Pandemic: The Cure FAQ
137 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Components and Setup
- What do the coloured bars on the Region tiles show?
- Why does the Generalist have seven grey player dice when other roles have five?
- How many infection dice of one colour can a region hold at setup?
- During setup, are crosses that show on the infection dice re-rolled?
- What happens if 10 or more infection dice of one colour come up during setup?
- Does the Epidemic space on the Infection Track trigger an Epidemic when the syringe starts on the II setting?
- Can Pandemic: The Cure be played solo?
Role Powers
- Can the Contingency Planner spend more than one cross in the same turn?
- Does the Contingency Planner's power use a cross on his own player die or one on the CDC infection dice?
- Does the Generalist ignore only the first Biohazard rolled in a turn, or every Biohazard?
- Can a biohazard the Generalist ignores be re-rolled?
- If the Generalist ignores the first biohazard, does a biohazard re-rolled with Containment Attempt count as that first one?
- Can the Containment Specialist's three-arrow side move every die of a cured colour from the Treatment Center?
- Can the Researcher give samples for free, and does that skip the usual sample die?
- Can the Researcher give samples of more than one colour in a single turn?
- Does the Containment Specialist's power trigger when he is moved by Airlift rather than by the Dispatcher?
- If the Containment Specialist is flown into a region on another player's turn, does he still use his power?
- Must the three dice a Containment Specialist removes from the Treatment Center share a colour?
- Does the Containment Specialist's power remove one die of each colour with two or more dice in the region?
The Dispatcher
- Can the Dispatcher move other players' pawns more than once on his turn?
- Can the Dispatcher send the Medic or Containment Specialist onward after the Infect Regions step in the same turn?
- Can the Dispatcher send each pawn in his region to a different region?
- Does a pawn moved by the Dispatcher trigger its own role ability on arrival, and does the move need a plane or boat die?
- Can the Dispatcher use his move power after giving samples, and at any point in his turn?
- Can the Dispatcher keep more than one Airlift (helicopter) die on his Role card?
- Can the Dispatcher keep an unused helicopter die past the action step and use it on a later turn?
- Can the Dispatcher use a stored helicopter die during another player's turn?
- Can the Dispatcher use his helicopter to move himself?
- After the Dispatcher uses a stored helicopter die, does it go back to be rolled again?
- Can the Dispatcher save a rolled helicopter if he has already used four actions?
- Can the Dispatcher use a helicopter right after rolling it, or before rolling his player dice?
- Can the Dispatcher's move-pawns ability be used after he has rolled infection dice?
1. Roll Player Dice and Do Actions
- When you treat a disease that already has a cure, do you move all its dice?
- Once a disease is cured, do treated infection dice still go to the Treatment Center?
- Do treated infection dice go on the CDC card?
- Can you roll your player dice one at a time and re-roll each until you like it before spending any?
- Must you roll all your player dice before taking any action?
- When re-rolling, can you re-roll one die at a time, then re-roll or spend either die again?
- Can you set aside unused action dice and re-roll them later, one at a time or in combinations?
- Can you finish your turn without using all of your action dice?
- Can you collect samples from dice in regions, or only from the Treatment Center?
- Does each sample need its own Collect Sample die, or can one die cover several infection dice?
- Can a player hold samples of more than one disease colour on their Role card at once?
- Can you collect more than three samples of one disease colour before trying a cure?
- Can the treatments on one multi-syringe die be split across other actions or dice?
- Can you use only one side of a '+' die result, such as Treat + Fly?
- Must a biohazard result be resolved right away, before the other action dice?
- Can I play an event after rolling a biohazard to avoid advancing the infection rate?
Epidemics and Outbreaks
- Which dice are rolled when an Epidemic occurs?
- Does an Epidemic replace the end-of-turn Infect Regions step?
- Is there a limit on dice in the Treatment Center or on a Role card?
- If regions 1 and 6 both outbreak in the same colour in one step, how many outbreaks happen?
- Is an outbreak counted per region per colour, so two colours outbreaking in one region count as two outbreaks?
- How many dice of one colour in a region cause an outbreak?
- If several extra dice of one colour land in a region in one step, how many outbreaks happen?
- Can a region outbreak more than once in the same turn?
- Can more than one outbreak happen in a single Epidemic or infection step?
- Can an outbreak chain reaction loop forever with no way to stop it?
- Do dice of a cured colour still infect, outbreak and advance the outbreak syringe?
- What happens to the extra infection die when a region outbreaks?
- When are outbreaks checked during Infect Regions: after each die, or after all infection dice are placed?
- Can you play an event after drawing infection dice but before rolling them?
2. Give Samples
- Can you give samples of more than one disease colour to other players in the same turn?
- Can the Researcher give samples to a player in her own region?
- Can the Researcher or Epidemiologist pass samples during another player's turn?
- Can you give samples to another player and then try to find a cure in the same turn?
- When you give samples to another player, do you get your player die back?
3. Try to Find a Cure
- When a disease is cured, which dice go back to the bag?
- Is a total of exactly 13 enough to find a cure?
