Pandemic Legacy: Season 2.

We have started playing Pandemic Legacy: Season 2. It's the sequel to season 1, obviously. But for those that man not be familiar with legacy-type games, it's a game where there can be permanent consequences to game play depending on how successful (or not) you can accomplish objectives. In addition to receiving the game board and pieces, there are additional boxes and envelopes that are only to be opened when you are instructed, dependent on different game conditions. The cooperative story arcs throughout the play of a year - each time you play is one month of that year, and you play a month again if you lose (in terms of the story I guess you'd say it's the second half of that month). So, if you do amazingly, you'd play the game 13 times (prologue + 12 months); if you do poorly, you could play up to 25 episodes. Once all the months have ended, the game is essentially retired and not playable after that. 

We really enjoyed the first season - it was one of the best boardgames I've ever played, if not the best. It deals with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic themes, which are just so hot right now. They're kind of the new Hansel. 

I really do think we are living in a golden age of games right now. There are just some really intelligent, complex games out there that involve sophisticated, higher order thinking and strategy. It's not just about luck anymore or chance, or having the same board and variables to work with. They are ever-evolving, and many are more like a shared experience than just a way to pass the time. There are more cooperative games than there have ever been, and games with different mechanics compared to the classic everyone-for-themselves mentality. 

So far in Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, we have played the prologue and the first and second half of January. We have successfully avoided any far-reaching negative consequences so far, and have made a little bit of positive progress. Only time will tell if the survivors are successful in maintaining their territory and expanding the habitable areas in the what is left of the known world.