Game Objective

Pandemic: On the Brink is an expansion that adds new roles, events, and challenges to the base game. Depending on the challenge chosen, players work together to stop deadly diseases or face off against a Bio-Terrorist. The primary goal is to save the world by discovering cures or treating diseases before the world is overwhelmed.

Setup

Follow the base game setup with these specific additions and changes based on the chosen mode:

• Roles and Events: Add the 6 new Role cards to the base game deck (the revised Operations Expert replaces the original). Separate the 5 base game Special Event cards and add them to the 8 new Special Event cards. Shuffle these and add 2 Special Event cards per player to the Player cards before shuffling and dealing.
• 5-Player Game: Deal a Role card and a Reference card to the fifth player. Each player receives a starting hand of 2 Player cards.
• Legendary Difficulty: Use the extra Epidemic card to bring the total to 7. Separate the Player deck into 7 piles and shuffle one Epidemic card into each pile.
• The Virulent Strain Challenge: Replace normal Epidemic cards with Virulent Strain Epidemic cards (4, 5, 6, or 7 depending on difficulty).
• The Mutation Challenge:
  • Place 12 purple cubes near the board.
  • Shuffle 3 Mutation Event cards into the Player Draw Pile before adding Epidemic cards.
  • Place two Mutation cards on top of the Infection Discard Pile.
  • Place the Purple Disease Status tile above the Cures Discovered Area and place the purple Cure Token vial-side up.
• The Bio-Terrorist Challenge:
  • One player is the Bio-Terrorist and receives the Bio-Terrorist Role card, the black pawn, a Location Pad, and a pencil.
  • The Bio-Terrorist starts off-board and is dealt 2 Infection cards.
  • The Bio-Terrorist secretly writes their Starting City on the Location Sheet.
  • Use 2 Event cards per player (counting the Bio-Terrorist).

Game Flow

The game follows the base game structure with the following additions:

• Player Turns: Players perform their actions and draw cards. In the Mutation Challenge, drawing a Mutation Event card during the Drawing Cards phase triggers its specific instructions.
• Infection Phase: In the Mutation Challenge, drawing a Mutation! card requires drawing a city card from the bottom of the Infection Draw Pile to place a purple cube. If a city already has a purple cube, both a purple cube and the indicated color cube are added.
• Bio-Terrorist Turn: In the Bio-Terrorist Challenge, the Bio-Terrorist takes their turn after every player turn (after the infection phase). They do not perform an infection phase.

Actions and How to Play

New Role Abilities

• Archivist: Once per turn, for an action, draw the city card matching the current city from the Player Discard Pile. Hand limit is 8 cards.
• Epidemiologist: Once per turn, for an action, take a non-matching city card from a player in the same city.
• Field Operative: Once per turn, for an action, take 1 cube as a "sample" on the Role card. Can cure a disease at a research station by turning in 3 samples and 3 cards of the same color.
• Generalist: Gets 5 actions per turn.
• Containment Specialist: When entering a city with 2 or more cubes of the same color, remove 1.
• Troubleshooter:
  • Can build a research station in the current city for one action.
  • Once per turn, for an action at a research station, discard any city card to move to any city.
• Operations Expert (Revised): When moving via a Direct Flight, reveal the city card to other players but do not discard it.

Bio-Terrorist Actions

The Bio-Terrorist takes 2 actions plus 1 optional Drive (or Ferry) action per turn.

• Basic Actions (Always Available): Drive/Ferry (move to adjacent city), Draw a Card (from Infection Draw Pile, limit 7), Pass, Direct Flight (discard Infection card to move to that city), and Charter Flight (discard matching current city card to move anywhere).
• Hidden Actions (Only while hidden): Infect Locally (place purple cube in current city) and Infect Remotely (discard Infection card to place purple cube in that city).
• Captured Actions: If captured, the Bio-Terrorist can only Draw a Card, Escape (discard Infection card to move via Direct Flight), or Pass.

Special Events

• Borrowed Time: Cannot be played immediately upon drawing to continue actions.
• Mobile Hospital: Medic removes 1 cube; Containment Specialist removes 1 cube if 2+ are present, then 1 more via the event.
• Rapid Vaccine Deployment: Must take at least one cube from a city for it to be part of a connection (red lines).
• Special Orders: Current player must discard/reveal cards used to move the pawn.

End of Game and Scoring

The Mutation Challenge

• Victory: Discover cures for all 5 diseases OR discover cures for the 4 standard diseases and fully treat the purple disease (0 purple cubes on board).
• Defeat: Normal loss conditions, or if no purple cubes remain in the supply when one is needed.

The Bio-Terrorist Challenge

• Player Victory: Same as Mutation Challenge.
• Bio-Terrorist Victory: The players lose and there is at least 1 purple cube on the board.
• Bio-Terrorist Defeat: Immediately loses if players eradicate the purple disease.
• Mutual Defeat: Everyone loses if players lose and there are no purple cubes on the board, or if they lose after eradicating the purple disease.

The Virulent Strain Challenge

• Victory/Loss: Same as the base game.
• Curing the Virulent Strain: Requires 6 city cards of the color (5 for Scientist, or 4 cards and 3 samples for Field Operative).

Tips for Winning

• Manage the Purple Disease: In the Mutation Challenge, remember that the purple disease can be cured by discarding 5 city cards of any color, provided one card depicts a city currently containing a purple cube.
• Capture the Terrorist: In the Bio-Terrorist Challenge, players in the same city as the Bio-Terrorist can spend an action to capture him, forcing him to discard all cards and limiting his actions to Escape, Draw a Card, or Pass.
• Coordinate Roles: Use the Field Operative to collect samples to lower the card requirement for curing diseases, especially the Virulent Strain.