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Stronghold Games and MESAboardgames Team Up for ‘Panamax’

Mar 8, 2014

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal (Thank you Teddy Roosevelt!) Stronghold Games and MESAboardgames are combining their talents to release Panamax. Players will represent companies within the Colón Free Trade Zone as they look to put together the most efficient and profitable shipping powerhouse. Panamax will be available in limited supplies at Gen Con 2014 with a full game premiere at Spiel in Essen later in October.

From Stronghold Games:

Stronghold Games and MESAboardgames are proud to announce jointly a major 2014 hobby board game release, Panamax, an economic game of ship and cargo movement through the Panama Canal.

The release of Panamax is timed to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal, still one of the most important and impressive engineering achievements of modern times. Its economic impact developed the region and changed shipping worldwide. Ships around the world are built to a maximum size specifically to be able to traverse the Canal. These ships are called PANAMAX.

In Panamax, players represent companies established in the Colón Free Trade Zone, the largest free port in the Americas, at the entrance to the Panama Canal. Players will negotiate contracts to use ships that arrive at both entrances to the Canal, coming from the USA, China and Europe, which will enable them to profit from the cargo and ship movement. Players will deliver containers onto ships, move ships through the Canal by opening and closing the locks of the Panama Canal, obtain better contracts, invest in the stock market, and hire the best people to work for their companies.

Panamax utilizes several original game mechanics. The highly interactive ship movement system requires players to move their ships through the locks of the Panama Canal, which will also push other players’ ships through the canal simultaneously. This ship movement must be done as efficiently as possible, while not providing too much benefit to the other players’ ships. There is also a die-based action selection system, whereby players remove dice from the movement or cargo loading areas to perform actions. Timing and efficiency of a player’s actions in Panamax is crucial to victory.

“This great game release underscores one of core philosophies at Stronghold Games”, said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “We will continue to bring to North America great games from Europe, as well as support our existing internal game lines. We are excited to be working on this project with the excellent company, MESAboardgames.”

”We long wanted to make a game about the Panama Canal, one of the most exciting global human enterprises. In association with renowned authors Paulo Soledade and Nuno Sentieiro (Authors of “Madeira”, released 2013), Mesaboardgames is proud to get to market a game through which players can live a great experience: to cross the Panama Canal”, said Gil d’Orey, co-founder and author at Mesaboardgames. “This partnership with Stronghold Games made it possible and enhances the distribution in English speaking countries, namely in the US, where the Panama Canal holds a very special place in its history.”

Panamax is scheduled to premiere in Essen, Germany in October at the annual Spiel game convention. Stronghold Games may have advanced copies available to demo or purchase at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana USA in August.

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...