Pandemic Legacy was one of the very first games ever to be designed with a limited number of plays. As you may well know, the idea of Pandemic Legacy is that you work through a ‘campaign’ of games. The actions in one game will completely change what happens in the next game session. Throughout the game, you will be destroying components, ruining the board, etc. This often leads people to wonder whether the game can be replayed.
So, is Pandemic Legacy replayable? Well no, not if you are playing it properly. You will be losing components and defacing that board. When you are done, the game is done. That being said, there are ways that you can help to preserve it e.g. not destroying components. However, it will never be the same again. After all, you will know what the game will throw at you each time you replay it.
Let’s go into a little bit more depth. That way, you will get a rough idea of how long you should expect Pandemic Legacy to last as a game.
How Many Times Can You Play Pandemic Legacy?
It depends on what you consider a ‘play’ of Pandemic Legacy.
If you see the entire campaign as a single playthrough of the game, then you can only play it a maximum of once. The board will then become unplayable.
If you are looking at the game as a series of individual play sessions, then you will get between 12 and 24 plays out of it. This is because the game is meant to run for 12 different ‘months’, and you get two attempts at each month. If you fail a month, then you will automatically move onto the next month.
Did you know Pandemic Legacy has more than one Season? Check out all the Pandemic games by clicking here to view them on Amazon.
How Long Does it Take to Play Pandemic Legacy?
Pandemic Legacy is designed to be played over 12-24 game sessions, depending on how good you are at each month.
Each individual session of Pandemic Legacy should take around an hour. Although, if you are playing with people that are a bit newer to the game, or you are huge fans of the socialness of co-op games like this, then the game could take a little bit longer.
The average length of a Pandemic Legacy campaign should be between 12 and 24 hours, which is a rather substantial amount of time from a legacy board game like this!
What to Do With Pandemic Legacy After Playing?
There are a few options that you have available to you when it comes to what to do with Pandemic Legacy when you are finished playing with it.
Reset It
There are reset kits available that will allow you to reset Pandemic Legacy back to the state that you originally received it in. These are not official reset kits. They will rely on you not destroying any components in the course of the game. Some people feel that this detracts a little away from the fun of playing Pandemic Legacy.
The thing with resetting Pandemic Legacy to play again is that you know exactly what is going to happen with each passing month in the game. This means that the game doesn’t really work well again. When you know what to expect the next session, you are going to be able to change up your plan of attack. For us, a lot of the excitement when playing Pandemic Legacy comes from never knowing what to expect.
We suppose that you could hand off the game to a friend or family member and let them play through it.
Remove the Stickers and Use as Normal Pandemic
The second option is to remove all the stickers that you have placed on the board. As long as you did not destroy the components, you will be able to enjoy playing the game as normal Pandemic!
Keep it as a Memory
This is one of our favorite things to do with legacy games like this. We see Pandemic Legacy as a temporary board game. It is not one that has been built to be played repeatedly. it is a game that is meant to form the basis of a few social gatherings. These are social gatherings where you build up memories of the game.
We love to keep games like Pandemic Legacy as a memento. Sort of like a photograph. You will look at that board and the game, and you will have memories of all of the friends that you played it with. Some people even go as far as to frame the board.
Can You Play Pandemic Legacy as Normal Pandemic?
Sort of.
The Pandemic Legacy board is ever so slightly different to the normal Pandemic board. There are a couple of extra connections between cities. However, all of the components are there to play standard Pandemic on the legacy board…up until a point.
You will only be able to play normal Pandemic on the Pandemic Legacy board until you start the actual Legacy campaign. At that point, there is no turning back. You will be making irreversible changes to the components. Some of them will be destroyed. You will be sticking stickers all over the board. Eventually, you will no longer be able to play any game of Pandemic on the board.
So, if you enjoy the normal game of Pandemic, then steer clear of starting Pandemic Legacy. If you do that, you can use the board an infinite number of times.
Is Pandemic Legacy Better Than Pandemic?
It depends on who you ask.
Pandemic Legacy does take the original Pandemic game to a whole new level, and it throws in a few twists and turns that require a lot more thought than traditional Pandemic. If you have become bored with the normal version of Pandemic, then Pandemic Legacy is going to be a whole lot better.
There are a couple of reasons why other people find the normal version of Pandemic better, though.
For starters, normal Pandemic is a lot easier to play. it is the sort of game that you can jump into and roughly know what is going on. Since it is a co-op game, you can ask for advice from your friends. This means that it is going to be great for those that want a more casual game session.
Pandemic Legacy is difficult to play. It requires knowledge of Pandemic. It also requires that you stick with the same players throughout the game. This can make it a bit harder to play if you cannot get a regular game session together.
Honestly? Both of them are great games. Play the normal version of Pandemic. If you and your game session partners love it, then move onto the Legacy version.
Final Thoughts
Pandemic Legacy is a game that isn’t designed to be replayed. While there are methods that you can use to replay the game, it will never be quite the same experience.
If you love the whole Legacy nature of the game, then we suggest that you purchase Season 2 of Pandemic Legacy. This means more of that campaign action, and more of the thrills!
Of course, up until you start playing Pandemic Legacy properly, you can use that board as much as you want for a normal game of Pandemic.