This week’s Monday Night Gaming / MNG: Between Two Cities
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
# of Players: 1-7 Players
Best with: 5-6 Players
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes (first play may be closer to 30-40 minutes)
General Mechanics: This game is a city building game, much like 7 Wonders but with a twist. Rather than focusing on building your own city yourself, you cooperatively build two cities, one each with the person on your right and your left. It’s partnership driven in such a way that your score at the end is based upon your weakest city, so it’s critical to build them both as evenly as possible.
Players will draft tiles to make up a city of factories, shops (restaurants, bars, etc.), parks, and landmarks. Cities are limited in size and placing certain tiles near others in rows or other patterns can gain you huge bonuses or fines depending upon the tile. There is definitely a strategy to building a city.
Each turn, players select two tiles from their hand, reveal them (1 for each city), and then work with your partners (left and right) to place the tiles into the growing cities. The remaining hand is then passed on and the turn begins anew.
There are a set number of rounds, and at the end of the game, each city is scored based on which tiles comprise it and their layout.
The game’s default setup is for 3-7 players, but there is a 2-player and single player variation in the rules.
How to Win/Lose: An individual’s final score is the lowest score of their two cities. The player with the highest final score is the winner.
What I Liked: It was really fascinating to have to work with two people on two different cities, while still thinking about my individual score. I greatly enjoyed this game!
What I Didn’t Like: Nothing really was a dislike, though playing it for the first time, it was hard to know what to focus on. It’s one of those games that requires multiple plays to learn some good strategies.
Overall Rating/Impression: 9/10. A very solid, multiplayer game.
