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Description
2212: Ginkgo Biloba, the oldest and strongest tree in the world, has become the symbol of a new method for building cities in symbiosis with nature. Humans have exhausted the resources that the Earth offered them, and humanity must now develop cities that maintain a delicate balance between resource production and consumption. Habitable space is scarce, however, and mankind must now face the challenge of building ever upwards. To develop this new type of city, you will gather a team of experts around you, and try to become the best urban planner for Ginkgopolis.
In Ginkgopolis, the city tiles come in three colors: yellow, which provides victory points; red, which provides resources; and blue, which provides new city tiles. Some tiles start in play, and they're surrounded by letter markers that show where new tiles can be placed.
Begin with three Character cards which grant you starting resources and bonuses to power your game actions. On a turn, each player chooses a Construction or Urbanization card from his hand simultaneously. Players reveal these cards, adding new tiles to the border of the city in the appropriate location or placing tiles on top of existing tiles. Each card in your hand that you don't play is passed on to your left-hand neighbor, so keep in mind how your play might set up theirs!
When you build over a tile, you add its “power" card to your tableau, which provides you additional abilities during the game, allowing you to scale up your building and point-scoring efforts.
Year Published
2012
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment:
pos 7 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video YkpjWIcTXpM
The Broken Meeple game_review at 1:00 sentiment: negative
video_pk 9385 · mention_pk 27686
Click to watch at 1:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Green spaces module introduces a genuine strategic layer that enhances the area-control aspect and can be a standout feature for experienced players.
- The expansion includes a useful reference aid in the form of power summaries for players, which can help new players get up to speed more quickly than relying solely on the base game's quick-start materials.
- Component quality remains high, with thick tiles and attractive artwork that maintain the tactile and visual appeal of the base game.
Cons
- Most modules add noticeable complexity without delivering commensurate depth or clarity, making teaching and learning harder—especially for new players.
- Event tiles are unintuitive to read and interpret, and several effects feel vindictive or disruptive in a way that clashes with the cooperative sense of territorial progression that area-control games often strive for.
- The Keeper card module is essentially a rule variant that feels like a minimal inclusion printed to count as a module, leading to a perception that a paragraph of text on a website would suffice rather than dedicating space to a feature buyers actually paid for.
- Expert cards introduce balance concerns and create a heavier cognitive load. They tilt the game toward certain strategies, may overburden teachable moments for newcomers, and complicate balancing discussions even for experienced players.
Thematic elements
- Urban planning, resource management, and territorial influence with a strong emphasis on area control and strategic adjacency. The game invites players to think about how districts relate to one another, how to leverage adjacent buildings for scoring, and how to manage spatial resources as the city evolves.
- A stylized, modular city where players develop districts by adding colored tiles that rise in height and shape as the city grows. The city is built on a grid that expands as players place tiles to the edge and onto existing structures, creating a layered urban landscape.
- Abstract yet thematic—the game channels the feel of planning a growing metropolis without a traditional narrative thread. The emphasis is on spatial decisions, flow of tiles, and the evolving geometry of the board, rather than a character-driven or story-driven arc.
Comparison games
- Isle of Skye: Journeyman expansion
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area majority and end-game scoring — End-game scoring hinges on district control and the distribution of resources, with players aiming to secure majority in various districts and leverage adjacent tiles and resources to maximize points. The scoring tends to reward careful territorial balancing and timing rather than sheer expansion.
- Hand management and passing mechanics — In the base game, unplayed cards pass to the left, creating a social dynamic where you try to predict what the next player will need. The expansion introduces variants that alter this flow, adding an additional layer of decision-making and potential disruption to your opponents.
- Module-based expansion structure — The expansion bundles multiple modules that can be toggled on or off, allowing players to customize the complexity and flavor of the game. Each module introduces new buildings, scoring options, or rule variants, creating a modular kaleidoscope of possible game states and strategies.
- Park spaces and urbanization actions (green spaces) — Green spaces function as parks that interact with the urbanization action. They add strategic depth by enabling special scoring opportunities and adjacency synergies, thereby encouraging a more deliberate placement of districts around green areas and altering end-game majority calculus.
