How to Play

Pan Am

2-4 players 60-60 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

Players build aviation empires competing against Pan American Airways across four decades. Bid on landing rights, purchase aircraft with extended range, and leverage connections to expand globally. Strategically sell routes to Pan Am for profits, then reinvest in expansion or company stock for future payouts in this historical airline strategy game.

Published 2020

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Remove AI destination cards

Do not give Destination cards to the AI player during initial setup

Prepare standard components

Set up the game board and components according to standard Pan Am rules for all other elements

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Handle AI events

Play the Event phase for the AI following standard rules, making decisions on their behalf

Roll for AI placement

Roll 2 dice for the AI and cross-reference the dice result with the current round number on the chart to determine which spot (A, B, C, D, or E) to place the AI engineer

Resolve blocked spots

If the designated spot is already taken by another AI engineer, choose the next letter to the left

Special rule for B spots

Roll 1 die and place the AI engineer accordingly, starting from the top leftmost position; the current position becomes the starting position for next time

Special rule for C spots

Always take the biggest plane available for the AI

Determine AI choices randomly

Roll 1 or 2 dice for each table and choose the destination or airport corresponding to the result; if unavailable, take the next one on the list

A - Airport selection

Roll 2 dice and choose the first available airport from the chart

B - Destination cards

Discard the AI's Destination cards but add the money value to the AI's budget

C - Standard resolution

Follow standard rules

D - Route selection

Roll 2 or 1 die depending on AI plane availability (Trimotor, Clipper, Cruiser, or Jet tables) and choose the first available route; AI does not need Destination cards

E - Player choice

You make decisions for the AI player following standard rules

Reserve AI money

Keep the amount of money indicated in the chart based on the current round (Round 1: $10, Round 2: $20, Round 3: $10, Round 4: $15, Round 5: $20, Round 6: $15, Round 7: $0)

Purchase AI stock

Spend all extra money beyond the reserved amount to buy as much Pan Am stock as possible for the AI