About
Pocket Pharma - The Big Pharma game for your pocket!
£21,856
878
- Wonder Drug module unlocked at £15,000!
- New component quality upgrade stretch goal NOW UNLOCKED at £20,000 !
- If we can get to £25,000 we will unlock another component quality upgrade!
£20,000 stretch goal now unlocked!
Based on demand and requests, we have added a £20,000 component quality upgrade! The component to be upgraded will be revealed soon after!
£25,000 stretch goal added!
We've introduced a new £25,000 stretch goal! This will be another component quality upgrade. Can we reach it!?
* Please note the exact number/contents of these cards may slightly change although the mechanisms each contribute are fixed. Similarly, the size of the box may change as we work to get the best fit possible, but it should be no bigger than the size mentioned.
- Experience the Pharmaceutical business
Making the most efficacious drugs possible, with the fewest side effects is a noble goal. But it won't make you the most money! And big pharma needs money...
- Real molecules!
The groups, atomic weights, chemical names and chemical structures shown are all real molecular structures! All of which have been validated by professionals in the industry. Absorb some real chemistry while you play!
- A unique take on drafting
Efficacy and side effects added an extra layer of strategy and replayability to the game. If these metrics are not met by your drafted cards they force you to lose points/cards making collecting the sets a much more intricate thing to do! In effect, the game becomes a question of - how much will you sacrifice to get ahead?
- A good game streamlined and improved into a great game
Big Fun and Chu-Lan Kao did some great work, which Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee, Brett Gilbert has worked to streamline and improve. After an additional round of development, we're sure this offers the best possible experience!
- A handy sized box!
Pocket Pharma will be the second game in our "Pocket" range. A brain-burning game in a handy sized box!
Claim fragment cards from the display, and combine them in your lab.
Match the pattern of your fragments to the different drug formulas to create new therapies for some of the world's most prevalent diseases.
Profit from the launch of your new drug — but you must stay below the side effect threshold and match the target efficacy, otherwise the launch will incur losses or disruption to the other compounds you are working on.
Developing a new drug can be difficult, but being first to market with the right compound can be lucrative!
Thanks to Slicker Drips for this overview of the base game!
The expansion comprises 40 cards split into 4 exciting modules: mix and match the modules with the base game in any way you wish!
Specialist Cards (20 cards)Gives you a team of expert scientists to help you boost the work of your lab and get ahead of your competitors in the race to develop new drugs.
"Wild" Compound Cards (8 cards)
Gives you a deck of experimental molecules: "wildcards" that cost extra time to research but could plug the gaps in your compounds, possibly putting you ahead at the critical moment!
Market Cards (8 cards)
Gives you new opportunities to earn additional profits by achieving dominance in certain areas. Each game uses 3 Market cards from a deck of 8 unique cards: that's 56 different possibilities!
Advanced Drug Cards (4 cards)
Gives you four new Drug formulas to compete to create. For expert pharmacologists only!
The box will be sized so that the expansion can fit inside!
Missed the Pocket Sub campaign? Read more about it here!
Slicker Drips: "This is a really, really great fast-playing card game"
Slicker Drips: "Brett J Gilbert has taken the (original Medical Frontiers) game and switched it up quite a bit, and has come out with a really really great little game"
Ed Baraf: (The gameplay mechanics recreating the cutthroat nature of the pharmaceutical industry) is depressing but also compelling and that's when themes are great!
Ed Baraf: I really liked how the theme comes out and you try to underhand the market and not care...
Board Game Closet: Throw it in your backpack, play it at lunch while you're waiting on the waiter or waitress to bring you your food.
Board Game Closet: It definitely feels 'pocket'.
Thanks to Slicker Drips for the detailed playthrough!
We always offer excellent rates for retailers around the world. If you are a retailer, please send us a message with your store email address and we will send you our rates!
For groups of 10 or more people, we are happy to provide group pledge discounts, as long as the games are sent to a single location. Prices will severely vary between location (due to shipping and customs) so please PM us for rates.
If you previously backed Dice Hospital, you will automatically* receive the "Pharma Rep" dice hospital specialist promo card in the game. We are currently deciding between two actions this specialist card does, as well as making sure it is balanced and playtested.
*If you backed Dice Hospital, please direct message us via this campaign to guarantee you this promo card, otherwise it is not guaranteed.
Download the rulebook here if the link below isn't working!
NOTE: Pocket Sub backers: if you previously backed our last campaign: Pocket Sub, please select the correct tier so you receive FREE shipping.
Second note: If you are also purchasing Dice Hospital from one of the tiers you will be charged extra shipping - again, please go to the tier, select your country and it will tell you the shipping price.
To double check the pricing to your region or for more accurate pricing, please go to to the tier and select your country.
- Backers also have the opportunity to purchase our previous published (and released game) Cauldron Master. Shipping is included in the below prices when added as an add-on.
- To upgrade your copy of Dice Hospital to the deluxe edition, please add an extra £23/$32.
Transparency guarantee
With our previous games which we kickstarted: Dice Hospital, Lab Wars and Cauldron Master, we kept backers informed of any problems, issues, and of course good news we had along the way to fulfilling the game to backers. This project will be no different. We don't believe in updates for the sake of them, but we try to do an update twice a week during the campaigns, and once every 2-3 weeks after the campaign is over as a minimum.
Delivered on time
Lab Wars and Cauldron Master, our first two games, were delivered on time and before retailers received any copies. In fact, Cauldron Master was delivered 2 months before our expected delivery date! Dice Hospital is completely on schedule and will be fulfilled in a few months time. We are running this campaign since we are simply waiting for the manufacturer to manufacture Dice Hospital. : )
World class manufacturing
For this project, we are using Longpack which has produced a wide array of games including Unfair, Robinson Crusoe, Queendomino and our previous project: Dice Hospital. The game, being card-based, will be simple for them and we have already seen the white box for this game! Longpack's communication has been great, and they also come recommended by other world renowned creators.
Shipment and Fulfilment
GamesQuest will ship the games from China to the UK, however, when they arrive in the UK at that point we will take over and handle the fulfilment of Pocket Pharma in house as we have a UK business Royal mail account. We used this method very successfully with Lab Wars and Cauldron Master. Since the price of the game is so low, it will be internationally customs-friendly.
If this campaign gains over 1500 backers, we will bring on board an international fulfilment partner to help us out. This will most likely be GamesQuest based in the UK who we already have a fantastic relationship with.
An optimistic prediction of the timeline:
- mid April: Submit Files to manufacturer
- mid May: Manufacturing completes
- early June: Shipping from China to the UK
- late June: Arrives in port
- mid July: Fulfilment commences
- late August: Fulfilment completed and most backers should have their copies.
PLEASE NOTE: If there are any delays it could push this back to October for completing fulfilment, as the above is an optimistic prediction. We always put a worst case scenario on our tiers - as delays can happen for unforeseen reasons.
Risks and challenges
We have a team lined up to produce a fantastic game. Even if anyone gets sick, others can pick up the slack! Of course, there is always a risk of capsized boats, or mass sickness that even pharmaceutical giants can't solve.
We can promise you though that we will do everything in our power to keep everyone updated and stick to the original plan as possible.
This is the 6th campaign we have run, and the 9th if you include our collaborations. Since our first KS, everything has either been early or on time!
We are a very open company and welcome feedback, suggestions and comments either publicly or privately.
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Funding period
- (14 days)