The next Pandemic game swaps curing diseases for fighting floods

The next Pandemic instalment will move away from the series’ disease-battling roots to take on another global threat: flooding.

Pandemic: Rising Tide has been co-designed by series creator Matt Leacock and Jeroen Doumen, half of beloved studio Splotter and co-creator of acclaimed games Food Chain Magnate, Antiquity and Indonesia.

Set in the Netherlands, the game centres around the players’ efforts to stem the encroachment of sea water into the local lands, replacing historical methods such as dikes and wind-powered pumps previously used to hold back the tides with a modern way of containing and redirecting the water away from the population.

As in Pandemic, the aim of the game is to achieve four different goals – although this time each represents a method of flood relief rather than a cured disease. There will also be new objective cards, presenting a different scenario for each match.

Meanwhile, players will also need to manage the movement of the Dutch people around the flooded areas, safeguarding businesses and building ports along the central Maas River, as well as other situations triggered by the rising water.

Rising Tide will apply Pandemic’s iconic disease-spreading gameplay to the floods, which will spread over time and potentially spill into regions if players aren’t careful with their actions.

Leacock previously explored the idea of flooding in his kid-friendly spiritual spin-off to Pandemic, Forbidden Island – although it seems that Rising Tide will be quite a bit more complex and stick closer to the original Pandemic formula.

After revealing Rising Tide on its website, publisher Z-Man pulled down the post, issuing an apology on Facebook for announcing the game during the on-going hurricane Harvey in the US, which has caused widespread flooding and destruction.

Z-Man added that it will donate a portion of the proceeds from Rising Tide to flood relief programmes. No release date has been confirmed yet.