Stop a plague of barbarians, not viruses, in Pandemic: Fall of Rome

The spinoffs and twists on disease-fighting board game Pandemic just keep coming, with the game’s digital port making it to Steam recently. Announced just yesterday, Pandemic: Fall of Rome is the latest, and the first that’s looking to blend the game’s mechanics with a more traditional wargame. In Fall of Rome, players will take on the roles of prominent Romans looking to stop encroaching tribes from outside the empire—feared barbarians like the vandals, goths, and huns. Whereas normally players must hold off diseases long enough to cure them, in Fall of Rome players have to hold off the tribes for long enough that they turn them into allies—recruiting more warriors for the Roman legions.

Pandemic: Fall of Rome is the second game in the series to explore a theme other than disease control, following last year’s Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. Fall of Rome will release in "Q4" of this year and will retail for $49.99. It's currently available for pre-order at that price. You can read the full announcement on Z-Man Games’ website.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.