This game certainly had a lot of buzz around it. I couldn’t figure out which I was seeing more, people playing Quadropolis in my local brick and mortar store or people posting pics of the game on Instagram. Either way, I was looking forward to trying it out and (spoiler alert) it did not disappoint.
In Quadropolis you take on the role of a new mayor who’s looking to put his or her mark on the city by promoting and enacting major urban development projects. Basically you’re trying to build the best city possible over four rounds of play. Each player has his or her own city board with an 8 by 8 grid of possible building locations. On each turn, you’ll take a building tile from the central board (a 10 x 10 grid) called the “Construction Site” and place it in your own city. After four rounds of four turns each, the city you built will generate a score of victory points and the city with the most points wins.
Now, regarding that complex building tile selection process: this is where the game really shines. Each player has four numbered “Architects” which are arrow shaped tiles. On your turn, you choose which building to take by placing an architect on any of the rows of the construction site and taking the building that many spaces in from the outside. So if you used the architect with the number 1 then you’d take the first building in from the outside. If you used the 4 architect you’d count in 4 spaces and take that building. Once you’ve taken a building, you may place it in your city on a row or column that corresponds to the architect’s number. So if you grab an apartment building with the 1 architect, you have to place it in the 1 spaces in your own city. This means as you’re trying to build a city with the maximum number of victory points, you’ll need to claim buildings with specific architects to make sure you can place them where you need them.
#quadropolis #boardgame #tabletop #game #gamer #art #geek #bgg A photo posted by Steve d. (@chinookgames) on
The buildings available in the construction site are randomly placed, which means you might not always have that industrial building in a place to grab it with the 3 architect so it can go into the optimal location in your city. Or maybe your opponent has placed his architect on that row first. Heck, maybe your opponent just flat out took the building you wanted anyway. Regardless, there are a lot of ways the best laid plans can fall apart in Quadropolis which means you have to be constantly alert for how best to maximize your moves. Choosing the wrong building or claiming one with the wrong architect can really set you back. All the buildings score differently, often depending on what you place them next to. Parks get extra victory points for every apartment building they are near. Docks score more points for being placed in a long line. Civic buildings should be in all four quadrants of your city and so on. Because there are a limited amount of any given type of building, you might also be in a race to grab that last civic building to make your set before your opponent does. If he or she grabs it first, then you have to figure out what building you can get that at least makes up for some of the points.
#boardgames #tabletop #daysofwonder #quadropolis #gamenight it’s like chess, right? If you topple your first turn token, you lose… A photo posted by @through_jordys_eyes on
In addition, there’s a whole resources and building powering mechanic too, but that’s pretty simple to understand. All told, the game plays really fast once people know what they are doing. It’s often not clear exactly how many VPs you’re going to end up with until the final turn of play, as a single building could mean a difference of 10 or more points. This means the dramatic tension is always there. I mean, your city looks pretty good right? You’re probably going to win right? Oh, but that other mayor has a line of four docks, but that can’t be enough points? Can it? Once you’ve played and scored the first full game you’ll be wanting to jump in again. Quadropolis is designed for between 2 and 4 players and has a very good balancing mechanic to make sure games of all sizes feel competitive. It also has incredible, tidy storage built into the box which separates all the components with ease. Want to bring it to your next game night? There are plenty of very good, short tutorials online which you can forward on to new players ahead of the game and make things go a lot faster. I’m not sure I want to go into a career as a city planner after playing it, but I loved this game. I already posted a picture on Instagram.
Some #quadropolis action – @geekandsundry – Thanks for reading. A photo posted by Sax (@saxcarr) on
Do you plan to try your hand at being the best of the best mayors? Have you already played Quadropolis? Did you see our article about great gaming Instagram accounts? Let us know in the comments and post your game pics on Instagram because we love ’em!
Header Image and Box Art Credit: Days of Wonder
Other images from individual Instagram accounts.