Anno 117: Pax Romana

Anno 117: Pax Romana is a PC city-building and economic strategy game from Ubisoft Mainz, set at the height of Roman power. The current Steam and Ubisoft Store product name remains Anno 117: Pax Romana; there is no verified rebrand or renamed replacement edition. You govern provinces, balance population needs, develop production chains, negotiate with rivals, and decide how strongly Roman culture shapes the frontier.

Its strongest distinction is the contrast between the Mediterranean province of Latium and the Celtic frontier of Albion. Rather than treating expansion as a single visual theme, the two regions ask you to solve different terrain, cultural, logistical, and political problems.

Build Roman provinces through connected economies

Anno 117 follows the established Anno structure: begin with a modest settlement, provide housing and essential goods, unlock higher population tiers, and expand the production network as citizens demand more refined commodities. Every new district increases opportunity, but it also adds workforce pressure, transport requirements, and maintenance costs.

The main challenge is not placing attractive buildings in isolation. It is arranging production chains, roads, storage, farms, workshops, harbors, and public services so that materials reach the right destination without creating an expensive, inefficient sprawl.

Latium provides the more recognizably Roman starting point, with fertile Mediterranean landscapes and a strong emphasis on Roman institutions, religion, and urban development. Albion is wetter and more rugged, with elevated terrain, cliffs, fog, rain, and marshes that make settlement planning less forgiving.

Albion's wetlands are not merely visual decoration. Marshes can supply region-specific goods such as eels and reeds, while their restricted construction rules and road connections force you to design around the landscape. Later, Marsh Drainage can convert selected swamp areas into usable land, but that decision has economic and cultural consequences.

Romanization, Celtic identity, and governor choices

The central strategic choice in Albion is whether to preserve Celtic traditions or push the population toward Romanization. This affects the needs you serve, the goods you produce, the technologies you pursue, and the relationships you maintain with important characters.

That choice is more substantial than a cosmetic faction selection. Roman and Celtic approaches can lead to different priorities for agriculture, trade, religion, and land use, giving the frontier a separate identity rather than making it feel like a reskinned Latium.

The campaign places you in the role of a young governor whose decisions influence the development of the provinces and the surrounding political story. Dialogue choices and missions add context to the economic simulation without replacing the underlying city-building loop.

For players who prefer a more self-directed experience, sandbox-style play supports long-term settlement design, rival management, trade, diplomacy, and military planning. The game's mastery loop comes from improving layouts and adapting to province conditions, not from completing a fixed character build.

Religion and the Discovery Tree

Religion is one of Anno 117's major systems. You construct sanctuaries and temples, select a deity for an island, increase belief among citizens, and unlock local or empire-wide effects as worship becomes more established.

Different deities support different economic approaches. In Albion, Epona can improve animal-related production and logistics, Mercury-Lugos supports trade, and Cernunnos benefits marsh and forest activity. Festivals can provide temporary advantages while helping prevent disasters such as fires, plagues, and riots during their active period.

Technological progress is organized through the Discovery Tree, which divides unlocks into Economic, Civic, and Military branches. Knowledge Points can unlock buildings, production improvements, military options, deities, and province-specific solutions.

The tree is not simply a universal checklist. Some discoveries depend on a particular province or condition, so Albion may offer technologies such as tree planting in difficult terrain or drainage infrastructure for marsh management. That structure encourages governors to research according to local problems instead of following one optimal sequence.

Diplomacy, trade, and optional warfare

Expansion can be pursued through diplomacy and trade as well as military pressure. Rival governors can become partners, competitors, or enemies, and your economic decisions influence whether peaceful agreements remain practical.

Land combat returns to the series alongside naval warfare. Military action remains optional: peaceful games can reduce or disable hostile opponents, while more aggressive setups let you contest islands and defend strategic settlements.

The military roster includes universal and province-specific units, with Albion offering distinctive forces such as axebearers and chariots. Units require money, resources, and workforce for recruitment and upkeep, so a large army competes directly with civic and economic priorities.

Combat is therefore an extension of the city economy rather than a separate action layer. A successful campaign must support recruitment, transport, fortifications, supplies, and the ongoing cost of keeping troops in the field.

Players who prefer economic settlement management without a major combat focus may find survival city building centered on labor, food, and seasonal logistics like Banished a useful comparison, although Anno 117 is broader in diplomacy, trade, technology, and warfare.

