On My City

Two within one month, we’d finished yet another legacy game! This time, it was the first legacy game Brian and I have ever started together, also the first one we started with Chris and Matt. I skipped my 10-year high school reunion for this, so let’s talk about it!

Background

So, what’s My City? It’s a legacy board game for up to four players consisting of 8 chapters, each with three episodes each - that’s 24 total rounds to play! Brian and I had initially bought our own copy, which still sits half-finished in our bedroom. We really enjoyed the game, but each round takes about 30 minutes or so to play, and we found ourselves leaving it for too long and every time we picked it back up for a few rounds, we struggled to remember strategy, rules, and find a good groove. So, when we saw it at a steep discount at Barnes & Noble (I think it was discounted to $15), we decided to take a chance on it again, this time with Chris and Matt. It was the first legacy game that we started as a quartet, but the second we finished. We got a little engrossed in Ticket to Ride, so My City took a back seat,

Gameplay

So, how do you play? Each player has a game board consisting of a large grid displaying an expanse of land. The gameplay area is dotted with objects of note, mainly a river, single trees, single rocks, a mountain and a forest at first. The goal of the game in the first few rounds is simple: build your city. With each turn, a building from the card deck is picked, and players are expected to place it on the map. The rules at first are simple: build next to the river to start, don’t build single buildings spanning the river, and keep buildings in the city connected to each other. And that’s about it for the first few rounds. Buildings consist of one of three primary colors, and at the end you’re either finished because you’re out of buildings or you’re out of space for buildings. It takes some planning since buildings are different shapes - a similar fashion to Tetris - but after a round or two, players get the hang of it. Points are earned based on the number of rocks and trees on the map, then the next round begins.

With each round, new hazards, rules, buildings, and goals are established. Your city may be trying new methods of prosperity, like cutting down the forest to reveal more green space, establishing mines in the mountain to find valuable resources, establishing religion through the building of non-skippable churches, and more. Each of the 8 chapters introduces a new challenge to face in gameplay, keeping things fresh but also distracting players from previous goals. Things are added to the map via stickers - sometimes they’re even taken away - and players are left to their own devices to prioritize the most effective ways to earn points in each round, which contribute to their overall personal points for the whole game.

Endgame

Well, the winner wasn’t a shock for me. In fact, when we played our second-to-last session, I realized that it was a rather difficult race for second place. Of course Brian won. It was actually quite nice sine we had never finished our own game, so we didn’t actually know what the final points or rounds looked like. Brian had a lofty fifty-something points by the end, and had a clear ten-at-least point lead over Chris and I by the 20th or so episode. Meanwhile, Chris and I were sort of neck-and-neck with points in the high twenties. But everything changed in the final three episodes. Chris hit a stride and ended up raking in the points, so he came in second. I fit in a comfy third and Matt rounded up the tier list. The main challenge, which I didn’t realize, was that there were going to be bonus points at the end based on achievement throughout the game. No spoilers here in case anyone wants to play it, but if you did well in certain rounds, you got certain stickers. Same thing if you did poorly. And by the end, these rankings gave bonus points, based on how your map looked. This was somewhat expected, but a nice way to earn a few more points by the end - kind of like the bonus points in Mario Party.

Final Thoughts

My City was fun, especially since the four of us kept each other responsible for finishing the game. I think it was a little drawn-out and lengthy, but at the same time, I wish there were more rounds to earn more points toward the end. Sometimes, it felt like we were using a gimmick for too long, like churches staying in play for the whole game after they’re introduced. Other times, it felt like things happened too quickly and one less-than-productive round would totally screw your progress. I loved that there were so many additions, slight changes, and rules to keep track of, but this also meant that if you took too long of a break in between rounds, you were at a disadvantage with all of the gimmicks and quirks to remember. This is what did Brian and I in when we played our first game at home. We would go days, weeks or even a month or so in between episodes, so we would forget that we’d get extra points for things like surrounding wells or making large groups of buildings in a specific color. The instructions were clear, accessible, and organized, but that doesn’t mean our easily distractible brains remembered everything. Still, I liked the strategy, frustration, planning and long-game thinking required for a successful game. It’s probably not something I’d play again, especially having knowledge of what’s coming up and what to focus on in order to succeed, but it’s something I’d recommend for anyone looking for a strategy game to play with others.Just make sure you pick reliable people to play with - this game doesn’t give pity points for players who missed rounds.