You've been tasked by the city council to put together a plan to transform a whole neighborhood in the city. You have the opportunity to build new housing, office buildings, parks, and leisure areas near the waterfront. It is in your hands to make the city a better place.
Cities is a city-building game in which you draft the best projects and arrange them in your own playing area. With action and resource draft mechanisms, it will give you the opportunity to visit the cities of Sydney, Venice, New York, Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires. Can you design the most magnificent neighborhood?
The game is played over eight rounds (or four rounds in a two-player game). Each round, players use their workers to collect 1 scoring card, 1 city tile, 1-2 feature tiles, and 2-4 building pieces. City tiles are made up of park spaces, water spaces, and building spaces. Building pieces are placed on building spaces of the same color to form buildings, which can be 1-4 stories high. Whenever a player fulfills an achievement, they place one of their discs on the achievement board. At the end of the game, players add up the points they have gained from all of their scoring cards and achievements.
—description from the publisher
- Engaging city-building theme
- Accessible engine with tableau-building flavor
- Some players feel thematic integration could be clearer
- City growth through project drafting
- Urban city-building and planning
- Strategic, thematic
- Dominion
- Carcassonne
- In the Mood for Cities
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- drafting — Players draft projects to place in their city.
- tableau-building — Cards and placed projects form a tableau maximizing points.
- tile/board placement — Projects are placed to shape a growing city.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- board games a lot of ways have helped me find friends and build confidence in Social aspects
- we sold out about half our inventory yesterday
- the Mandalorians got it right
- the show must go on
- semi-cooperative
- I cannot win
References (from this video)
- great visual presence and table presence
- accessible and family-friendly
- potentially light for heavier gamers
- urban development, planning and competition
- Global city-building with real-world destinations
- lighter, accessible
- Architects of the West Kingdom
- Possibly other city-builders
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- city-building / project drafting — draft projects and build neighborhoods up to four stories
- seasoned, multi-criteria scoring — points based on height, color variety, and completed objectives
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Rebel Princess is fantastic.
- The premise is it's kind of like a slight social deduction setting.
- it's a tableau building game
- the end-game via last tile is clever
- the cutest little game
- Dune Imperium is my number one
- hidden roles add tension and intrigue
- the eight rounds
- tiles and shared space create intense competition
References (from this video)
- strong table presence and accessibility
- enjoyable for diverse players and ages
- potentially light for heavier gamers
- urban planning and development
- Global city-building with real-world destinations
- bright and approachable
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- multi-criteria scoring — points based on height, color variety, and color sets
- project drafting and building — draft and construct neighborhoods; build up to four stories
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Rebel Princess is fantastic.
- The premise is it's kind of like a slight social deduction setting.
- it's a tableau building game
- the end-game via last tile is clever
- the cutest little game
- Dune Imperium is my number one
- hidden roles add tension and intrigue
- the eight rounds
- tiles and shared space create intense competition
References (from this video)
- elegant tile-placement
- varied city themes (e.g., Sydney, Venice, New York)
- expansion potential (Cities USA)
- randomness of draws can impact pacing
- may benefit from expansions for replay variety
- tile-placement and city development
- globally themed city-building
- family-friendly, accessible
- Castle Combo
- Endeavor Deep Sea
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- achievements and secret objectives — top cards grant endgame bonuses and personal goals
- secret objectives / endgame bonuses — hidden goals influence scoring strategy
- tile placement — build a city by placing tiles with varied effects
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's the cutest little game with these cute oversized Rocap bars
- Green Team always wins
- Endeavor Deep Sea... due to problematic slavery mechanic
- Windmill Valley is beautiful to look at
- I love cities
- Arcs is hot
- Cities USA coming soon
- Telestrations was hilarious