"Playing with Other People’s Lives: A Critical Expansion for Pandemic"

The basic version of the game tells a story about the conflict between humanity and the environment in which a team of heroic scientists must work together to save the world from a deadly disease. The game suggests a rather simplistic view of the relationship between nature (represented by the biological threat posed by disease) and culture (represented by medical science)—that they are diametrically opposed to one another and that the purpose of culture is to bring nature under control for the benefit of all mankind. My modification, on the other hand, complicates this picture by encouraging players to think through the ways that political power structures intervene in this story.