Pan Am

Players: 2–4 Players | Ages: 12+

Pan Am was the world’s first truly global airline. From its humble beginnings in 1927 as an airmail carrier, Pan American Airways saw aggressive growth under the watchful eye of founder Juan Trippe, establishing numerous important airline milestones. Pan Am was the first to connect North and South America by air, the first to launch commercial flights across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the first to computerize its reservation systems. As pioneers of the jet age, Pan Am attained even greater popularity by making the world more accessible to the masses without sacrificing glamour. Today, people around the world instantly recognize the inimitable Pan Am name and recall its rich legacy.

Objective

You are the head of a fledgling airline. As Pan Am expands across the globe, you spend the income from operating your airline to buy Pan Am Stock. You have two goals:

1. Claim Routes by sending Engineers to acquire Airports, Planes, and Destinations.
2. Use the income you earn from operating and selling Routes to buy Stock.

The game is played in seven rounds spanning the era of Pan Am’s beginnings to the retirement of founder Juan Trippe in 1968. The player with the most Stock at the end of the game wins.

FIRST FLIGHT?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard! As your guide, I’ll ensure you have a smooth trip through these instructions. To begin, set up the game as you read through the following section.

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 2 Hangars
• Distributed among 4 colors:
  • 20 Engineers (5 each in 4 colors)
  • 20 Airports (5 each in 4 colors)
  • 20 Trimotors
  • 16 Clippers
  • 12 Cruisers
  • 4 Jets
  • 4 Player Mats
  • 4 Income Trackers
• 28 Event Cards
• 50 Destination Cards
• 40 Directive Cards
• 60 Stock Cards (40 One Stock, 20 Five Stock)
• 1 Pan Am Die
• 40 Pan Am Route Markers
• 75 Money tokens (50 $1 Money, 25 $5 Money)
• 2 Cruiser and Jet Tiles
• 1 First Player Marker
• 1 Stock Marker and Base

This game was designed by the high-flying crew at Prospero Hall.
For more about our games go to prosperohall.com

Game Board Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the play area. Put the two hangars next to the board by the Planes (C) area.
2. Each Event card shows a round number on the back. Select one card at random from each round and create a deck of 7 cards. Place them face down on the board. Return the unused Event cards to the box.
3. Shuffle the Destination cards and place them in a deck face down in the Destinations (B) area. Put one card face up in each of the four spaces.
4. Shuffle the Directive cards and place them face down in a deck at the Directives (E) area.
5. Place the Pan Am Route Markers, Money, Stocks, and the Pan Am die next to the board. Set aside the Stock Marker for now (the first Event card will set the Stock Price).
6. Place the Cruiser and Jet Tiles in the Planes (C) area as shown.

Player Setup

1. Each player takes a player mat and the following pieces in a matching color:
   • PLANES: Place two Trimotor Planes and one Clipper Plane on the fleet section of your player mat. Place the rest of the Planes in the respective hangars.
   • INCOME TRACKER: Place this cube on the 0 spot for income on your player mat. When your income changes, move the Income Tracker to the new value.
   • FIVE AIRPORTS: Place these next to the Airport (A) area.
   • ENGINEERS: The number of Engineers you have depends on the number of players in the game:
     • Two Players = 5 each
     • Three Players = 4 each
     • Four Players = 3 each

     Return unused Engineers to the box.

2. Each player draws 2 Destination cards, 1 Directive card, and takes $12. Destination cards are face up and visible to all players, but the Directive card should be kept hidden from opponents.
3. The first player is the person who most recently flew on an airplane. Give that player the First Player Marker as a reminder.

Before we dive into the game, here are a few concepts you should know:

Destinations

There are five different colors of Destination cards representing regions of the world. Each region has a corresponding symbol.

(Destinations are generally named after their historical designations during the time frame in which the game takes place, and may not reflect their current names.)

Planes

There are four different types of Planes. Each Plane has a range indicating the maximum distance it can fly.

If you look closely at the tips of the wings, you’ll see a number of lines. These lines indicate the range of the Plane!

Routes & Landing Rights

A Route is a line between two cities with a diamond showing the Route’s distance.

To claim a Route, you need a Plane with a range that matches or exceeds the distance of the Route, and Landing Rights in both cities.

