Looking for a cooperative yet not so cooperative a game of city building? Perhaps Between Two Cities – Essential Edition by Stonemaier Games is the game for you and your three (or more) best board game buddies! Will you build two beautiful utopias or rather end up with Sodom and Gomorrah?
Do not grieve, this game is not a sin to play. Each player forms individual teams with the players next to them. That means you build one city with your left neighbor and another with your right neighbor. Simple right?
Well… first of all, the city with the lowest score determines your final score, so no darlings! Second, you can score extra points with convenient combinations of building types. For example, the city with the most factories wins more points per factory tile, you can build offices and pubs next to each other to get a point per pul, and you can build housing in the most diverse city for the most points. There are also special purple buildings that each have their own “win” condition (such as that you should not build a school next to a factory). Long parks also earn the necessary green points!
Setup and gameplay are very simple. In rounds one and three, players each get 9 tiles and choose two tiles each to provide both cities with a new structure. In round two, each player chooses from 3 duplex tiles (a tile with no less than two structures).
It is fun and somewhat challenging to choose from the changing tiles to place in your city each round. In fact, each stack of tiles alternates between players. So in between, a double tile comes along, so make sure you keep space! Furthermore, a city may not grow larger than 5×5 tiles. Enough limits and conditions within which you and your neighbors must build the most beautiful cities.
Between Two Cities – Essential Edition is otherwise beautifully illustrated. A rock-solid addition to your game collection that may earn city rights with verve!
