Solo: PanaBot

The PanaBot solitaire variant for Panamax: setup, how the bot loads, chooses and moves, its flags and stock, payouts and difficulty

Short tag: [PanaBot]

PanaBot is a fan-made solitaire variant by Dale Buonocore, published on BoardGameGeek as The PanaBot Solitaire Variant; a flowchart version is also there. It is not part of the published rules. You play a normal two-player game against an automated company.

What it adds

• A rival company that needs no decisions from you: a six-sided die and fixed priority lists choose for it.
• Its backers pay all its costs: it starts with no money, pays no fees and never takes Bonus cards.
• Its score is its profit plus any Managing Director Awards; you score normally. Beat it.

Setup

• Set up a two-player game (Two and three players). You are 1st player.
• PanaBot needs no Clipboard. All four of its ships are built and ready; it has no money; its stock starts at $6 as usual.
• Take the Offshore Accounts Financial Advisor card, then draw 3 more and keep one. PanaBot gets none. You still score your best 2 at the end.
• Draw 2 Setup Contract cards: keep one, give PanaBot the other. Both of you load as usual — PanaBot by the loading priorities below, never onto the Rail table.

Loading priorities

PanaBot follows the normal loading rules. It loads its highest die first, and for each die takes the first option that works:

1. The 1st wagon of the Rail table, when the container requires it and there is room.
2. A Cruise ship that can take it (a 1 or 2), the smallest first; failing that, any other ship as cargo.
3. One of its own ships already out, the smallest first.
4. One of your ships already out, the smallest first.
5. Its smallest ship still unplaced that can take the die.
6. Still a tie? Roll the die.

Choosing actions

• Roll the six-sided die to choose among the dice it could take; narrow the roll to fit 2 or 3 options and re-roll when there are more.
• With an Executive die, roll again: either the normal action of its side, or a Market action. For a Market action roll once more: a free share of its own company (stock +$1 as usual) or stock +$2.
• It does as much of the chosen action as it can. If it takes a Contract die but cannot take the contract, it still loads what it can; if nothing at all is possible, it passes.
• PanaBot never buys your shares, and you cannot buy its.

Movement priorities

PanaBot moves ships from the starting area that comes first in this list:

1. Where its cargo would pay the highest total fee right now; ties go to the area with more of its ships, then more pips of its dice.
2. Where a Military ship would pay it the most, even if it has already been paid this turn (the one nearest the exit on a tie; otherwise the smallest).
3. Where your cargo would pay the lowest total fee; ties go to the area with more of your ships, then your lowest dice total.
4. Still a tie? Roll the die.

It groups ships to carry its own cargo (highest dice total first) and paying Military ships, and drops ships that do it no good at the first chance — even when that helps you.

Flags and stock

Whenever PanaBot completes a set of flags — three of one nation, or one of each of the four — its backers give it a free share of its own company, and its stock rises $1.

Payouts and end of round

• When one of its ships leaves the canal, PanaBot always takes the money, never a Bonus card. Other payouts are normal.
• At round end its backers pay all its cargo fees. It is paid dividends on the shares it holds and can win the Managing Director Award; on a tie, compare your company’s money with PanaBot’s.
• When it may take a flag from the Rail table, roll for it among those available.
• Anything the rules do not cover: do what helps PanaBot most, or roll among equal choices.

Difficulty options

Harder:

1. Take only Offshore Accounts at the start (you still score 2 cards at the end).
2. When you earn a Financial Advisor card, draw only the top 3 and keep one.
3. Choose PanaBot’s Rail-table flags to complete its sets.
4. PanaBot always takes an available Executive die; roll for which kind of action.
5. If it cannot load from a contract it took, flip it to the generic side and load as best serves it.
6. If it takes a contract it cannot use at all, it moves the die to the Movement side instead (highest value, rightmost column).

Easier: make PanaBot pay its cargo fees at the end of round 3, or of rounds 2 and 3.