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Anno 117: Pax Romana had me questioning my strategic skills

In the best way possible 

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Citybuilder aficionados will have something new to chew into with Anno 117: Pax Romana. The game is set to release on November 13, 2025. It’ll be available on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, and Windows PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect. 

Ubisoft was kind enough to give us the opportunity to play the game for one hour and it’s one that most definitely deserves your attention. That’s especially true if you have any interest at all in the Roman Empire. 

What is Anno 117? 

Anno 117: Pax Romana, as mentioned earlier, is a citybuilder, real-time strategy game. Some shades of the Civilization franchise for those most familiar with the series. Here, you manage the economy of a budding city as the Roman Empire enlarges its territory. 

You play as a newly appointed governor, sent by the Emperor to build and lead several provinces across the Empire. You’re tasked to build cities from the ground up: from the beautiful heartlands of Latium to the mysterious Celtic wetlands of Albion, where no civilized Roman wants to be.

Real-time strategy builder 

Anno 117: Pax Romana

So, confession: It’s been ages since I played anything remotely like Anno 117. That said, the concept of building a city from the ground-up to expand an empire did tickle my fancy.

The demo starts with you choosing which faction to build from. The first one is a people that would be more accepting of the Roman ways. The other – The Albion – would be more resistant and challenging. 

The Albion is an experience that’s first showcased at gamescom 2025 so I figured I’d go with that. In hindsight, perhaps I should have chosen the easier path first, especially for someone who hasn’t played this type of game in a while.  

The game does hold your hand a little bit to start. There are plenty of bits and pieces of tutorials to guide you through. The game tells you which buildings to build first, shows you what resources you need, and constantly prompts you to decide whether to increase your population.

Despite that, it never felt like I was being told exactly how to play. The decision on where to place your residents, resource structures, storage facilities, and more still fall on your lap. 

Managing multiple things at once

Anno 117: Pax Romana

As the governor, you’re tasked with what seems to be an impossible balancing act. You have to make sure that you’re growing the population and meeting their needs at the same time. These needs start off as just food. But as the city grows, so do their needs. 

Other than this, you have to make sure the city is running smoothly. To do that, you need to be efficient in managing where the funds go, and ensuring all manufacturing structures function efficiently. 

It can be a tall order, but it’s a level of challenge that pushes you to want to do well instead of quitting outright. 

Mercury is one of the Roman deities your city can choose to worship.

I didn’t get to this part but in the briefing before the start of the demo, we were also told that part of the things the community of your city will need is some sort of religious system. Who they deem as their deity also determines the abilities and attributes of your citizens. 

A game for aspiring public servants? 

I ended the playthrough nearly burning through all my resources and being unable to fix the issue on a few of my manufacturing facilities. It really had me questioning my strategic abilities. But I’m gonna chalk this one up to having zero experience with the Anno franchise. 

One interesting thought I had as I was fleshing out this article is how Anno 117: Pax Romana is the perfect simulation game for aspiring public servants. As I write this, there’s a growing issue in my home country. It’s about how flood control funds were mismanaged by public officials and their contractors. 

I just had a brain fart of how this game simulates governance work. Perhaps more people will gain appreciation for real governance, its pitfalls and challenges, if they played a game like this. I digress.

Anno 117: Pax Romana was hailed as the Best PC game at gamescom 2025 – and for good reason. It’s a unique challenge with fantastic presentation. From my demo experience, it feels like it can be a bit of a timesink – one that might just sharpen the way you strategize. 

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