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Pax Porfiriana

SUpport or topple the Regime?

Pax Porfiriana is a card game based on Lords of the Sierra Madre; topic is the rule of Dictator Porfirio Diaz over Mexico. As a wealthy business man before the revolution you try to set up business empires, support Diaz or are on the side of the coming revolution; depending on your loyalty there are differences in income and possibilities of actions. The core of the game is a display of cards, from which you take cards for free or for money. You can acquire buildings that offer different income depending on their kind, but only while there is no depression. Other cards are played against other players, who score points for this, and you can score points from partner and troops cards. After three action phases you remove headlines, fill up the market, receive income and pay – during a depression – one gold per card in play. You can negotiate and enter into non-binding agreements at any time in the game. With the acquisition of a “Topple” card a Toppling is initiated and you check for dethroning the dictator – you compare loyalty, outrage revolution or military points, again in relation who holds power at the moment; Diaz is given the points of the two weakest players, should somebody have more points than the total result for Diaz he wins instantly.

Not an easy or simple topic, but a detailed and realistic implementation that is not easy to play. The rules are, as in all games from Sierra Madre, very copious and need a lot of time to get familiar with them and also a good working knowledge of English; the same goes for the components – all in all a simulation for expert players that is worth the trouble of trying it out.

Players: 2-5

Age: 12+

Time: 120+

Designer: Phil Eklund, Matt Eklund, Jim Gutt

Artist: Phil Eklund

Price: ca. 30 Euro

Publisher: Sierra Madre Games 2012

Web: www.sierramadregames.com

Genre: Politics simulation with cards

Users: For experts

Version: en

Rules: de en

In-game text:

Comments:

Adaptation of Lords of Sierra Madre

Rules and component need some learning curve

German rules not up to the English ones

Realistic simulation

Compares to:

Lords of the Sierra Madre

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 1

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 0

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 3

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0