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- BGG #71
- BGG rating
- 8.2
Lisboa
- 1–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 4.6/5
- 2017
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- BGG #29,465
- BGG rating
- 5.3
City Blocks
2013
Rules assistance for City Blocks
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with saved question history.
Rules assistant for City Blocks
For 2 players
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
City Blocks is a board game released in 2013 for 2 players, 15 minutes per game, and ages 7 and up. It was designed by Jeffrey Henning and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
Metro City is redeveloping an old industrial district for mixed use (residential, commercial and industrial) and the mayor is offering bonuses to two developers for aesthetic completion of key streets. Can you win greater bonuses than your competitor by strategically building homes, offices, stores, courthouses, parks and malls in ways that upset your opponent’s plans for the city? The city district is a 6 x 5 grid with 11 named streets. Each street has a mayor's bonus associated with it, from $1 to $15, drawn randomly at the start of the game. Players try to develop each street better than their opponent to claim its bonus. Each player keeps a hand of 5 Building tiles out of 20 available to them. When placing a tile on an empty city block, if the tile completes a street (a row or column) they compare the value of their Buildings on the street to their opponent's Buildings to determine who wins the bonus. A straightforward comparison simply involves adding the number of each tile: Residential Buildings count from 1 to 5, Commercial Buildings count from 2 to 6 and Industrial Buildings count from 3 to 7. However, four types of special tiles change how the bonus is determined: a Park or Mall prevents either player's Industrial Buildings from counting towards the bonus on a street; a Power Plant or Mall prevents Residential Buildings from counting towards the bonus. Finally, the Courthouse allows the player to switch the bonuses of two streets. Instead of placing a tile on an empty block, a player can discard a Currency token and build over a block they have already developed. Whoever has the most money wins, and earns a key to the city from the mayor!
Editions
- City Blocksennestorgames2013
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- nestorgames
Questions and answers
City Blocks supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for City Blocks is 15 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists City Blocks for ages 7 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
City Blocks has a complexity rating of 1.6 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
City Blocks belongs to these categories: City Building. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of City Blocks are: Jeffrey Henning. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists City Blocks as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.