It’s rare and wonderful when two of my favorite things are combined. Examples that come to mind are cookie dough and ice cream, Timothée Chalamet and Laura Dern (Little Women), and puppies and Canada (see, e.g., Labrador Retrievers). So I was very excited when my love of board games and my passion for aviation combined…
Continue reading: Review Of Pan Am: The Board Game
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Looks good! I grew up playing the old-school game Rail Baron with my dad. Similar idea as the Pan-Am game but instead it's the old railroads that traversed the USA. Worth checking out if you're into these types of games!
Looks interesting. My favorite travel type game is take off which had players travel all the way around the world starting in Hawaii. The game is huge, takes hours to play and is a ton of fun. You can usually find the classic version still on ebay for a fair price.
Sounds fun. I'll buy it, today! Instead of Half-Baked, though, I'll be downing The Tonight Dough. It soothes the soul and kills the diet, like nothing else 😉
If you haven't played it, I suggest Airlines Europe. Great game about buying routes and stock in airlines.
Love the graphics and *feel* of the entire game! Thanks for ignoring Ben and providing this write up! :-0)
We've been playing this since the day it came out and absolutely loving it! Highly recommend. We're into Catan, Ticket To Ride, Trekking, and those sorts of games so this matches the genre with a beautiful avgeek layer thrown on top.
Did you ever play Aerobiz on SuperNintendo? You named your airline, a hub, bought planes, routes and set up tourist attractions
I played a 2 player game of this, and felt having to bid for routes (step D) was superfluous if you already had rights and aircraft. Our game took a long time, with a few days break in between, because we found it so complex. Will probably simplify the rules next time to speed things up. Good game, but detailed.
Are you going to write about the new Flight Simulator? It's like the biggest thing in aviation since the Wright brothers...
I have it and we’ve played it. My 6 year old was able to make sense of things with a modest amount of help.
The game play overall is ok but there are a few cards that can really change the outcome of the game.
Overall it’s simpler and more beautiful than Jet Set, but Jet Set is a much better actual game. Unfortunately Jet Set is fairly difficult to find, but if you can you should order Jet Set and its expansions for a better game experience.
Nothing to do with playing the game, mine is still boxed up, but how was the condition of your box...??? It took me 3 Targets to find one in good condition...Scratches, bent corners, gashes, the packaging really took a beating...
Andrew,
Thank you for providing this write-up. I hadn't heard of the game but, after reading this set about to find an available unit. It was initially sold out at Target but, it came back in stock, got it yesterday, interestingly it was on sale.
Wife and I donned Cathay and JAL first class pajamas and played over Champagne. I fun way to add more to the flight nostalgia.
Great review. One comment as a long time airliner geek. The Clipper appears to be a Douglas DC-3. The publisher didn't want to have to purchase rights to use the real names of all the planes and hence the Clipper moniker, in addition to "Cruiser" and "Jet" (indeed Pan Am referred to all later planes as Clippers).
This is my first Euro type game coming from playing advanced historical wargames since the 70s. Pan Am captures the flavor and glamor of the early days of aviation. Allowing those who love airlines to enjoy the quality airliner pieces, the wonderfully great graphics of world routes and destinations. I find that when the board is set up and in play I can't help but be mesmerized by how cool it all is. But it also is a clever all around game that can also be enjoyed by non airline aficionados.
If you are really determined to learn it and clear up any rules ambiguities, check out boardgamegeek.com Pan Am forums section. The designers and experienced players are very active there in answering questions and such. Also download the latest rules as well. There are a few clarifications that the printed rules don't have.
Wow! I wish I'd had your experience with Pan Am. I think this game is meant for more than 2 players and way overly complicated so I'd skip it! My husband and I are avid game players but we were so frustrated after reading the instructions (a detailed book!) and trying to wing it so we gave up. Some of the rules seem pointless besides just confusing. I"m going to have to come up with my own set of rules to convince him to play it. Will probably skip the stock & just do routes & maybe skip the engineers too. Unfortunately, once you buy the game and take it apart you are stuck with it. I wish it was more of a combination of Monopoly & Ticket to Ride - love them both! And I have very fond memories flying PanAm. Now I'm landlocked & so disappointed!
I just played my first game of Pan Am: The Board Game with my wife tonight. We had a blast! In real life, she portrays a time-traveling Pan-American stewardess for a local blog, and we both love the retro jet age. This game puts you back to that time. We love how each round begins with updates on Pan Am's direction, and how it provides twists that can give a player who's behind a sudden advantage. In round 6 I made some mistakes that cost me some engineers, and my wife caught up with me, but in the last round I raised as much capital as I could to invest in enough stocks to squeak out a win! It's competitive, yet causal at the same time. I totally recommend the game as a nice escape to build your own airline.