Landing Rights Methods

There are four methods to get Landing Rights at a city:

1. Having an Airport of your color on the city.
2. Having the city’s Destination card (this card is not discarded).
3. Discarding a Destination card from the same region (color) as the city.
4. Discarding two Destination cards of same region (color) that are different from the city’s region.

Discarding Destination cards (methods 3 and 4) grant you Landing Rights long enough to claim exactly one Route.

Landing Rights Example

Genevieve is claiming a Route. She has an Airport in Shanghai and the Hong Kong and Honolulu Destination cards. The Airport gives her Landing Rights in Shanghai.

• OPTION A: SHANGHAI–HONG KONG ROUTE: Genevieve also has Landing Rights in Hong Kong because she has the Hong Kong Destination card.
• OPTION B: SHANGHAI–TOKYO ROUTE: Genevieve must discard either Hong Kong or Honolulu to get Landing Rights in Tokyo, as they are all in the same region.
• OPTION C: SHANGHAI–BEIJING ROUTE: Genevieve does not have a card in Beijing’s region, so she must discard both Hong Kong and Honolulu to get Landing Rights in Beijing.

Engineers

You use Engineers to take actions. You assign your Engineers during the Engineer phase each round to the five areas on the board. You gain the benefits of your Engineer’s actions during the Resolution phase.

Directive Cards

Directive cards give your airline an edge over the competition. The bottom of each Directive card indicates the phase (in black) and step (in red) in which the card can be played. You may play it at any time during the indicated step.

Some Directive cards must be played when resolving an Engineer. These cards all refer to the Resolution phase and you can’t play the card if you don’t have an Engineer assigned to the indicated area of the board. Play the card either directly before or directly after resolving the Engineer.

Directive Card Examples

Here are two examples of how Directive cards are used:

• Ruby plays the “Prediction” card during the Stock Adjustment step of the Event phase. She decides to play the card after the Event card is revealed, earning $3 and a peek at the next round’s Event.
• Later that turn, Aaron plays the “Regional Airport” card while resolving his Engineer at the Routes (D) area. He chooses to resolve the card first, which allows him to place an Airport on a city. He then resolves the Engineer’s action, where he uses the Airport he just placed to claim a Route.

PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF!
Let’s start playing as you read through the instructions. We begin by going through each phase of a round.

The game is played in a series of seven rounds. Each round has four phases:

1. EVENT PHASE: Players reveal and resolve the next Event card.
2. ENGINEER PHASE: Players take turns assigning Engineers to specific actions.
3. RESOLUTION PHASE: Players gain the benefits of their Engineers’ actions.
4. PAN AM PHASE: Pan Am expands and players earn income.

About the Event Card

An Event card has three areas of interest: the Event, the adjustment to the Stock Price, and the number of times the die is rolled when Pan Am expands later in the round.

The historical text below the photo does not affect game play.

Phase 1: Event Phase

There are two steps in the Event phase:

• REVEAL STEP: Reveal the next Event card and put it on the designated spot on the board. Unless the card says otherwise, the Event occurs immediately.
• STOCK PRICE STEP: Look at the Stock Price area of the Event card to see how the current Stock Price changes:
  • Move the Stock Price up by one.
  • Move the Stock Price down by one.
  • Set the Stock Price to the indicated number.

Phase 2: Engineer Phase

In the Engineer phase, players assign Engineers to Bidding Tracks and Work Sites. This determines the actions you take in the Resolution phase. There are two steps in the Engineer phase:

• PRIORITY ACCESS STEP: Assign Engineers with Priority Access. Engineers placed at the Directives (E) area in the previous round have Priority Access. Starting with the leftmost Engineer on the Directives (E) Work Site, assign each Engineer to any space in areas (A–D).
  

  IMPORTANT: Skip the Priority Access step during the first round.

• ASSIGNMENT STEP: Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order assigning one Engineer at a time. Engineers that are overbid on a Bidding Track are reassigned in turn order, as explained below. A player passes their turn if they have already assigned all their Engineers. After the players are done assigning Engineers (it’s possible not all Engineers are assigned), then proceed to the Resolution phase.

If you cannot, or choose not to, assign an Engineer, set it aside. You take back that Engineer at the beginning of the next round.

