Back in 2011 ABC released a TV series called Pan Am which started my true love for being an airline stewardess down the line. I mention this goal in this post where I set my goal, pre-COVID19. The show only had 14 episodes and was cancelled after the first season, but it was my favorite show going into freshman year. My best friend and I dressed up in flight attendant costumes for Halloween that year. I so wish I had the photo laying around, I would drop it here for you all to enjoy. (I found it!!! Enjoy 😊)

Pan Am or Pan American World Airways was founded in 1927 as scheduled air mail and passenger airline service between Key West, FL & Havana, Cuba. They were the largest and principal airline until their demise in late 1991. During their time they lead some of the biggest innovations for the future of commercial airlines by creating a computerized booking system and paved the way for aviation advancements plane wise. This was very well highlighted in the pilot of the show, when Dean gets to fly the airlines new Clipper from New York to London. Their fleet was based out of the Worldport in New York City at John F Kennedy International Airport and were easily differentiated from other airlines by their big blue logo. They also had headquarters in Manhattan at 200 Park Ave, which is now the MetLife building. Unfortunately in 1973, Pan Am started their downfall alongside the oil crisis, a series of bad investments, and infrastructural restructuring that ultimately led to it’s bankruptcy in 1991. By the time everything was settled, 45 planes, most European routes, the Frankfurt hub and more had been bought up by competitors like Delta Airlines.

With all of this in mind some game makers at Funko got busy and planned out the game I’m enjoying so much lately, Pan Am the Game. Priced at about $35, this 2-4 player game is worth every penny in my opinion. There are 7 rounds per game and its all about strategy, planning ahead, playing special cards at specific phases to give you advantages and making income to buy stocks to win the game.

To start off you lay out the board like you would the average Monopoly, except this is Pan Am. ✈️ Theres a stack for your airlines airports in the top left corner, of which each airline/player gets 5. There is a stack of “Directives”, a stack of 7 “Round” cards, a stack of “Destination” cards, and a Pan Am stock marker on the board itself. All of these cards and such go with the phases A-E which make up game play. A corresponds to Airports, B is Destinations, C is Airplanes, D is Routes and E is Directives, each of which is clearly indicated on the map/board.

There is one Pan Am die for game play, and then each player gets an airline card that corresponds to a certain color. To kick off your airline, each player starts with $12, and 3 airplanes, 2 Trimotor airplanes and one Clipper. Trimotors can only go on routes equal to 1, Clippers can go on 2, Cruisers & Jets are 3 & 4 respectively, but they’re only available in certain rounds once the game has started. Your airline then gets to pick one Directive, and 2 Destination cards to start planning routes, airports and maximizing income for stocks.

Directives are super important, fun and help give you an advantage over the other airlines on the map including Pan Am. Each one is pretty unique, with the exception of a few multiples for things like buying stocks at no cost, but only at the end of the game once all is said and done. You can claim an unlimited amount of Directives over the course of the game and keep them to yourself, but its up to your discretion when to play them to maximize your turn and expansion income or route wise. If you end up forgetting to play them in the right phase, you’ll miss a bunch of opportunities so I highly recommend using them.

The game starts with round one, the player one tile is dealt out to the person who’s most recently flown in an airplane. They get to reveal the “Event” to kick off the round. From yesterdays game, we started off with a stock price of 4, Pan Am will expand once (roll the die once) and the general event is “at the start of the expansion phase Pan Am expands once along the Asian Pacific path”. This means there will actually be 2 expansions by Pan Am before we collect income, which means less routes for us to choose from, from the hub in Miami where Pan Am starts from. Player 1 gets to start and send an “Engineer” out to place a bid on one spot A-E. Bid spots come marked with a dollar amount or an open space which is essentially a free spot. Turns go clockwise at the very start and go one by one until all engineers are out on spots across the phases.

Once all engineers are placed, the resolution phase begins and Directives are able to be played as long as they meet the phase and resolution step. Starting with A, all airport bid spots are settled/ paid for so airports can be placed worldwide. If an airline claims a Destination card on the board, they pay for it and resolve that engineer in phase B. If an airplane is needed for someones fleet they make that purchase in phase C and bring it to their personal player card. Any routes people would like to claim are placed in D and then Directives are claimed in E and those Engineers stay put for next round. At this point its Pan Am’s turn and they expanded once along the Asian Pacific route from the event card, and then we roll once to figure out where else they expand because its indicated on the event card as well.

The next six rounds go in the same flow with the addition of your Directives each resolution, except for Rounds 4 & 6 you can buy Cruisers & Jets to draw in longer routes to make more income. Pan Am will work on building a monopoly unintentionally on the board and your airline is rewarded heavily for selling to Pan Am. The last round I usually sell most of my routes to Pan Am if possible so I can unload my bank account on Pan Am stocks since the round’s event will determine the fluctuating price of a stock.

I unfortunately lost both games last night by the end. 21 stocks and $4 to 27 stocks and $3, 24 Stocks to $4 to 24 Stocks and $5….he literally won by a dollar. I was devastated it came down to a single dollar, I thought I had him on stocks alone!!

Since this is my personal game I want to recolor the planes so they’re metallic colored and then get them matching velvet bags to store them in when the game is put away. They’re basic plastic colors currently and I am obsessed with DIY’s right now so its a perfect combo. I also wanted to make personal player cards to house a fleet and tell income to add a custom flair, so I created Grey2Bay Metropolitan Air.

If you guys get this game and do any tweaking to the board, planes or player cards like I have or plan to, post them and tag me. I’d love to see it, until then happy flying!!