Motor City is a strategic roll-and-write game about running an auto plant in the heyday of Detroit.
In Motor City, you have two player sheets, each with multiple areas. These areas are represented by tracks that you will mark off as you make progress. Many of the tracks are interconnected with other elements in the game, giving you bonuses along the way and opportunities to unlock more points. Advancing on all of these tracks offers various amounts of points, advancements, and bonuses.
The game lasts eight rounds. Each round, roll colored dice based on the number of players, then place them on spaces on the blueprint table based on value and color. Each player drafts one die and uses it. Once everyone has drafted a die twice, all players get to use the remaining die on the blueprint table.
After eight rounds, you score points for your progress in engineering, assembly, testing, and more. Whoever has the most points wins.
Motor City has a solo mode in which you try to top your own score against an auditor that drafts dice and blocks areas of your sheet. Its difficulty can easily be adjusted by changing the colors of dice during setup, with no added rules.
Motor City is game 3 of the Motor City Gameworks Loaded Roll and Write series.
Game 1: Fleet: The Dice Game
Game 2: Three Sisters
Game 3: Motor City
–description from the designer
- Engaging strategic depth
- Unique and thematic box design
- Satisfying combos
- Requires planning ahead
- Dice rolls can impact strategy
- Car Manufacturing/Engineering
- Fleet: Three Sisters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — When you take that dice there may be a bonus under that dice and you get to do that action... Then you take that Dice and you put it in one of the four sections of either uh cells, engineering, research, test track and you get to take that action.
- Engine Building — You've really got to plan out and strategize on how you're going to take this action to let you eventually get to that.
- Resource Management — Limited on how many of the engineers you can get, limited on how many of the test tracks you can actually try to use.
- Roll and Write — You're rolling some dice, you're marking off some combos on a... blueprint board.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The whole Resource Management mechanic between a blue and red resource.
- This game is played in two hours or less.
- To me this is now my recommended entry level into the coin game system.
- Whiz Kids just knocks it out of the park now don't they? It's like everything they put out is topnotch.
References (from this video)
- running an auto plant
- Detroit, auto industry
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice drafting / dice rolling — Action drafting with rolled dice, one die remains unpicked
- solitaire mode — Includes a solitaire mode for solo play
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the roman republic is coming to an end but not before a power struggle between caesar and pompeii
- this expansion has several modules and scenarios
- this is a cooperative deck construction dice rolling game
- this is going to be their big essence spiel release later on in the game
- Sleeping Gods is the latest game from Red Raven Games
- Terra Futura is an engine building card game in which you build your land of tomorrow
- the big thing ... if you connect a port early you increase the stock value
References (from this video)
- Played a playthrough
- Different mechanics than Fleet and Three Sisters
- Excited for final production
- Building vehicles and race cars
- Detroit
- Three Sisters
- Fleet
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Resource Management — Sales in them, you're selling them.
- Specialized Engineers — You are making your engineers specialize in certain things.
- Vehicle Testing — You are testing your vehicles to unlock certain resources.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The combos in them make my heart so happy
- I can't believe they made a second one where is the third one
- My city was fantastic
- I'm gonna love it so much it's gonna be meaty
- It feels a lot lighter than the other two
- It's something new. It's something different and I'm really excited.
References (from this video)
- Strong integration of department interactions and production logic
- Tight, satisfying loop of planning, production, and sale
- Excellent pacing with meaningful end-game bonuses
- Complex rules and dense strategy may be intimidating for newer players
- Balancer adjustments may be needed at higher player counts
- car design, production lines, and market competition
- industrial car manufacturing and production floors
- industrial simulation with inter-department synergy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice-driven production planning — Dice and department spaces determine production lines and bonuses.
- intersection of departments — Players manage multiple departments that feed into final production and sales.
- speedometer advancement — Advancing the speedometer yields end-game bonuses and round-by-round scoring.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we're rolling into the future
- our top 10 re-rolled which has definitely changed
- it's a give and take it's very clever
- I love the theme I love the creativity behind it, it's a fantastic game
- Rolling into the future a re-roll
- it's module... like a TV box type thing
References (from this video)
- High interlocking depth with multiple scoring avenues
- Clear end-game pacing via a speedometer system
- The board-dice mechanic adds tactile and strategic flavor
- Poses significant complexity; may be challenging to learn and master
- Balancing four departments can be unforgiving if not played well
- engineering, production, sales, testing of vehicles
- car dealership/industry simulation
- board with interconnected departments and four scoring areas; speedometer-based end scoring
- Fleet the Dice Game
- Three Sisters
- Motor City
- French Quarter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — points come from four areas and optimizing across all is crucial.
- Dice Drafting — draft dice to take actions across four departments (engineering, production, sales, testing).
- multi-department scoring — points come from four areas and optimizing across all is crucial.
- round-end speedometer scoring — progress along a speedometer to gain round-end points via increments.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "Fleet is the simplest of the four"
- "this is very smooth but there is a lot of complexity to it"
- "three sisters is the most complex one I think"
- "French Quarter does really well is it hides its complexities within the game... it feels really smooth"
References (from this video)
- more strategy than most roll and right games
- satisfying combos and epic turns
- replayable with different strategies
- interesting drafting mechanics (spot, dice face, placement)
- automobiles
- city
- Fleet: The Dice Game
- Three Sisters
- Hadrian's Wall
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — every time you draft a dice you get the ability of the spot you took the dice from you get the ability of the dice face and you get the ability of where you place the dice on your board
- Dice Drafting — you are rolling a fist full of dice and then putting them out on this board then everybody is going around and drafting two dice to then use for their own personal sheets
- Roll and Write — this is the third roll and right game in the series of rolling right games
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is the closest to a card game on this list
- There are these really cool little magazine tiles and the magazine tiles are getting you points at the end of the game in different ways
- I think that's just a really cool way to do an auction to have to arrange your hand in a specific way before we even start drafting at all before we start bidding at all
- This was also my top two-player Only Game of the Year
- Every card that can be purchased by one side or the other can also be destroyed by the opposing side before that person can buy them and add them to their deck
- I constantly have to agonize over whether I want to spend my resources to hurt you or to buy a card that helps me
- There is a board a little board element to this game where there is a force and the force is sort of going back and forth between either side
- I had a bet with my brother that I could hit 10,000 subscribers by the end of the year and it looks like I am going to lose that bet
References (from this video)
- strong combos
- clear decision points
- car manufacturing and industry
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combo-building — sequences of actions generate combinations and points
- roll-and-write — dice-based actions with drafting/selection and chaining combos
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is our top 10 2023 games
- it's an incredibly strong year for gaming
- Forest Shuffle is my number one and it's fantastic
References (from this video)
- Part of a generally strong line of games.
- Heard really good things about its different theme and mechanisms.
- General fatigue with the roll and write genre.
- Fleet: The Dice Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Roll and Write — Part of a roll and write line of games.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is where I talk about all of the new games and expansions I've added to my collection just to give you an idea of what's coming up for review
- I think veil of Eternity is close to Perfection so I didn't want to mess um you know mess up the ingredients to such a great game
- I must admit I'm not a fan of it it's too long
- I've gone a little bit cold not cold be colder on the roll and right genre because you know has been exhausted
- it's definitely his um you know it's his Jam it's what he does best
- I do have a lot of these in the collection so it is really fighting for its space
- spoiler a lot I can see why this one's done well it's um is very playable
- all of his games are so vastly different you can make kind of childish filler games like this as well as you know extremely complex and nuanced games uh too
References (from this video)
- part of a well-regarded series
- cars / city-building
- motor city / automotive era
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- unknown — referenced as third in a series; not detailed in transcript
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Where there's a wheels, there's a play.
- my present to myself is learning a bunch of new games this month
- It's my birthday at the end of the month
- Wander Lost, Discover the World
- Nocturn will probably be the other one that we play together this month
References (from this video)
- Strong, immersive automotive theme
- Solid dice drafting and engine-building potential
- Good solo mode
- Quality components and board
- Upgrade system adds long-term depth
- Rulebook clarity issues; potential confusion about versions
- Lacks the big combo payoff seen in Fleet the Dice Game and Three Sisters
- Player sheets feel cluttered with icons; readability suffers
- Overall complexity feels high and not very streamlined; can feel 'all over the place'
- automotive production, engineering, testing and selling muscle cars
- Detroit’s car manufacturing heyday; running an auto plant
- industrial management simulation with production, testing, and sales progression
- Fleet the Dice Game
- Three Sisters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — After drafting, choose one of three actions (blue blueprint, upgrade, or research) tied to the selected dice.
- audit phase — Auditor dice cross off icons, shaping available options and driving tension each round.
- Dice Drafting — Draft colored dice each round to determine available actions in the industry phase.
- score sheet action — Place actions on the score sheet to trigger bonuses and scoring opportunities.
- solo mode — A robust solo mode with clear mechanics and scalable difficulty.
- Track Advancement — Spend resources to circle in upgrade spaces across testing, sales, production, and engineering to improve future actions.
- upgrade track system — Spend resources to circle in upgrade spaces across testing, sales, production, and engineering to improve future actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This game is very thematic. It is an immersive automotive theme.
- The components of this board are really good. The board is a nice thickness. The solo mode is pretty robust.
- The dice drafting mechanism gives you some strategic depth.
- unfortunately for me, this one doesn't work for me very well.
References (from this video)
- Solid gameplay
- Satisfying turns
- Requires tactical decisions based on available dice
- Each game feels a little different based on dice available
- Very themeless
- Spreadsheet-style game
- Unappealing graphic design (too spreadsheet-like, homemade)
- Forgettable
- Slightly above preferred weight/length for the genre (45 minutes)
- Lacks something special and unique
- Manufacturing cars
- Fleet: The Dice Game
- Three Sisters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combo Building — Players build combos expected in typical roll-and-write games.
- Dice Drafting — Involves drafting dice with specific symbols.
- draft and write — Players draft bespoke dice based on symbols and their position on a grid to gain bonus actions.
- Track Advancement — Players climb tracks and tick things off to get bonuses and unlock endgame scoring.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is where I take a look at the last five new to me board games that I've played and I rank and review them in order of preference
- I think this game does have some pretty clunky flaws and that is because there's sometimes such a huge incentive just to draw that many cards simply to top your hand up
- in practice this is very themeless it's definitely a spreadsheet style of game
- all in all I think this game is is solid as you'd expect albeit maybe a little bit forgettable
- and this one feels more like a a traditional Euro
- it is very tight and compact pretty quick as well you're looking at around 45 minutes to play this one
- it does become quite a crunchy game especially considering how few turns you get you know this is a very fast game
- it's actually a a more refined version of all of them
- definitely one of the hits from 2024
- the main fun of the game lies at least for me is in the in the card play so this is definitely one of those multi-use card games
- the game is rather long so each time I play this one it's taken around 3 hours to play
- for me the main issue is that I simply wouldn't play it I think
- objectively a fantastic design got love the card play
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we are the supervisor of the plant
- the game is played over eight rounds
- six doesn't actually have a bonus associated with it but it allows you to choose any of the four actions
- the free actions are the circles
- thank you so much to motorcities for letting us check out this wonderful game
References (from this video)
- Dense, choice-rich gameplay with multiple tracks and hub objectives
- Flexibility provided by the six-die option and free actions
- Inter-department rivalry and production hub interactions create tension and strategy
- Clear end-game scoring via hub completion and certifications
- High complexity and numerous moving parts may be tricky to learn
- Audits can block spaces and introduce dice-driven randomness
- Rolling luck can temporarily stall progress (production blocked in a round)
- inter-department rivalry and production optimization
- industrial car manufacturing plant with rival factories in town
- tabletop board game narrative centered on production, auditing, and hub-based progress
- Fleet
- Three Sisters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Audit phase scoring and blocking — Rounds end with an audit phase; audit dice determine blocked spaces on the board.
- Dice Drafting — Players roll dice and place them into color-coded spots for actions.
- dice drafting/rolling — Players roll dice and place them into color-coded spots for actions.
- Dice Placement — Placed dice in your garage to take corresponding actions.
- End Game Bonuses — End-game scoring includes certifications and tires, contributing to final points.
- End-game certification and tires scoring — End-game scoring includes certifications and tires, contributing to final points.
- Engineering/Sales/Testing tracks and upgrades — Distinct tracks with upgrades and resource management affecting scoring.
- Free actions (circles) — Certain upgrades grant free actions accessed via circle spaces.
- Garage placement — Placed dice in your garage to take corresponding actions.
- Production hubs and tracks — Actions connected to production hubs and associated track progress with bonuses.
- Top action plus bonus action — Each die yields an action on top and a possible bonus action beneath it.
- TPS reports / dossiers — TPS reports used to unlock actions and progress along various tracks.
- Track Advancement — Actions connected to production hubs and associated track progress with bonuses.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we are the supervisor of the plant
- the game is played over eight rounds
- six doesn't actually have a bonus associated with it but it allows you to choose any of the four actions
- the free actions are the circles
- thank you so much to motorcities for letting us check out this wonderful game
References (from this video)
- fun party game
- humor around the table
- heavily depends on the group
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- blue lagoon is a great game
- it's got so colorful so much fun
- there's this great moment in blue lagoon where you just realize that you've got a certain island secured
- it's a sandbox style pirate game
- i'm going to buy this for myself 100
- Ethnos is an awesome very simple area majority game
- Ticket to Ride Europe
- Nidavellir
- Dune Imperium
- Code Names is just so great that it's word games are just easy for no i shouldn't say they're easy for everyone to get into
References (from this video)
- Engaging combination of dice drafting and track-based upgrades
- Rich interaction with AI opponent
- Varied upgrade paths add strategic depth
- Solid solo play experience
- Rule clarifications needed for some prerequisite mechanics (TPS/clipboards)
- Steep learning curve for first-time players of this style
- Automobile manufacturing, factory optimization, dice drafting, and upgrades
- Urban automotive industry in a Detroit-inspired near-future
- Mechanistic, process-driven with an emphasis on optimization and scoring tracks
- Three Sisters
- Fleet the Dice Game
- Honey Buzz
- Yokohama Roll & Write
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — End-of-round scoring depends on speedometer completion percentages and tires collected.
- Dice Drafting — Roll dice each round and draft them to assign actions on tracks.
- scoring via speedometer and tire symbols — End-of-round scoring depends on speedometer completion percentages and tires collected.
- shared action selection with AI opponent Emma — AI opponent takes actions based on dice and board state, affecting your options.
- TPS reports/clipboards prerequisites — Special prerequisites (clipboards) must be completed to outline end-of-track bonuses and acquire certain bonuses.
- Track Advancement — Upgrade actions to improve efficiency and unlock new bonuses; multiple tracks (production, engineering, sales, testing, etc.).
- upgrades and branching_tracks — Upgrade actions to improve efficiency and unlock new bonuses; multiple tracks (production, engineering, sales, testing, etc.).
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "let's freaking get into this"
- "apologies for all those technical difficulties"
- "we can now finally get into playing Motor City"
- "I love Fleet the dice game and I love Three Sisters"
- "thumbs up for me" the streamer expresses enthusiasm for Motor City
References (from this video)
- Tight engine-building feel with accessible rules
- Rich theme and replayability via different strategies
- Can be fiddly with some components
- Not as quick to teach as lighter roll-and-writes
- Industrial production and car design
- Detroit, auto manufacturing era
- Rolling-right, competitive drafting with dice
- Fleet the Dice Game
- Three Sisters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice drafting and placement — Draft dice and place to gain actions and bonuses.
- Hub-style actions (engineering/production hubs) — Unlocks hub-specific bonuses when completed.
- Rolling-right — Draft and roll dice; place on blueprint board.
- Upgrade system and track scoring — Upgrade abilities and manage bonuses; speedometer track adds tension.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "everything ties in now"
- "we've increased our space… 20 gig of space"
- "10 years, 300 episodes"
- "Ocean's Eleven energy"
- "it's a legacy game that's played over the course of 15 scenarios"
- "the branching storyline"
- "the speedometer scoring adds tension"
References (from this video)
- smooth orchestration of multiple actions
- strong theme integration with production flow
- not always the best fit for novice groups
- pace can slow with heavy planning
- production and logistics in Detroit
- Mid-century automobile industry
- industrial, strategic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- rolling rights — dice drafting with resource management and timing
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- blob party is one of those really interesting games where a single component really elevates the entire experience
- there's only nine rounds in this game you better figure out what you want to do
- Sea Salt and Paper... I love the form factor of the box it's so tiny
- Daybreak is a Cooperative uh game where players are leveraging current and future Technologies and policies to try to solve the problem of an ongoing and changing climate
- Thunder Road Vendetta ... racing game where you it's like you're just purposefully getting in each other's way basically
- it's a flip and right uh where the game has like these kind of it's like a network of transit systems
- my island is uh also sort of like a tile placing game where you're building out an island a deserted island
- Dune Imperium the deck-building plus worker placement game
- Nucleum is a real heavy game about an alternate reality where we discovered nuclear power way earlier
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I freaking love it
- we are not gonna spend time explaining all of the games
- this is also includes games from before Gen Con and we cannot be held accountable for our actions
- we will let you know if we forget to say it will be on the screen every time
- it's for one or two players I kinda want to bring this to Disney