Assigning Engineers

You assign Engineers to spaces in five areas to select actions that will be taken during the Resolution phase:

• A AIRPORTS: Place an Airport in a city of your choice.
• B DESTINATIONS: Acquire a Destination card.
• C PLANES: Acquire an additional Plane.
• D ROUTES: Claim a Route with your Airports, Planes, and Destination cards.
• E DIRECTIVES: Draw a Directive card. (Engineers placed here have Priority Access next round.)

You don’t resolve the action or pay any Money for your bids until the Resolution phase.

Bidding Tracks (A, B, C)

Each Bidding Track has four spaces indicating the cost a player must pay in the Resolution phase.

• You may assign your Engineer to any space on an unoccupied track.
• If the track already has an Engineer on it, your Engineer must be placed on a higher spot and the first Engineer is returned to its player.

CAUTION: During the Resolution phase, if you can’t pay for your bid, you must sell Stock at a loss to earn enough money to do so.

Work Sites (D, E)

Work Sites are filled from left to right. Engineers are placed in the space to the right of the previously placed Engineer.

STRATEGY TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST GAME
For the first round, try to claim a Route during the Resolution phase by assigning an Engineer to the Routes (D) area. You’ll also need two Destination cards that match the regions of the two cities on the Route. If you don’t start with Destination cards that allow you to claim a Route, assign an Engineer to the Airport (A) area, or the Destinations (B) area to get a useful Destination card.

Ignore Routes with a distance of 3 or 4 because your starting Planes can only claim short Routes.

Phase 3: Resolution Phase

During the Resolution phase, Engineers perform their assigned actions. Resolve each Engineer in order, starting with the Airports (A) area and ending with the Directives (E) area.

Bid Too Much?

If you can’t afford to pay your bid, you must sell Stock. For each Stock you sell, you earn the current Stock Price minus $2. If you can’t afford the bid after selling all your Stock, you lose all your Money and don’t gain the benefit of the action. Any sold Stock is returned to the supply. This is the only time you are allowed to sell Stock.

For example, Archer does not have enough Money to pay for his bid, so he sells Stock. The current Stock Value is $6, so after subtracting the $2 penalty, each Stock he sells earns him $4.

A. Airports

Airports give you Landing Rights and raise your income by 1.

If your Engineer is assigned here, resolve as follows:

1. Pay the cost of your bid to the supply.
2. Take one of your Airports from the supply and place it on any city that doesn’t already have an Airport. If you don’t have any Airports left in the supply, you may move one of your Airports instead.
3. Take back your Engineer.
4. Increase your income on your player mat by 1. You don’t earn income when you move an Airport.

AIRPORT TIPS
Consider placing your Airport in a city next to one of your Destination cards.
An Airport is most useful at a city with a lot of Routes.

B. Destinations

Destination cards help you claim routes. For each Bidding Track with an Engineer, resolve as follows:

1. Pay the cost of your bid to the supply.
2. Take the Destination card and place it face up next to your player mat. You also earn any bonus Money on the card.
3. Take back your Engineer.

After resolving all the Engineers here, put bonus Money of $1 on all Destination cards that remain. Then refill any empty spots from the top of the Destination deck.

C. Planes

You always need a Plane to claim a Route.

There are four Bidding Tracks at this area, one for each type of Plane. Jets and Cruisers aren’t available to bid on until Round 3 and Round 6, respectively.

For each Bidding Track with an Engineer, resolve as follows:

1. Pay the cost of your bid to the supply.
2. Take the Plane you bid on and place it in your fleet on your player mat. If there are no Planes of that range in your color remaining, you gain nothing but still spend the Money on your bid.
3. Take back your Engineer.

D. Routes

Claiming Routes is the most important action in the game. Your ability to claim Routes depends on acquiring Landing Rights and having an available Plane. If you don’t have these things, you can’t claim a Route and your Engineer’s action is wasted.

Resolve each Engineer from left to right as follows:

1. Discard any Destination cards required to acquire Landing Rights, as explained on Page 7.
2. Place a Plane from your player mat on the Route’s distance diamond. The Plane must have a range that meets or exceeds the Route’s distance.
3. Increase your income on your player mat by the distance of the Route you claimed. For example, if you claim the Route between New York and Paris, you increase your income by the Route’s distance of 4.
4. Take back your Engineer.

