Epidemic Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Preparation
• Gameplay
  • Price to play actions
• Actions
  • 1. Research / Mutation
  • 2. Treatment
  • 3. Infection
  • How Disease Spreads
  • 4. Event
• Mutation
• Game end
• Variants
  • Death Waits For No Man
  • Unfamiliar Behaviour
  • There Is No Time

Contents

• 5 action cards
• 3 world cards
• 1 progress card
• 1 mutation token
• 1 research token
• 1 specialists figure
• 15 disease tokens
• Rules

Preparation

Make a game board from world and progress cards. Then shuffle the action cards and put them in a row under the world map. Lastly, place the disease tokens equal to map bonus above the card with globe +1 to a map card shown by the globe, form highest number to lowest.

Adam has row of action cards as on image below. First card with globe has +0 bonus above, hence he will put only 1 disease token on 2nd world card; that's the minimum. Second card with a globe lies under +1 bonus, so Adam puts 1+1 token on the America card. Third world card gets 3 tokens.

Place a research token on the progress card's skull, a mutation token on the pills pictogram and a specialists figure on the lowest numbered space of least infected map card.

Last player to visit a hospital starts the game.

Diagram key: A - action cards and positions; B - globe (matches map card); C - map bonus for card below; D - disease tokens; E - specialists figure; F - mutations spaces; G - research / mutation token; H - action card order.

Gameplay

On your turn, choose any action card [1] and apply its effect. Then put it to the leftmost position, sliding remaining cards to the right as needed to fill in the gap [2].

Price to play actions

The action card in position 5 is free to play. For any other action place one disease token from the supply on each card (from right to left) that you wish to skip this turn [1] and continue as usual [2, 3].

When activating a card in position 1, you don't move it. You must still add a disease token to each card in positions 5 to 2 that are skipped.

If there are no tokens in the disease token supply, only the card in position 5 (rightmost position) can be played.

Adam wants to play a Research card. He has to take 2 disease tokens from the supply and place them one by one on Mutation and Event cards to reach the Research card in position 3. Once the Research card is played, he moves it to the left and slides the remaining cards right, filling the gap.

If you want to play the card loaded with tokens [1], first you must place those tokens on the map (see: How Disease Spreads), then you can apply the effect of the action card.

After resolving the action and updating the card positions your turn ends and player on your left takes their turn.

Actions

Action cards use two terms that are described below:

• Current position - A position of chosen action card (goes from 1 to 5, counting left to right).
• Current bonus - A bonus located on the bottom of the map card above chosen action card.

1. Research / Mutation

When either of these cards are selected, advance the matching token on the track by the number of step equal to the current bonus.

• Mutation 1: If the Mutation card is played from the rightmost position, shuffle all the action cards (see Event).
• Mutation 2: Place additional 1 disease token on the map.

Adam plays the Research card. Current bonus is +1, so he moves the research token by 1 space towards pills pictogram. The cure is within reach!

2. Treatment

Move the specialists figure by spaces equal to current bonus +1. If the figure lands on a space occupied by disease token, remove that token. When the figure is standing on a disease token, this token is not removed when the figure goes away.

Adam wants to play the Treatment card. First he places 4 disease tokens on cards he wants to skip, then moves a figure by 1 space (1 + 0 for bonus). He moves the figure to a location with a disease token, removing it from the map.

3. Infection

Add 2 disease tokens on the world map.

• Mutation 1: Place additional disease tokens equal to the current bonus on the world map.
• Mutation 2: You cannot skip this card by putting a disease token on it anymore.

How Disease Spreads

If you have to place a disease token on the map, use following rules to find the correct location:

1. Find an uninfected space with most infected adjacent locations.
2. In case of draw choose the space with the highest number.

Adam found next space to spread the disease - the Specialists figure is already there! He puts the disease token under the figure and wonders, how will he cure it.

4. Event

You may choose one single action from the list from 1 up to the current position.

1. Shuffle cards to the left or right of the Event card. If there are any disease tokens on the cards to be shuffled, move them off the cards, shuffle and deal the cards, and return the tokens to their original positions.
2. Advance the Research token by 1 step.
3. Remove disease tokens equal to current bonus from under the specialists figure and any adjacent locations.
4. Remove half of the disease tokens from any single action card (round down).
5. Remove all disease tokens from a map card with specialists figure on it.

Adam wants to play an event card in position 4. He can play any one event on the list from 1 to 4. He chooses to play the event 3; he removes 2 disease tokens from the map (matching the Event's current position's bonus) - one form under the specialists figure and one from a neighbour space.

Mutation

Once the mutation token advances to space with mutation, after playing the red cards, apply the effect written near such pictogram.

When the mutation token reaches / passes any mutation space, apply that mutation's effect immediately.

Game end

The game continues until one of the following conditions is met:

1. If every map location has a disease token, you lose. You still lose in a moment if all map locations have disease tokens as a result of unloading the action card.
2. If you have to place a disease token on the map but there are none available in the supply, you lose.
3. If the Mutation token reaches the end of the track (marked by a skull pictogram), you lose.
4. If the Research token reaches the end of the track (marked by a Pills icon), the cure for disease is found and you have saved the world.

Variants

Death Waits For No Man

At the end of your turn you may take one disease token from the supply. Later, if you want to give advice to another player, place the token on the action card with the least disease tokens or furthest right in case of a tie. Only then you and only you can freely discuss next steps with active player.

Unfamiliar Behaviour

Try various combinations of the front and back of the map and progress cards that have different bonus values.

There Is No Time

In preparation phase, after shuffling the cards, randomly discard a single card. That card will not be used during this game. Card positions are considered to be 2 to 5 in this variant.