- Resource adjacency and end-game synergy — Parks and adjacent districts can influence how resources are counted toward majorities. The interaction creates a nuanced layer where the placement of one tile reverberates through nearby districts, affecting multiple scoring dimensions.
- Simultaneous action selection and card drafting — On each turn, players select a card from their hand and then reveal all selections at once. The chosen card dictates how and where you add tiles, while unplayed cards pass to your left, creating a dynamic flow of information and pressure as neighbor players gain potential benefits or constraints from passing choices.
- Tile placement and border expansion — Players place tiles to expand the city along the border of their player area, choosing where to extend the urban footprint. Tiles can be stacked on top of one another, creating height differentials that influence scoring and future placement options.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this expansion just felt very lackluster
- the green spaces are the best thing in it
- it's not a gateway level game but it adds complexity that new players just don't need
- the keeper card is basically a paragraph of writing and could have been a website update rather than a boxed module
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video weH-wmw3U0I
Foster the Meeple convention_recap at 8:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8051 · mention_pk 23698
Click to watch at 8:44
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- interesting take on city-building
- solid table pacing
Cons
- some players may prefer lighter games
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's been so long hopefully we remember everything
- the library is huge there are thousands and thousands of games
- we had an absolute blast
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video b23wBzKOhS4
Our First Place top_12_list at 24:09 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4287 · mention_pk 12478
Click to watch at 24:09
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Urban development with resource management
- City-building in a post-urban forested world
- Strategic, polyomino-like city construction
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we want to play them and share these hot games with you
- we love this community that we're building
- we're going to try to play them too
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 8QAu7leFP_E
Chairman of the Board game_review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3450 · mention_pk 10206
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Meaningful card drafting that creates strategic, not trivial, decisions
- Tight integration of drafting, placement, area control, and engine-building
- Strong replayability with simultaneous turns and scalable player counts
- High component quality and a visually appealing, modern aesthetic
Cons
- Theme is paper-thin and abstract, which may not appeal to everyone
- Relatively expensive components and setup may deter some players
- Learning curve can be steep for first-time players
Thematic elements
- city-building with abstract, tile-based growth and区域 control
- a near-future city being built and redeveloped
- thin theme with a strong emphasis on mechanics over storytelling
Comparison games
- Trois
- Carson City
- Black Angel
- Carnegie
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Controlling buildings/regions grants end-game points and strategic leverage over others.
- card drafting — Players simultaneously select from four cards each turn, shaping actions and the game's engine.
- Engine building / follow-up bonuses — Building and card effects provide ongoing bonuses, raising capacity and rewards as the game progresses.
- Tile placement / expansion — Tiles are placed or grown on the board by matching surrounding tokens, increasing the city layout.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Ginkopolis is quite a strange game where there's quite a few independent mechanisms going on
- it's a very transparent game
- there isn't any kind of trump card you can just whip out and you know take someone by surprise it's quite deterministic
- I love that fact that with a drafting game I think most of them are normally quite breezy quick decisions to be made but with this one they are quite meaningful decisions
- the more you play this game the more you get your head around how it plays out
- this game resonates with me, has a timeless feel
- the game has a great sense of progression and tension over time
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video QdrVqft3K5Y
The Brothers Murph top_10_list at 17:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2921 · mention_pk 8545
Click to watch at 17:03
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Incredible scaling from 2 to 5 players
- Game length stays at approximately 45 minutes even at 5 players
- Elegant and simple turn structure
- Combines multiple mechanics (drafting, tile placement, area control, engine building) seamlessly
- Deep strategy despite simple rules
- Mike's favorite game in his top 5 of all time
- Fantastic at full player count
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Building an ecological modern city
- Modern urban cityscape
- Urban development simulation
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Area majority scoring for colored tile blocks
- Card activation — Playing cards to activate various board tiles or build in the city
- card drafting — Drafting cards as you play
- engine building — Building tiles to unlock more resources and points
- Resource management — Managing resources to build tiles
- tile placement — Building the city horizontally or vertically with colored tiles
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Let's be honest board game publishers be lying sometimes
- Most people would consider most games to not play really well at all of those player counts
- That's something you can contribute to the site. We recommend you do that
- I think the world is too small and so we got to fight over that land
- The AI on this is super easy to run and they are really competitive and difficult to beat frankly
- I forgot how much I really, really enjoy this game
- Something I want to see more of in the future
- It's one of those games where you are all building up this kind of like modern eco city
- The gameplay is just really, really elegant
- We really have... they're really really outstanding games
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video tcvwKIHNbdI
Broken Blitz game_review at 0:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 1622 · mention_pk 4699
Click to watch at 0:39
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Solid solo mode with a satisfying puzzle-like feel
- Deep decisions and card interactions that scale with progression
- Beautiful production and components
- Accessible rulebook and helpful back-page summary
Cons
- Rule text can be dense; initial learning curve
- Scoring can be fiddly and slow without a scoring aid
- Some players may miss theme; abstract feel may not appeal to all
Thematic elements
- Resource management and district control through card-driven actions
- Abstract city-building on a modular grid
- Abstract, puzzle-like with minimal thematic flavor
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — Draft one card from your hand each turn and pass the rest to neighbors (solo uses AI instead of real players).