E. Directives

The Directives area provides you a Directive card and gives your Engineer Priority Access in the next round.

Resolve each Engineer from left to right as follows:

1. Draw a Directive card. Look at the card, but keep it hidden from other players.
2. DO NOT take back your Engineer. This Engineer has Priority Access and remains in this area until the next Engineer phase.

Phase 4: Pan Am Phase

In this phase, Pan Am expands and the players earn Money and acquire Stock.

Expansion Step

Pan Am claims Routes by expanding from Miami. The current Event card shows how many times the first player rolls the Pan Am die. If multiple rolls are indicated, resolve each one before rolling again.

There are four symbols on the Pan Am die:

• South American Path / European Path / Asian-Pacific Path: If one or more paths are rolled, follow each indicated path out from Miami until you find a Route that is not claimed by Pan Am. If the Route is unclaimed, Pan Am claims it by putting a Pan Am Route Marker on it. If the Route is claimed by a player, that player must sell the Route to Pan Am.
• Pan Am: If the Pan Am symbol is rolled, Pan Am offers to buy Routes from anywhere in the world. Starting with the first player, each player may sell one Route they own to Pan Am. This Route does not need to be on one of Pan Am’s expansion paths.

Pan Am is most likely to expand on the Asian-Pacific path and least likely to expand on the European path.

Selling Routes to Pan Am

Each time Pan Am buys a Route from you, proceed as follows:

1. You earn Money, the Route Bonus, which you calculate by looking up the Route’s distance on the Route Bonus table. The table is also printed on the board for easy reference.
2. Replace your Plane on the Route with a Pan Am Route Marker. Put the Plane back in your fleet on your player mat.
3. Reduce your income on your player mat by the distance of the Route.

Once a Route is claimed by Pan Am, it cannot be claimed for the rest of the game.

Income Step

Players earn income from their Routes and Airports. Each player earns the amount of Money indicated by their Income Tracker.

If you need to recalculate your income, add the number of your Airports on the board to the sum of the distances of your Routes.

Stock Step

At this step, the players may buy Stock in Pan Am. Starting with the First Player, each player may buy as much Stock as they wish to pay for. The current Stock Price is indicated by the Stock Marker on the board.

Expansion Example

The current Event card shows the die twice.

1. The first roll shows the Pan Am symbol, so each player may sell a Route to Pan Am. The first player (red) sells the Lisbon-Horta Route. As the Route’s distance is 1, the Route Bonus table shows the red player earns $5. They replace their Plane with a Pan Am Route Marker. The next player sells the distance 2 Lisbon-Bathurst Route for $9, takes back their Plane, and places a Pan Am Route Marker.
2. The second roll shows the South American path and the Asian-Pacific path. Pan Am buys the first available Route on the South American path: the San Juan-Port of Spain Route currently owned by the green player. The green player earns $5, and replaces their Plane with a Pan Am Route Marker. Pan Am also claims the Miami-Havana Route on the Asian-Pacific path. The players place a Pan Am Route Marker on the unclaimed Route.

End of the Round

Pass the First Player Marker to the next player in clockwise order. At the end of Round 2 and Round 5, remove the Cruiser and Jet Tiles, respectively, to indicate that new technology is available.

End of the Game

The game ends after Round 7. The player with the most Stock in Pan Am wins the game. If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Money wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Claim a Free Route

Some Event and Directive cards allow you to claim a free Route. This means you don’t need Landing Rights at the two cities on the Route; just place your Plane onto the Route’s distance diamond and increase your income on your player mat by the distance of the Route you claimed.

Upgrade

Some Event and Directive cards allow you to upgrade a Plane. To upgrade a Plane, return it to the hangar and replace it with a Plane that has a range exactly one higher. You can only upgrade Planes that are currently in your fleet on your player mat. You can’t upgrade to a Plane that is currently unavailable, either by having none remaining in the hangar or by having the Plane’s Bidding Track covered by the Cruiser or Jet tiles.

Alternate Rule: Rome Expansion

ALTERNATE RULE
After you have played the game a few times, you can play in an alternate timeline where Pan Am is founded in Rome instead of Miami. Whenever Pan Am expands along the three expansion paths, follow the indicated path out of Rome instead of Miami.