- BGG rating
- 7.4
Plague Inc: 5th Player Expansion
- 5 players
- 2016
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,526
- BGG rating
- 7.3
Plague Inc.: The Board Game
2017
Rules assistance for Plague Inc.: The Board Game
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 60 min
- 14+
- Complexity 2.1/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Plague Inc.: The Board Game
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Plague Inc.: The Board Game is a board game released in 2017 for 1–4 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by James Vaughan and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Take That, and Area Majority / Influence.
Expansions
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About the game
Plague Inc: The Board Game is a strategic game of infection, evolution and extinction for 1-5* people - based on the smash-hit digital game with over 85 million players. Can you infect the world? Each player is a deadly disease and they must battle against each other to spread their plagues, develop new symptoms and ultimately wipe out humanity. Starting with Patient Zero, you spread your infection across the world by placing tokens in cities - earning DNA points and preventing other players from becoming dominant. Players choose which countries are placed on the board but you must be both climate resistant and connected to a country before you can infect it. Eventually, as countries become fully infected - you try to kill them using the Death Dice. Each player’s unique pathogen can be upgraded by evolving trait cards onto an evolution slide (with DNA points). At the start, your disease is weak and unspecialised, so you will need to add new symptoms to make it stronger. Choose carefully and plan ahead in order to react to the changing world and exploit opportunities created by other player’s actions. A simple nosebleed could accelerate things early on, whilst diarrhea will help you thrive in hot countries. Sneezing can infect new continents by air but Total Organ Failure would allow you wipe out multiple countries each turn. As countries start to fall, use powerful event cards to alter the balance of power. You might try to eradicate a dominant player by bombing their diseased cities, or hold the Olympics to cause huge numbers of infected people to travel to a healthy continent. When the world collapses, who will be the ultimate plague? *5 players with 5th player expansion
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Ndemic Creations
Questions and answers
Plague Inc.: The Board Game supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Plague Inc.: The Board Game is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Plague Inc.: The Board Game for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Plague Inc.: The Board Game has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Plague Inc.: The Board Game belongs to these categories: Video Game Theme and Medical. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Take That, and Area Majority / Influence. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Plague Inc.: The Board Game are: James Vaughan. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Plague Inc.: The Board Game as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.