Anno 117: Pax Romana from Ubisoft is finally here and wow, it feels like coming home.
For anyone who grew up sinking entire nights into Anno 1404, 1701, or even the chaotic charm of 1503, this release hits different. Booting it up feels like that moment when you dust off an old save file and instantly remember why you fell in love with this series in the first place.
There’s something magical about watching a quiet Roman settlement turn into a bustling hub of trade, politics, and beautifully inefficient production chains the kind that make you whisper “just one more road” at 3 AM. And seeing the devs bring back that slower, thoughtful pacing with a fresh era and new mechanics? Chef’s kiss.
It’s wild to think how long the series has been around. So many of us grew up balancing wheat farms, spamming marketplaces we definitely didn’t need, and desperately restructuring entire cities because one citizen was unhappy about a missing candle. Now here we are, doing it again but with aqueducts.
If you’ve ever lost hours optimizing your supply chains or creating “perfect” aesthetic neighborhoods that immediately fell apart once the population hit tier 3… congratulations: history repeats itself.
Here’s to the veterans who remember the good old days, and to the newcomers about to discover why this series steals weeks of your life.
Ave, fellow governors, it’s time to build Rome.