# Pandemic: Rising Tide

Pandemic: Rising Tide 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 3. It is rated 9.4 out of 10 by 7 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $39.33 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–5 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 45 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 8+
- **Complexity:** 2.5 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2017
- **Categories:** Environmental
- **Mechanics:** Solo / Solitaire Game, Cooperative Game, Area Movement, Action Points, Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, Set Collection, Trading
- **Ludoya rating:** 9.4 out of 10, from 7 reviews
- **Owned by:** 18 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 36
- **Unique players:** 43

**Designers:** Matt Leacock, Jeroen Doumen

**Artists:** Matt Leacock, Jeroen Doumen, Atha Kanaani

**Publishers:** Z-Man Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Games Empire | 63.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/pandemic-rising-tide |

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## Rules questions

### Can I build a dike in a region that has water cubes?

No — the Build Dike action requires your current region to have no water cubes (some Events or effects may let you ignore this restriction). (see page 5)

### How do pumping stations remove water — can they reach any region?

In the Operate Pumps step each pumping station removes 1 cube from a low‑elevation region you choose that it can trace a path to through regions that each contain a water cube; paths cannot cross seas or dikes. Operate multiple stations in any order. (see page 6)

### What happens when I draw a Storm card?

Immediately: the Sea Level marker moves up, draw the bottom Dike Failure card and degrade that region three times (removing dikes first, then adding cubes and causing floods if necessary), then shuffle the Dike Failure discard pile onto the deck; return Storm cards to the box. (see page 7)

### If the Player deck runs out while drawing, do we reshuffle the discard pile?

No — if there are fewer than 2 cards left when you are about to draw, the game ends and you lose; do not reshuffle the discard pile. (see page 7)

### How do floods and chain reaction floods work?

When a flood occurs place 1 water cube in each adjacent low‑elevation region not protected by a dike; if a target region already has 3 cubes it triggers a chain reaction flood that spreads similarly (but you don’t add more than one cube to the same region during that resolution). Seas cannot be flooded. (see page 8)

### Can water flow across dikes or into high‑elevation regions during the Water Flows step?

No — water never flows across a dike or into high‑elevation regions; during Water Flows resolve seas (if at 4), then regions with 3 cubes, then regions with 2 cubes in that order. (see page 8)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pandemic-rising-tide)
- [Pandemic: Rising Tide in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/pandemic-rising-tide)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/234671)

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