It’s been a while since a game got me hooked from the very first hour I played it. Anno 117: Pax Romana is a game that sucks you in, largely due to your own perfectionism. You start the game off with almost no explanation of what’s going on, and while you’re getting a grip of your first goal in the game, time just slips away. It’s that kind of game that plays you, instead of you playing it. There’s something addictive about building your own city with your own infrastructure and stabilizing the country. What an amazing feeling it is to see a city evolving in front of your eyes, or even letting it burn and start over again.
Anno 117: Pax Romana is the latest game from the original IP “Anno”. If I want to explain to people what kind of game Anno is, I would say it’s city-building and micro-managing the city’s journey through evolution. It’s all about figuring out what kind of settlement you want to build, how to create job opportunities and funding, keeping the inhabitants safe from war and sickness but also keeping them happy, building up diplomatic relations in the hope none of the other parties will stick a knife into your back, … Long story short, it’s a micro- managing city builder and this time it’s set in Roman History. You’re tasked to build up the settlement and deal with conflicts. It’s not about large-scale battlegrounds and commanding your units into battle.
“… this can be more complicated than you might think.”
So starting from scratch, you try to build up your settlement by base building around the resources that are directly available to you. For example, a woodcutter works best in the forest, a fisherman works best close to the sea, and a farmer needs grain to harvest. All of these things are gathering basic resources that can help us build homes or better workshops. Of course, each inhabitant of your settlement needs to be happy for him/ her to work. They also need some infills on their needs to keep them happy at work. These needs can be filled by food or entertainment. Whatever profession you’re simulating ( baker, harvester, woodcutter, …), they’ll need workshops to craft the basic resources, and they need a traveling route for the cart that delivers the resources to the Warehouse. The warehouse will then distribute the basic resources to the right workshop to craft important items. It may be simple at first, but you’ll have to build roads that connect the warehouses to the workshops, and this can be more complicated than you might think.
Of course, the inhabitants evolve with you, and each class is needed to gather certain resources. For example, the lower class is called Liberti, and these can be involved in the Plebeians. The people still have 2 stages of evolution: Equites and Patricians. Each class brings its own needs and production capabilities. The challenge of Anno 117 is all about economic development and growth, balancing the type of people you need to progress and keeping them all satisfied. The satisfaction of these people can be positively influenced by taverns, markets, shops, theaters, fire departments, … but there are also workshops that can negatively influence the people ( polluting buildings, fire hazards, lack of resources, …). These different elements can make the control of such a settlement difficult. There will always be problems if not handled correctly.
“The game is visually outstanding.”
Also, everything above is handled on the land itself; however, Anno 117 also features sea activities such as setting up trading routes that can fill a certain need of a basic resource that the land can’t offer. But trade fleets can come under threat from pirates, and rival settlements may attempt raids. So even though you’re trying to keep your nose to your own business, there are threats that need to be dealt with because these confrontations can threaten the crafted systems and settlement a player invested hours into. In other words, even though you’re trying to be peaceful, keep your eyes open.
The game is visually outstanding. From detailed animations to detailed designed buildings creates this illusion that you’re actually the emperor of your own settlement. You can easily zoom in and observe life on a street level, observing the creation that leads its own life. Due to all the details and the activity that’s going on in the city, the settlement feels alive. Even though the game stands out in detail, some buildings can definitely need some minor changes to make them stand out from other buildings, because sometimes the buildings are difficult to distinguish from other buildings. If you’re placing warehouses to stimulate the production line between the harvester and workshop, you’re often misplacing buildings because they all look alike. However, the game lets you place buildings to make mistakes “acceptable”. The game doesn’t even explain to you what each building does, so in that regard, it’s difficult to read between the lines. However, if you get to know the buildings, you’ll quickly notice that almost every workshop can terraform its own terrain to harvest resources. This makes positioning even more satisfying.
“Anno 117: Pax Romana delivers a deep, rewarding city-building experience…”
Although the campaign begins in Latium, the Roman heartland, players can eventually travel to the landscape of England. The environment of England is very different than the one in Rome. For example, Swamp terrain makes development slow and difficult to sustain. The local crowd will also need different buildings or religions because they follow the Celtic way. If you don’t like the Celtic way, you can always “Romanize” Celts into Roman inhabitants. It’s great to have access to these different cultures because of the fact that new possibilities to play the game, really open up, of course, all with their own consequences. eventually gain access to Albion—modern-day England. The environment shifts dramatically: swampy terrain slows development, wood becomes essential even for basic roads, and the local population adheres to Celtic traditions. Players can choose to “Romanize” these inhabitants, altering their cultural identity and unlocking new gameplay possibilities, each with its own consequences.
Conclusion
Anno 117: Pax Romana delivers a deep, rewarding city-building experience that effortlessly pulls you in and keeps you hooked for hours. Its mix of complex resource management, evolving populations, and environmental challenges creates a satisfying rhythm that constantly pushes you to refine and improve your settlement. While the lack of early guidance and the similarity between certain buildings can feel overwhelming at first, the game quickly rewards players who enjoy experimenting and optimizing. The visual detail and lively city atmosphere add an impressive layer of immersion, making every decision feel meaningful. The cultural shift from Rome to England introduces fresh mechanics and consequences that keep the gameplay engaging throughout. Overall, with its engrossing systems and rich historical setting, Anno 117: Pax Romana sets the bar high for future games.
8,5/10
Tested on PC