Content model and current editions

The base product is sold as a paid standalone game in Standard and Gold editions. The Gold Edition includes the base game and the Year 1 Pass, which contains three gameplay or content additions plus five cosmetic items.

The current storefront catalogue also lists The Hippodrome, Prophecies of Ash, Marvellous Mosaic Pack, and Blooming Cities Pack as separate additions. These products are not required to understand the base campaign, but buyers should distinguish the standalone edition from the Gold package and the wider add-on catalogue.

Anno 117 is not a free-to-play city builder. Its commercial model is a premium base game with optional paid DLC and a pass-based bundle for players who want the first wave of additional content.

The Gold Edition's practical appeal is straightforward: it avoids buying the base game and Year 1 Pass separately. Players interested only in the core Latium and Albion experience can choose the Standard Edition without treating the add-on catalogue as mandatory.

PC features, multiplayer, and mod support

On PC, Anno 117: Pax Romana is available through Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect. Steam lists full controller support, online co-op, online player-versus-player multiplayer, and Denuvo Anti-Tamper. A Ubisoft Account is required even when using the Steam edition.

The game supports interface and subtitle localization in 12 languages. Full voice coverage is available for English, French, German, and Simplified Chinese, while the other listed languages provide interface and subtitle support.

Multiplayer is more flexible than in several earlier Anno games. The campaign can be played cooperatively by up to four players controlling the same governor, sharing resources, money, and islands. Sandbox matches can also combine human players and AI rivals, with diplomacy, trade, naval conflict, and land warfare available between groups.

Cross-play is supported when enabled, and co-op live savegames let players continue the latest shared state without requiring every participant to be online at the same time. Active pause is available to the host, but speed controls are limited to single-player.

There is no built-in text or voice chat. Multiplayer mods are allowed, but every participant must use the exact same mods and versions. Gameplay DLC also needs to match across the group, which is important when planning a shared campaign.

PC mod support uses a mod folder and mod.io integration plans, with additional community tooling available outside the game. The developers have also continued work on in-game mod browsing and activation conveniences, making PC the platform with the clearest long-term customization path.

Who should play Anno 117: Pax Romana?

Anno 117 suits players who enjoy economic city builders where production, population, territory, and transport must remain synchronized. It is particularly strong for players who want a historical setting with meaningful regional variation instead of one uniform map and one universal economy.

It is also a good choice for newcomers to the Anno series because the basic production flow is readable: identify a population need, establish the required chain, provide access and logistics, then expand when the economy can support it.

Players seeking a direct combat strategy game should approach it cautiously. Warfare is present, but the game remains a city builder first, and armies are costly extensions of the economic system rather than the sole path to progression.

For a modern urban sandbox comparison focused more heavily on roads, zoning, services, and city simulation, large-scale city planning games such as Cities: Skylines offer a different emphasis. Anno 117 is more structured around population tiers, production chains, regional goods, diplomacy, and inter-island trade.

Anno 117: Pax Romana FAQ

Is Anno 117: Pax Romana the current PC name?

Yes. Steam and Ubisoft currently list the game as Anno 117: Pax Romana. Ubisoft also uses the shorter category label Anno 117, but there is no verified rebrand replacing the full product name.

Does Anno 117: Pax Romana have co-op?

Yes. The campaign and other multiplayer setups support up to four players, with co-op participants sharing one governor, resources, money, and islands.

Can you play Anno 117 peacefully?

Yes. Multiplayer and sandbox setup options can include no opponents, and military conflict can be avoided or reduced. Diplomacy and trade provide alternatives to conquest.

What is included in the Gold Edition?

The Gold Edition includes the base game and Year 1 Pass. The pass contains three DLC additions and five cosmetic bonus items, while other listed packs can be purchased separately.

Does Anno 117 support controllers on PC?

Yes. The Steam listing identifies full controller support, including Xbox controller support. Keyboard and mouse remain natural options for detailed city planning and production management.

Does Anno 117 support mods?

Yes. PC mod support uses the game's mod folder and mod.io ecosystem. In multiplayer, all players must use the same mod setup and versions.

What makes Albion different from Latium?

Albion is a Celtic frontier with fog, rain, cliffs, elevated terrain, and marshes. Its Romanization choices, local deities, region-specific goods, and drainage technologies create a different management problem from the more Mediterranean Latium province.