- Why is it harder to find a cure for some colours than others when every die averages 3?
- Do the dice locked up as a sample come free after a failed cure attempt?
- If a Scientist is moved into a region after a failed cure roll, can her +2 bonus apply to that roll?
- If a Scientist is moved into a region and then a die is re-rolled there, does her bonus apply to the re-roll?
- Does the Scientist's +2 apply to any player who rolls for a cure in the Scientist's region?
- When rolling to find a cure, what happens to dice showing crosses?
- Can a player try to find a cure for two different diseases in the same turn?
- Can you collect samples and try to find a cure in the same turn?
- Can you give samples right after a failed attempt to find a cure in the same turn?
Events
- Can you play an Event card after rolling a Biohazard but before its effect resolves?
- Can Event cards be played at any time except between rolling infection dice and resolving them?
- Can you play an Event between the separate treats of one double or triple treat die?
- Does Mobile Hospital remove a die each time you enter a region, including when you re-enter a region you left this turn?
- Does Mobile Hospital apply to other players' pawns that move on your turn?
- Can you buy an Event card and keep it to use later?
- What happens to used Event cards when the Event deck runs out?
- What does the Rumors event do?
- Can Good Planning set the faces of dice after you have rolled them?
- Can Good Planning be split, with some dice set before the roll and others after?
- Does the cost of Good Planning change with the number of dice you set?
- Can Good Planning be used to set the dice when trying to find a cure?
- Can Sample Delivery send samples to more than one receiving player in one play?
- Does Remote Treatment let you move one infection die from each of two regions?
- Does One Quiet Night skip the Infect Regions phase for the whole round or only the current turn?
- Can One Quiet Night be played after an epidemic in the same turn?
- Does Airlift move one pawn to any region?
- When an event says 'this turn', does it apply only to the active player's turn?
Losing the Game
Fine Points
Pandemic: The Cure – Experimental MedsExpansion
- Can an Operations Expert place Operations Center dice in several regions in one turn, and can other players then move to those regions for free?
- Can the Containment Specialist's power trigger again when he re-enters a region he already entered this turn?
- Does the Epidemiologist's sample-taking power have a once-per-turn limit in Experimental Meds?
- Can the Field Operative's Collect Sample lock up the player's action die?
- Can the Field Operative receive samples?
- Does Sample Delivery let the Field Operative give samples?
- Can the Troubleshooter spend Response Team dice on another player's turn, and can more than one be spent in a turn?
- Can the Troubleshooter look at drawn infection dice before spending stored Emergency Response Team dice, and can several be spent to skip the infection step?
- Does a Troubleshooter's Response Team stop a Rate Effect hot zone die from becoming an Evacuation?
- Can the Celebrity Activist use one flight result to enter a Transportation Lockdown region and spend her other flight result to meet the lockdown requirement?
- Can a re-rolled Isolation Ward hot zone die's result be used to reroll another biohazard from the same roll?
- When the Celebrity Activist double-flights through several regions, do the Containment Specialist's power and Mobile Hospital trigger once per region entered?
- Can the Epidemiologist take samples in the middle region during the Celebrity Activist's double flight?
- If Emergency Response moves the Containment Specialist, does his power trigger before the event removes its two dice?
- With the Infection Zone Travel Ban event, is it the die that would cause an outbreak that goes back to the bag, or the first die that only fills a region?
- Can you pay for an Event card and skip its effect just to cycle a new card out?
- Can the Celebrity Activist's dollar dice be used during other players' infection steps and on dice drawn during an Epidemic?
- When curing a purple mutation die, is the Hazardous Sample +1 added before or after the x2 multiplier?
- Do the purple mutation effects (-1 and x2) still apply once the purple disease has been cured?
- Can the Field Director treat an adjacent region using a die face that shows Syringe on a slash, such as Boat/Syringe?
- Can the Troubleshooter use Fly and Treat to only Treat, without moving?
- If a region with Influx of Patients outbreaks several times in one turn, does the effect trigger for each outbreak?
- How does Commercial Travel Ban change the infection rate, and does it affect outbreaks during other players' turns?
- Can the Quarantine Specialist move into a Transportation Lockdown region using her any-region ability?
- Can the Troubleshooter use her return-infection-dice ability during other players' turns?
- Can you spend a Hazardous Sample hot zone die to get an Evacuation result during the Do Actions step?
- Can you spend + dice to re-roll Hot Zone dice on turns other than the one they were spent?
- Does Quarantine Specialist block an infection die that is moved into her region by an Evacuation result?
- If you use Evacuation to move the Evacuation die itself, where is it re-rolled?
- Must a rolled Biohazard be applied immediately, or can you spend Hot Zone dice first to try to re-roll it?
- Can the new events from Experimental Meds be added to the base game?
- Which infection die is the Relocation Orders card's 'Hot Zone' dice?
- Do Hot Zone dice outbreak like other dice?
- How does the Questionable Methods event work with the cure roll and the Treatment Center?
- Does Emergency Conference let you move each other pawn to the region of one chosen pawn?
- Can the Field Director move pawns to his region more than once in a turn?