Z-Man is releasing Pandemic:  Rising Tide this week, combining the mechanics of the popular cooperative game with a historical theme set in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.

Originally announced earlier this year but delayed due to the heavy hurricane season (see “Z-Man Pulls Down Announcement of ‘Pandemic:  Rising Tide’”), this stand-alone game is set in the Netherlands at the dawn of the industrial age.  Instead of pursuing cures for epidemics, in Rising Tide the players must construct the famous system of dikes to reclaim land while managing floods and the demands of trade.  Like the original game, this is a cooperative venture with players racing against time to complete a series of objectives.

Pandemic:  Rising Tide was designed by Matt Leacock (Pandemic) and Jeroen Doumen (Food Chain Magnate).  The game comes with 1 game board, 7 pawns, 159 cards, 6 tokens, 50 dike markers, 5 pumping stations, 5 ports, and 72 cubes.  The game is intended for 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up, and plays in under an hour.  MSRP is $49.99.

Click Gallery below for full-size Pandemic:  Rising Tide images!