On the whole, the gameplay of Anno 117: Pax Romana is pretty straightforward. However, some things can only be optimized through trial and error, so here are some beginner tips and tricks for new Anno 117: Pax Romana players.

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How To Enter First Person Mode In Anno 117 Pax Romana

Players can explore the city they built by entering the third or first person mode in Anno 117: Pax Romana.

Build Two Woodcutters And Two Sawmills

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At the beginning of your gameplay, it's crucial to build Woodcutter and Sawmill buildings to create Timber. While the tutorial only requires you to make one of each, it's a great idea to immediately build two of them. This will ensure you always have Timber stock, and also allow you to remove forest safely, as wood needs will be covered. Just keep some forest for Charcoal later.

Every building in the game has a processing time. Both the Woodcutter and the Sawmill require 30 seconds to produce, so one Woodcutter can effectively provide for one Sawmill. However, more advanced buildings like the Bakery have a different processing time.

The Wheat Farm and Bakery need 60 seconds to work, while the Flour Mill only needs 30 seconds. This means that to optimize production, players should have two Wheat Farms and two Bakeries for one Flour Mill. However, note that having two Bakeries may be redundant if you don't have that many Plebeians or Mercators (Tier 2 Roman citizens).

Change The Speed Of The Game

anno-117-pax-romana-beginner-tips-tricks-starter-guide-how-play - max speed

Anno 117: Pax Romana allows players to change the game's speed to make the gameplay less tedious. For instance, instead of watching the ship sail slowly towards its destination, a maximum speed will let the ship sail smoothly and quickly. It's also useful when players are waiting for a resource or certain refreshes.

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How To Get & Use Specialists In Anno 117 Pax Romana

Specialists can aid players in Anno 117: Pax Romana by providing various buffs; here's how to get and use them.

Players can also pause the game if necessary, allowing them to make changes to the city without having to face risks such as unrest or fire disasters.

Don't Rush The Campaign

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The campaign in Anno 117: Pax Romana guides players through the storyline and introduces the game's mechanics in steps. However, the game doesn't come with a timer. Even when Calidus is forcing the governor to be exiled to Albion, players can stay in Latium as long as they want, ensuring they have enough Denarii to prosper in the new land.

Some occurrences come with a timer, like certain demands.

Keep An Eye On Negative Attributes

anno-117-pax-romana-beginner-tips-tricks-starter-guide-how-play - low fire safety

At the start, the player's city will have minimal issues, but as they increase their City Status in Anno 117: Pax Romana, some attributes will become negative. A low Health stat will lead to the spread of sickness, low Happiness may cause unrest, while low Fire Safety may trigger a fire around the city.

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A Beast Of Lore Quest Guide In Anno 117 Pax Romana

Players must bring a majestic beast to impress Athr in the A Beast of Lore quest in Anno 117: Pax Romana.

Therefore, it's important to raise these attributes by building City Watch buildings such as Vigiles, Medici, and Custodes. Additionally, buildings such as the Bakery should be built far from compacted buildings as they come with fire risk.

Check The Statistics

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By pressing on the governor's portrait at the top of the screen, players can access the Statistics view. This is incredibly useful to check which building is producing too much, and which isn't producing enough.​​​​​​

For instance, in the picture above, the city is producing 2/2 Sardines, but the city only consumes less than 2. This means that the island is currently producing enough Sardines, but once more Workforce enters the area, players may need to build more fishing huts.

Roads Between Buildings

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The game lets you build as many buildings as you want next to each other, but this may not always be ideal since the distance between buildings is sometimes measured by roads.

For example, in the image above, the Houses are separated by roads in the middle, allowing the Sanctuary to affect all of them.

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However, if you remove the roads between the houses, the access to Sanctuary now requires citizens to take a "detour." This long distance reduces the effect of the Sanctuary, where some Houses are now unaffected by the Sanctuary's presence.

Building buffs in Anno 117: Pax Romana are only applicable if the building is active.

Don't Stress About Maximum Productions

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Certain buildings require a number of things around them to produce optimally. For example, for a Woodcutter structure, they need 80 forests to have 100% production. However, you don't need to worry even if the Woodcutter has 95 or 98% production, as it won't affect them too much.

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Which Julius Lupus Brother Should You Choose? (Gemini In The Rough) In Anno 117 Pax Romana

Players can choose either Brutus or Gaius Julius Lupus as a Specialist in Anno 117: Pax Romana's Gemini in the Rough event.

Additionally, if a building is not producing optimally or is producing too much, you can always move or disable it. Disabling is especially useful if your storage is full, as it reduces upkeep in Anno 117: Pax Romana.

Build Field In Awkward Edges

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The islands in Anno 117: Pax Romana aren't shaped into a perfect square. In fact, the area will have awkward edges that players can't build on. The best way to utilize these awkward borders is by using them for fields. Fields require a lot of space to grow, yet each plantation only occupies one grid, allowing them to be placed freely.

In terms of buildings, players can learn the hotkeys in Anno 117: Pax Romana to ease the construction process. Players should also know that they can mass-build by doing a long press, and can copy or move an area all at once by blocking it (long press and select an area).

Ornaments can increase your Prestige, so you can use tight spaces to decorate.

Settle On New Islands

anno-117-pax-romana-beginner-tips-tricks-starter-guide-how-play - settle on an island

Each island in Anno 117: Pax Romana has specific Island Fertilities, so if you need certain resources, you must either import them or obtain them from another island. Therefore, players should know that they can expand and settle on new islands in Anno 117: Pax Romana.

Settling on another island is locked by a quest in the campaign.

Unlock Research And Deity ASAP

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Research takes quite some time to perform, so whenever possible, players should prioritize making research buildings like Grammaticus in Anno 117: Pax Romana. This way, they won't be behind on advancement.

Additionally, Deity in Anno 117: Pax Romana can grant various useful buffs, making buildings like Fanum or Sanctuary another priority.

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City Builder
Simulation
Strategy
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Systems
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Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 92%
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Released
November 13, 2025
ESRB
Teen / Alcohol Reference, Language, Mild Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s)
Ubisoft
Publisher(s)
Ubisoft
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
City Builder, Simulation, Strategy