# Pandemic: On the Brink

Pandemic: On the Brink is a board game for 2–5 players. It plays in 45 minutes and is meant for ages 8 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 4. It is rated 7.9 out of 10 by 43 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $39.99 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–5 (best with 4)
- **Playing time:** 45 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 8+
- **Complexity:** 2.7 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2009
- **Categories:** Expansion for Base-game, Science Fiction, Medical, Environmental
- **Mechanics:** Cooperative Game, Secret Unit Deployment, Point to Point Movement, Simulation, Action Points, Team-Based Game, Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, Set Collection, Tags, Hidden Movement, Trading
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.9 out of 10, from 43 reviews
- **Owned by:** 141 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 77
- **Unique players:** 67

**Designers:** Thomas Lehmann, Matt Leacock

**Artists:** Régis Moulun, Tom Thiel, Hans-Georg Schneider, Josh Cappel, Chris Quilliams

**Publishers:** Ігромаг, Z-Man Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Miniature Market | 39.99 $ | https://www.miniaturemarket.com/zmg71101.html |
| Gamers Guild AZ | 39.99 $ | https://gamersguildaz.com/products/pandemic-on-the-brink-zman-games |
| Spelexperten | 249 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/expansioner/pandemic-on-the-brink-exp-swe.html |
| Fantasiapelit | 23.6 € | https://www.fantasiapelit.com/index.php?main=ai&kat=single&mista=indeksi&etsittava=_209863 |
| World of Board Games | 285 kr | https://www.worldofboardgames.com/pandemic-on-the-brink-exp-sve |
| Spilforsyningen | 279.95 kr | https://spilforsyningen.dk/products/pandemic-on-the-brink-exp-dansk |

## Expansions

- [Pandemic: In the Lab](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-in-the-lab)
- [Pandemic: State of Emergency](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-state-of-emergency)
- [Pandemic: Government Shutdown](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-government-shutdown)
- [Pandemic: Solo Rules](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-solo-rules)

## Rules questions

### How many Event cards from On the Brink do we add and how are Event cards dealt?

Add the 8 new Event cards to the 5 base game Event cards, then add 2 Event cards per player into the Player cards before shuffling and dealing; put any unused Event cards back in the box without looking (page 2).

### When do we determine which disease is the Virulent Strain, and can the purple disease be the Virulent Strain?

You determine the Virulent Strain when the first Virulent Strain Epidemic card is drawn—after performing that card’s Infect step the disease with the most cubes becomes the Virulent Strain (ties are chosen randomly); if you’re also playing the Mutation or Bio‑Terrorist challenge, the purple disease cannot be chosen (page 3).

### If a city already has purple cubes and we draw its Infection card, do we place both purple and the normal colored cube?

Yes—during Infections, if an Infection card is drawn for a city with at least one purple cube, you place both 1 purple cube (if purple is not eradicated) and 1 cube of the card’s color (if that disease is not eradicated), resolving any outbreaks normally (page 4).

### What happens when we capture the Bio‑Terrorist—does he lose his cards and what does the captor do?

If the Bio‑Terrorist pawn is on the board, a player may spend an action to capture him: place the Bio‑Terrorist pawn on your role card and the Bio‑Terrorist discards all cards in hand to the Infection Discard Pile (without effect) (page 5).

### How do purple 'flare‑out' outbreaks work—do they spread differently from normal outbreaks?

Purple outbreaks ‘flare out’: remove 2 purple cubes from the outbreak city (leaving 1) and place 1 purple cube on each connected city (and advance the outbreaks marker); do not add purple cubes to cities that have already had an outbreak while resolving the same action (page 6).

### How does the Bio‑Terrorist win or lose?

The non‑Terrorist players win by curing all five diseases or curing the four standard diseases and leaving no purple cubes; the Bio‑Terrorist wins if the players lose and there is at least one purple cube on the board, and the Bio‑Terrorist loses (is out) if the purple disease is eradicated—everyone loses if the players lose and there are no purple cubes (page 7).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-on-the-brink)
- [Pandemic: On the Brink in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/pandemic-on-the-brink)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40849)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._