A few months ago my daughter introduced me to an interesting board game. (There are online and app versions, as well.) Unlike most traditional games, this one has the players working collaboratively to defeat a common enemy. Only when that enemy is completely wiped out can the players declare victory. In the case of Pandemic, that enemy is a series of four infections, and the battlefield (game board) is a global map with 48 cities scattered across the continents, connected by a web of lines. Global travelers will instantly recognize the pattern, as the network reflects modern-day flight paths and transportation lines. Rio de Janeiro connects across the oceans to Paris, for instance, while also linking to major cities in South America such as Buenos Aires and Valparaíso. The game begins as a number of cities are randomly “infected” as players draw cards with city names and four color-coded infections, each one represented by a colored cube. One to three cubes begin the initial infection of a city, and then the players draw cards assigning their roles (dispatcher, scientist, medic, researcher), each having particular skills. The play proceeds as cards are drawn, allowing players to travel to different cities to quell the illnesses before an outbreak occurs. All the while, other cards are drawn which direct those infection cubes to be added across the board. Any city which amasses four cubes of one color triggers an outbreak, spreading that infection to any other community it is connected to, with a cube added to each of them. A total of seven outbreaks means the game is over — you lose. Only annihilation of all four infections spells victory. We found the game entertaining, challenging, frustrating and, because of its real-world resonance, a bit frightening. The pace rapidly escalates as everyone strategizes to stay ahead of a major outbreak, and one can see how quickly the tipping point can be reached between a localized illness and a worldwide pandemic. At the time I learned the game, Zika had not yet become a global concern, but past outbreaks of avian flu, SARS and ebola made this game highly relevant. As I’ve watched and read the reports of this latest global health threat, I keep returning to that game and seeing in my mind’s eye that web of interconnection spread across the map. I find it fascinating that a game provided me with a little more insight into the kinds of issues and challenges health experts and government officials must address, as well as bringing home to me, again, just how closely connected we are to our brethren across the globe. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor