/pic3145313.jpg)
Description from the publisher:
In Key to the City – London, each player aims to develop their own London borough based on their home tile, using the large hexagonal location tiles. Each location tile gives victory points and may generate resources (skill tiles or connectors that connect two location tiles). Connectors and skill tiles can be used to upgrade location tiles for additional victory points and productivity.
The game is played over four eras, and in each era, new location tiles will be available for bidding. In both era 1 and 2, these tiles consist of six resource-generating tiles, plus some additional building tiles. In era 3, there will be only building tiles, which arrive already upgraded. In era 4, some of the Routemaster tiles become available.
On their turn, a player chooses one of five actions. They may use one or more of their team of wooden workers ("keyples") to (1) bid for a location tile, (2) use a location tile to generate resources, or (3) upgrade a location. They may (4) pass, in which case they may play again in that era, or (5) cease playing in that era by setting off in their sailing barge along the Thames. The game finishes after the last river barge sets sail at the end of era 4, at which point the player with the most victory points wins.
Key to the City – London has similarities in structure to the award-winning 2012 R&D game Keyflower.
Key to the City: London
- neat ideas in bidding and hex tableau
- auction mechanic is neat
- game bored the players
- art style didn't do much for me
- felt not compelling or interesting
- bidding and hex tableau building
- London
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bidding/auction — place bids to buy tiles and activate abilities
- End scoring — some tiles give victory points, some actions remain active for scoring
- tiles acquisition and hex tableau — bidding to acquire tiles; placing and activating hex tiles
- worker placement/activation — placing workers on hexes for actions
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the rules were really not good there were a couple questions we had where we like passed the rule book around twice trying to figure out some really basic questions
- it's a chaotic game I felt zero control while I was playing it
- I would teach and play it again
References (from this video)
- Upgrading location tiles gives more victory points.
- Upgraded landmark tiles with 3D buildings give significant victory points.
- Becoming the best borough developer
- City of London
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bidding — Players bid on location tiles using 'keeples', with the highest bid winning the tile at the end of the era.
- city building — Players upgrade locations and connect resources to develop their borough.
- Resource Management — Players gain and utilize resources like builders, architects, financers, and various utility connectors (telecom, water, waste, electricity, tunnels, gas).
- Set Collection — Players collect river tiles based on barge placement.
- Tile Placement — Players place hexagon location tiles to build their borough.
- Worker Placement — Players place 'keeples' on locations to perform actions like bidding, generating resources, or upgrading.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- welcome
- now that we know what the winning condition is let's take a look at the components set up and how gameplay works in key to the city london
- now let's take a look at the components
- now let's take a look at the setup
- now let's take a look at the gameplay
- player turns continue until all of our players have set sail
- once all the players have set sail we move to the end of an era
- once everyone's placed their location tiles we would move to starting an era
- errors continue until the end of the fourth era
- once you finish the end of the era steps in the fourth era you would go to the final scoring