Scoring is based on having the most of something and adjacency to other useful and compatible zones of your city. Simple, but the ingenious blocking mechanism that come in to play mean a thinning board towards the end of each round. Using an architect numbered from one to five, you select a row on the grid of building before you – once picked up, you have to place that building in the section of your personal board that matches the number. Keep an eye out for the review in the next issue.Ī hardhat-wearing worker-placement game, where you can get blocked from grabbing the construction materials you need by other players. And with a touch of Monopoly about it, in a good way, this is one of the slickest city builders out there. With stunning art and design by Heiko Günther and Kwanchai Moriya, this is a showpiece of a city-builder that will dominate the skyline of your games evening. The game uses a smart ‘move as far ahead as you like’ and ‘last player goes first’ worker placement system that means getting ahead might put you behind in the end. With a ten year anniversary coming up, and the 7 Wonders Duel version for duos, now’s a great time to return to an ancient favourite.Ī game about building big towers in the city while trying not to build up too much corruption. Make the most of the choices you’re given – as every card you don’t choose is an option for your opponents. Some cards are simply for points, while others create lasting effects on other players. Using a pick and pass method, players build up their cities, rolling out their strategy as they go. This might be a cheat, as many of these cities now lay in ruins (spoilers, sorry) – but 7 Wonders is a classic on the theme of building your city up to be the best around the table. One for those who want a meaty city management game that doesn’t mind making fun of what Alspach refers to as the “ugly sprawl”. While it’s not exactly Sim City, it does have a number of nods to the classic city building series. Managing the reputation of your area is key to success, as when you grow your population there’s more to deal with – and people won’t move without a good reason.
Players create their own cities using hexagonal tiles, gaining points for placement. Ted Alspach’s tribute to the great American sprawl is a masterpiece of buying and building. Here then are our favourite building and construction games – whether that’s cities or kingdoms The life of a property mogul can be a tough one, whether it’s annoying rules and regulations stopping you from bulldozing people’s houses to make way for your latest venture, or the bank/mafia wanting you to ‘pay back’ your loan.