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Game Info
Year
2023
Players
1-4
Age
12+
Playtime
60 min
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Description
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
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video uGTdKYF1stA
Top List at 4:18 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 69202 · mention_pk 165611
Click to watch at 4:18 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Solid gameplay
- Satisfying turns
- Requires tactical decisions based on available dice
- Each game feels a little different based on dice available
Cons
- 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
Thematic elements
- Manufacturing cars
Comparison games
- 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
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video px116VJwPPw
kovray Playthrough
video_pk 68873 · mention_pk 165167
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
none
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video tKVUZDt12bw
All You Can Board Top List at 4:33 sentiment: positive
video_pk 62972 · mention_pk 156153
Click to watch at 4:33 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- fun party game
- humor around the table
Cons
- heavily depends on the group
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)
- 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)
No references stored for this video.
Video uVenO09KPuc
The Board Game Garden Playthrough at 21:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 40349 · mention_pk 122141
Click to watch at 21:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging combination of dice drafting and track-based upgrades
- Rich interaction with AI opponent
- Varied upgrade paths add strategic depth
- Solid solo play experience
Cons
- Rule clarifications needed for some prerequisite mechanics (TPS/clipboards)
- Steep learning curve for first-time players of this style
Thematic elements
- 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
Comparison games
- 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
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video 2EQD1MT8iDA
Rolling Dice & Taking Names Discussion at 58:36 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10970 · mention_pk 32342
Click to watch at 58:36 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Tight engine-building feel with accessible rules
- Rich theme and replayability via different strategies
Cons
- Can be fiddly with some components
- Not as quick to teach as lighter roll-and-writes
Thematic elements
- Industrial production and car design
- Detroit, auto manufacturing era
- Rolling-right, competitive drafting with dice
Comparison games
- 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
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video mxL598kQ7t8
Going Analog Discussion at 55:50 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4498 · mention_pk 13217
Click to watch at 55:50 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- smooth orchestration of multiple actions
- strong theme integration with production flow
Cons
- not always the best fit for novice groups
- pace can slow with heavy planning
Thematic elements
- production and logistics in Detroit
- Mid-century automobile industry
- industrial, strategic
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- rolling rights — dice drafting with resource management and timing
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
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)
No references stored for this video.
Video TVxbYdEjqG0
Foster the Meeple Discussion at 7:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 660 · mention_pk 1914
Click to watch at 7:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
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)
- 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
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–7 of 7