A simple and fun city building game using resources to lace and build buildings, sounds very simple and easy, oh wait I made a mistake, oh crap there is another one, yep my city is f**ked, burn it and start again. This elegant little game is a city building game using resources, you collect them, you place them and you turn them in to building's that you will use to score points at the end of the game. It sounds so easy when I put it like that but once you ply the game you will see how this straightforward game will make you want to burn down the world.
Let us cover the basics
Players: 1 - 6 Age: 14+
Time: 30 minutes
Box contents
In this box you will get enough components for 6 players; 6 Player Boards 50 Sheet Scoring Pad 133 Wooden Buildings (separated into different types) 90 Wood Cubes (Wheat, wood, glass, stone and brick) 15 Building cards 40 Monument Cards 1 Master Builder Token 1 Rulebook
Now a lot when you see it all out, then again this game does not need a lot to play and that is one of the beautiful things about this game, quick to set up, qucik to play and quick to pack away! I like it already!
Aim of the game?
To score the most points at the end of the game, any unused spaces are -1 points so make sure you try to fill them all up! Yet to do this myself haha
Game setup
This game is so easy to set up it near enough sets it self up, well not quite, actually not close at all but you get what I mean, or do you? Each player takes a game board because you need one, that is obvious or where else would you build your city? Up your bum? D not do that it would be a s**t city.... Place all the building and resource meeples into a location that everyone can reach them with ease, if someone is struggling to reach them tell them to shut up and get on with it. Place the cottage card in the center of the table to the left, so we have room to place the other cards, this is the only card that is always out and never changes. Now look at the back of the rest of the building cards and put them in piles, you should have 6 piles with 4 cards in each, shuffle each pile of 4 cards, draw one and place them in a row. At the end you should have 7 cards out one from each type and the cottage card. Now shuffle the purple monument cards and deal 2 to each player, each player will then look at the cards and choose to keep 1, put the rest of the cards back into the box because they will not be used again. In this game, of course at some point they will be used again.
Okay, now take one monument meeple for each player and give them this, tell them they suck. Now the player who last built something will go first and then you are ready to play! See what I mean? This took next to no time to set up and we are about to start playing, oh yeah can I get a whoop, whoop?
How to play?
This game is so easy to play but so hard to master! That is what I want to say before we start! On your turn you will name a resource from the ones you can pick;
Brick - Red/orange colour
Glass - Blue
Wheat - Yellow Stone - Grey Wood - Brown All players now take that resource and must place it on their town board in a empty square. Now if you notice on the game cards they have a pattern of coloured squares and you must match these (in any orientation) to build that building. The rule books shows you a good example of this and.
Now If we look at the farm card you need 2 wheat and 2 wood, they must be yellow, yellow on the top row and brown, brown on the bottom row, this means you need
Wheat Wheat Wood Wood Now you could build this using this orientation Wheat Wood
Wheat Wood This is the same pattern but rotated 90 degrees, this is allowed, I find it easy to pick the card up and rotate it near my board to make sure I know I am building it right, however this shows other people what I am aiming for. Once you place down a resources it stays there, it can not be moved, it is there until you use it or the game ends. There are some buildings that allow you to do otherwise but we are not covering them.
You now pass the builders hammer to the next player and they name a resource and this is how each player gets a turn and what they need to do, literally call a resource because any one can build at any time! All buildings have rules and how to score them, you need to pay attention to this and make sure you follow the text on the card. Now to build a building you can do this at any point on any ones turn, you do not even need to build them you can stock pile loads of resources and then build them, this is up to you. The only time you can not build one is if you have not placed the resource cube down on the board and still have it in your hand. It needs to be placed to be built! Once you place a building it can not be moved, and it can only be placed in one of the squares that had one of the resource cubes in that was used to build that building. Once built you discard the resources back into their piles and that's that! You have built your first building! Of course make sure you use the correct meeple from the right pile for that building as you will need this to score the points at the end of the game!
You can also build your monument if you match the pattern needed, only you can build this one, no one else will have the same one! The game will continue until all players have passed, once you pass you are out of the game and need to score your little town based on the cards and constructions you built. That is how you play the game, it is easy, but hard to master, the amount of times I have had a plan in my head and started building it to then realise I have gone wrong is unreal! All it takes is one misplaced resource cube or building to ruin your game plan.
Final thoughts?
When I finished reading the rules and setting up the first game (the game it tells you to set up for your first game) I thought to myself "Well, this is going to be a piece of piss!" Then I made a few moves and was all excited about my amazing plan to fill my city. After placing my first building I soon realised that my plan was s**t and I was doomed!
This game sounds so simple and yet so complicated, thinking about the design, where resourced need to go, where you need certain buildings to make sure you are feeding your cottages and the million other things you soon come to know this game is hard, not hard to learn but just hard to master.
It is brilliant to be honest, just such a clever and simple game with a high level of thinking. It is like chess, but for building, I can not believe how much I under estimated the game. Everything about this game lures you in with a false sense of security before it destroys you and your soul. It does it in a nice way though.
This game is simply brilliant and I really recommend this game!
8/10