- district control and scoring — Control districts to score points based on colors, resources, and end-game bonuses.
- endgame triggers — The game ends when certain conditions are met, mirroring multiplayer end rules.
- Multi-use cards — Cards provide immediate actions and ongoing bonuses when floors are built.
- shared/deck progression — The building cards cycle into a communal deck that evolves as new buildings are added.
- tile/grid placement — Place buildings on a grid and build floors to create a semi-3D skyline.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a really good game basically what you do is that you start off with a three by three grid of these building tiles
- this is a hidden gem for me
- three cards you've got some very tough decisions to make
- the communal deck basically builds up as the game progresses
- i'm giving it a solid nine out of ten
- production value with these very thick nicely illustrated tiles
- sleeving these cards is recommended because you're going to be shuffling them a lot
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video yqJiv2mrTeg
Brothers of Marath top_10_list at 5:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 873 · mention_pk 2501
Click to watch at 5:02
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Elegant and smooth progression with strong card-driven engine.
- Rich integration of tableau with city-building and area control.
Cons
- Complexity can be intimidating for new players.
Thematic elements
- city-building with layered tableau effects
- futuristic eco city
- ongoing powers and evolving structures
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area/board control — City sections and card interactions provide control and scoring opportunities.
- Resource management — Cards grant resources and continued effects to fuel expansion and expansion-driven scoring.
- tableau building — Players build cards that shape their evolving city tableau and grant ongoing powers.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is one of those games that kind of was an evangelism game for us for a while because it kind of came out and then like seemingly no one ever talked about it.
- It's the epitome of like an elegant game. This game, like we said, has a lot going on, many different mechanics, many different kind of like things going on, but it just works.
- The ramp up effect that you kind of hope to see in these tableau builders where things kind of chain together, and power up each action.
- Ark Nova is obviously a very popular game on Board Game Geek in particular.
- It's just a simple, smooth tableau builder drafting game. It's absolutely outstanding.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video UF9Xf3qeCUc
Chairman of the Board top_10_list at 4:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 17 · mention_pk 24
Click to watch at 4:06
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- strong abstract tile placement that stands out among euro games
- deep engine-building potential
Cons
- not as accessible as simpler tile-placement games
- not as consistently strong as other top-tier titles
Thematic elements
- city-building with vertical and horizontal expansion
- abstract city-building and urban development
- abstract, engine-building oriented
Comparison games
- Glenmore 2
- Citrus
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- engine-building — placement provides engine-building bonuses and interplay between horizontal and vertical growth
- set collection / scoring bonuses — collected tiles grant bonuses and scoring opportunities
- tile drafting — draft city tiles to place and develop a city in multiple directions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is probably one of my favorite Uwe Rosenberg games I've played to date.
- it's a weird one because it's kind of like a full-size game but didn't quite feel like it
- the rules overhead was quite high in terms of remembering what they do
- usually trying to build these routes and establish these with blocks and then get the cards
- it's a pretty much a paint by numbers deck builder game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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Showing 1–8 of 8