Rules
Dr. Wenliang tried to warn us about the danger of a new virus. Unfortunately he passed away from COVID-19 himself before the world realized he was raising alarm for an upcoming pandemic. COVID-19 is now spreading across the globe at a threatening pace. Only good preparation can help your country flatten the curve and prevent a large death toll. In order to counter the crisis you will need sufficient hospital capacity, effective leadership and social distancing. This game is a race of honor to use your country’s advantages and wit to deal with upcoming circumstances and be the first country to be prepared for the pandemic to come.
Start of the game
Two decks of cards are shuffled separately and placed in 2 piles accessible to all players:
Stack 1: Category cards (hospital capacity, effective leadership and social distancing cards + 6 wild cards)
Stack 2: Action cards (all other cards)
Every player starts with 4 category cards in their hands. The player with a birth date closest to November 17 (when the first case of Corona was identified) may start.
Objective of the game
The last round of the game is played when one player has put down all the three categories. All other players still get to play one more turn.
A player can put down a category when (s)he has a minimum of 3 unique cards of one specific category that the player can put down in 1 turn. This can be a category of 3 or 4 cards. When 3 cards, the missing unique card cannot be added to become a category of 4 later in the game.
After the last round is played:
* 1 bonus point is awared to the player who put down all three categories first
* 1 point is awarded to each player for every category composed of 3 cards,
* 2 points are awarded for every category composed of 4 cards
The player with the highest score wins. If there is a draw, the player who finished first wins.
How to play a turn
1. The player picks up the top card from the category pile OR the top card from the category discard pile next to it and takes it up into his/her hand without showing the others.
2. The player picks up the top card from the action card pile and places it face up on top of the action card discard pile for all players to see.
* If the card has a logo, the player can pick up the card into his/her hand and play during this turn or subsequent turns.
* If the card is an ‘aggravating circumstances’ or ‘a little boost’ card the consequences apply immediately only to the player who turned the card.
* If the card is a ‘hoarding’ or ‘epidemic spread card’, the card applies to all players and all players are required to respond immediately in order to not suffer the consequences of the card (see special cards and rules).
3. A player now has the chance to play any remaining cards of choice from his/her hand, or put down categories face up. When the player attempts to put down a category, any other player(s) can now play an ‘Oh I got this’ card that force the active player to discard one card of choice of the played hand and take the remaining cards back into their hand. Unless the active player can still complete the category with other cards from his/her hand OR plays another ‘Oh I got this’ card which annihilates the previous one.
4. If no more players want to throw additional ‘Oh I got this’ cards and the category is still complete, the category is now considered ‘put down’ and cannot be taken away for the rest of the game unless an 'Oh No You Didn't' card is played. The next player can now start his/her turn.
* For practical purposes, a put down a category is stacked in front of the player like a fan.
Special cards and rules
Category cards: can be recognized by their logo in the top right color indicating the category they belong to. * 2 cards from the same category can be discarded by a player during his/her turn to fish a card from the hand of a player of their choice. * 4 cards from the same category can be discarded by a player during his/her turn to pick up one card of choice from the discard pile.
‘Epidemic spread’ and ‘hoarding’ cards:
When turned, ‘epidemic spread’ and ‘hoarding cards’ apply to all players immediately after the card has been turned.
epidemic spread
Every player must discard one card of each category OR play a ‘flat curve’ card immediately. Every player that is unable to do so must discard his/her full hand. (Categories that are considered ‘put down’ stay in place.)
Category cards: can be recognized by their logo in the top right color indicating the category they belong to. * 2 cards from the same category can be discarded by a player during his/her turn to fish a card from the hand of a player of their choice. * 4 cards from the same category can be discarded by a player during his/her turn to pick up one card of choice from the discard pile.
‘Epidemic spread’ and ‘hoarding’ cards:
When turned, ‘epidemic spread’ and ‘hoarding cards’ apply to all players immediately after the card has been turned.
hoarding
Resources in your nation become scarce and every player who has more than 5 cards must discard half of their hand rounded up. (So if you have 11 cards in your hand, you must discard 6 cards of choice.)
‘A Little Boost’ and ‘Aggravating circumstances’
cards take immediate effect when turned and apply only to the player who turned the card.
A Little Boost
Allows the active player to draw 1 or 2 cards from the category pile immediately.
‘A Little Boost’ and ‘Aggravating circumstances’
cards take immediate effect when turned and apply only to the player who turned the card.
Aggravating circumstances
Requires the active player to discard a number of cards from his/her hand according to conditions indicated on the card, unless the player chooses to discard an 'Oh I Got This' card.
‘A Little Boost’ and ‘Aggravating circumstances’
cards take immediate effect when turned and apply only to the player who turned the card.
'Well that sucks'
Active player picks up card in his/her hand and plays the card immediately or later in the game during his/her turn. The card can be directed to a player of choice who needs to hand over cards to the active player as described on the 'Well That Sucks' card, unless the affected player counters the effects by playing an ‘Oh I Got This’ card.
‘A Little Boost’ and ‘Aggravating circumstances’
cards take immediate effect when turned and apply only to the player who turned the card.
'Oh I got this’
Active player picks up card in his/her hand. An 'Oh I Got This' card is the only card that can be played outside of one's turn in order to prevent another player from putting down a category. The player now needs to discard one card from the played category and take the other cards back in his/her hand. 'Oh I Got This' cards can also be played to deflect an 'aggravating circumstances' card or a 'Well that Sucks' card OR can cancel out the ‘Oh I got this’ card played to you by another player.
Special cards and rules
Flat curve
Can be played to deflect the effects of an Epidemic Spread.
Special cards and rules
Wild cards
Can be used to represent any category card of the categories of which it bears the color and logo.
Special cards and rules
Light point
Allows you to go through one of the discard piles and pick up any card of choice. Note that once one pile is picked up, the player has committed to this pile and and must chose a card from it.