After years of humans trying to defeat diseases, now you step into the shoes of a disease. In Pandemic: Contagion, you compete with other diseases (played by fellow players) to wipe out humanity. There's no cure, so the one who eliminates all human civilization emerges as the deadliest disease. This game includes contagion cards with different - colored borders, city cards, event/WHO cards, player disease cards, and disease cubes. Each turn, you can choose two out of three actions, and you can repeat an action. The actions are: draw contagion cards based on your incubation rate, advance a mutation, or spread disease according to your transmission rate. When the disease count in a city equals its population, the city is destroyed. The player who places the final disease gets a special action. Scores are based on the amount of disease you've spread. Your disease card has three mutations - Incubation, Transmission, and Resistance. You can advance a mutation by discarding the required cards. Event cards, drawn at the start of each round, affect all players. WHO cards are always bad, but your resistance can reduce the penalty. Mid - game scoring happens when specific skulls come out, and new cities are introduced with a city icon. The game ends when the event/WHO deck runs out or only two city cards remain, followed by a final scoring round. It's part of the Pandemic series.

Let's get you started with Pandemic: Contagion. First, understand your goal - you're a disease trying to wipe out humanity by competing with other diseases played by your friends. At the start of the game, you'll have your disease card which shows your three mutations: Incubation, Transmission, and Resistance. Each turn, pick two actions from the three available. If you choose to draw contagion cards, make sure you know your current incubation rate. When you want to advance a mutation, just discard the right number of cards as required. And when spreading disease, check your transmission rate. Be careful when cities are close to being wiped out. If you place the final disease in a city, you get a special action. Event cards are drawn at the start of each round. They can either help you or cause problems, so keep an eye on them. WHO cards are always bad news, but if you've planned your resistance well, you can reduce the penalty. Remember, mid - game scoring happens when the second, fourth, and sixth skulls come out, and new cities are added when a city icon appears. Once the event/WHO deck runs out or only two city cards are left, it's time for the final scoring round. Have fun playing and may the deadliest disease win!