Review Detail

Pax Porfiriana might not be my favorite Pax game, but it is perhaps the most pure, cutthroat one. The core feature of the Pax series is players fighting each other while simultaneously tilting the game state from chaos, to order and back again to their advantage. Porfiriana is the Pax game that has the sharpest knives---players can easily lose almost their entire tableau to other players and/or to game state changes. Compared to Pax Renaissance, you will gain and lose far more cards (easy come, easy go) in an average game.

The first time you pursue a red (revolutionaries) strategy while simultaneously plunging the board into recession---which bankrupts all the other players with their shiny, expensive toys, banks, and productive investments--- you'll know the true joys of Pax Porfiriana.