its essentially the rule for the old Virologist (i think) role in the old pandemic where you collect cubes and then can use them alongside cards to find a cure. Except in this the cubes go through a simulated scientific process where the cubes you collect can be altered in one way or another (depending on what you do with them on the lab board). This adds a whole new layer. Some will think it complicates the game too much. And yeah, i can see that. Some people will find the lab board is more a nuisance than a nice addition. But... Get this anyway, it adds a ton of new cards including a few new roles and revised roles. It adds a few more cubes to the mutation (purple) disease. And the box is made to accomodate all the petri dishes perfectly making for a very neat box when it has all been put away. Plus more that i am sure i must be forgetting. So even if you never use the lab mechanic you will have all the other things to add to your game. And at least you will get a chance to try the lab mechanic assuming you have not done so yet. For solo players like myself the lab mechanic works very well in that too. In fact... Correct me if i am wrong but i think it is this expansion which provides some new solo rules.

Es una ampliación imprescindible, esta y la IN TO THE LAB lanzan el juego básico a otra dimensión. Muy recomendables.

Siiiiii. Vamos a complicar el juego que ya de por sí nos sodomisa sin esta expansión. Muy muy muy buena expansión. El trabajo estratégico es ahora mucho más complejo y más te vale llevarte bien con tus compañeros de juego, por que si no... Digamos que aún es divertido cuando pierdes y creeme perderás muchas veces.

This is an expansion game that requires the base game Pandemic. It also doesn't hurt to have Pandemic: On the Brink expansion game. In the Lab is the second expansion game in the Pandemic series. On the Brink is the third expansion game. The main expansion is the Lab. The lab changes the win condition completely. Instead of trying to have five cards in your hand of the same suit, this board is the new cure. You'll have cards that you can cycle through that show you different DNA sequences. You'll need to get cubes on every circle that match the color. To cure a disease, you will need to sequence the disease, process samples into the sequence, characterize the disease, test the cure, then finally discard three cards. It sounds like a lot, but it allows players to work on the cure without having everything in their hand good to go like in the normal game. There are two new variations of game play. The solo game adds the CDC card, which gives the solo player some additional options. It's basically a dummy character that can interact with the lab (if in play), cure diseases, draw cards, or move you around. To counter this, the timer of the game is slightly accelerated. The second variation is a team game that lets either 4 or 6 players work on two separate teams. Each team gets six actions that can be split in any way during the round. Teams are competing to cure the first disease, eradicate and cure all diseases, and do the normal things you would normally do. The only difference is that now it's for victory points. I would recommend mastering the base game before including the Lab. The Lab adds a new way of discovering cures and adds a unique spin/twist on the suspense to find a cure. You do have to manage the Lab while playing the base game which is why I recommend getting comfortable with the base game. Also - get comfortable playing On the Brink before adding the Lab. The Lab is a great addition to the master player. Both In the Lab and On the Brink come with a tray that holds all the pieces for the base game and two expansion games. I've taken a picture of just the Lab tray and the tray with all games combined. It's a shame that the makers didn't make either In the Lab or On the Brink's box higher to accommodate the Lab game board. Both game boards don't neatly fit into one box.

Good game, seems like missing trays from USA version.