Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Black Death is the game of plagues for 2 to 6 players. Each player is a different strain of disease in 14th century Europe, and whoever racks up the highest body count wins.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Point-to-Point Movement
Move along explicit connections between named locations or nodes.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
Black Death is the game of plagues for 2 to 6 players. Each player is a different strain of disease in 14th century Europe, and whoever racks up the highest body count wins. The map is based on the trade routes and major population centers of Europe at the time, the events are based on historical events, and the rules are interspersed with grim quotes from the survivors. It is a game of conquest and strategy, just a different sort of conquest than your average wargame. Component list: Black Death includes color and greyscale 15 x 20 inch maps (tiled for normal printers and single sheet for large format printers), six disease tracks, 150 counters, two player aid sheets and twenty event cards. It will take anywhere from half an hour to an hour to assemble it, depending on the work you put into it. Play notes: Black Death is unusual in that it is a kind of conquest and area control game, but your score is based on infected populations dying off, which removes your counters from play. So you are simultaneously gaining ground in one spot and choosing to lose it in another. Depending on the Virulence and Mortality of your particular strain of a disease, the strategies you can use will vary. The game can be played with 2 people, but like most games of this sort, it works best with 3 or more. Re-implements: Black Death