Save Patient Zero

Where Our Story Begins

Save Patient Zero is a big box release from Helvetiq. Two teams of scientists will race to find the antidote to a virus that will not only save patient zero, but also the whole of humanity. This is a game that I was really excited about, it was social deduction and with a theme that really engaged me. I am a scientist, and the idea of a game that played on that was something I really wanted to get behind. On your turn you will perform a “lab test” which will give you some fragments of information that will reveal something about what cannot be contained in your antidote.

Gameplay

The aim of the game is easy, you must save the world. No biggie. This is a game of deduction. You (and your team) will be using tools to gather different fragments of information which you will put together to eventually work out which components are needed in order to deduce your personal antidote. To set up the game, you will either fire up the app and set up the player screens or the player being Savvy will draw a set of three cards for each team and set them aside. Savvy will refer to these when posed questions about their antidote.

If you have the full complement of 7 players, then one player will be the gamemaster and will give out the pieces of information, the other 6 players will be split into 2 teams. Smaller teams are possible at lower player counts. The game has the capability of being played solo with the support of the companion app. This allows the app to give out the information so the hidden information is unknown to all players. If using the app, then all player can be deducing their antidotes.

In a 2 player game you can either use the app or each player can be the gamemaster for the other. The analogue version works well which is lucky as the app is still getting a few bugs ironed out, but this will definitely be my preferred way of playing the game. With the analogue version you are given a head start at two player because you already know your opponent’s antidote and so know that this cannot be your antidote. This does make playing Save Patient Zero a lot easier and for me probably pushes it into the family-weight category for ease. Deduction wise, this is not a hard game to play and it certainly does not out stay its welcome as it is all over pretty quickly.

As the game progresses you will use the different “tests” to perform experiments which will give you different fragments of information about your team’s antidote. The information will be given to you by the Savvi player. You will get information about which molecules are not included, and which may be included, flexing your powers of deduction you will be able to cross off some of the molecules. The experiments involve your team choosing one of the cards form your available tool card deck, all which operate differently.

Samply works by allowing you to draw three cards with six random molecules on, and Savvi will tell you if these cards contain zero, or at least one of your molecules. Mikroskopo is similar except you have one minute to choose the two cards you wish to ask about. Once you have some information about cards that contain at least one of your molecules, you can use the Analyzer test in order to find out how many of your antidote molecules are on each card.

Using your scan pad you are able to choose a selection of six molecules to ask Savvi about. Dedukto allows you access to 5 molecules that are NOT in your antidote. There are loads of other tests, but you are only able to perform each test a certain number of times. So as a team you must maximise how much information you get from each tool card and ensure how quickly you can gather useful data to allow you to jump ahead.

Save Patient Zero will end once someone is able to successfully guess their antidote. The first to cure their patient is the winner. In my plays of this game, I found that the actual deduction part was pretty easy, so I would suggest that this is definitely a gateway level deduction game. This is the kind of game you could bring out to play with your family at Christmas whilst you are a few drinks deep into the evening. I do think that the tool cards make the overhead of the rule teach quite high which for me is the negative.

The game is not difficult in it’s gameplay and theory, but there are lots of fiddly things to remember. When using a Savvi player as a gamemaster then I think that this would aid with this as they can keep both teams on the straight and narrow without influencing the win/lose situation.

Components

The components here are pretty good. The whole game has a really sleek and clear graphic design. The cards aren’t particularly thick but they are easily distinguishable from each other and the cards are not handled too much so won’t take much wear and tear. Generally player screens are often a hindrance to gameplay and they invariably get knocked down in the excitement. We found that these ones were pretty helpful as they gave you some quick reference points and they effectively hide everything from your opponent even across a small table.

Replayability

Each time you play you will draw a combination of cards as your antidote, and the mathematician in me wagers that no person will draw the same antidote for any of their two games. However, I will say that you can have harder and easier combinations depending on what numbers of molecules are drawn. This can occasionally make a game easier for one player than another, however, one lucky card draw could also have the same effect.

Round Up

If you are looking for a step up from Cluedo and Guess Who to play with all the family with the option to upgrade the difficulty by including more tool cards, then Save Patient Zero might well be the pick for you. The game has a great theme that is really well implemented and you do take on a feeling of being a scientist.