Great two player board games don’t cross my desk all that often. I find that a lot of games say they can be played with two players but for a really great experience, you need more than 2 players. Not with this game – because it’s a true two player game. Like backgammon or chess, you can only play City Square Off with two players – and I’m addicted.
In City Square Off each player starts with a board and a “city.” I like using the city I’ve lovingly dubbed “the Skywalker Residence” because it looks like the place Luke grew up on Tatooine. There are three other cities to choose from and it really doesn’t matter which one you pick but it needs to be placed over the Gamewright logo in the middle of your board. From there, the cards are shuffled and then the top one is flipped over.
Both players take the piece shown on the card and place it adjacent to their City. Pieces can be rotated in any direction and even flipped over so how you put it on the board is up to you, it just must be touching the City or, as the game progresses, another piece. The game ends when a player cannot place a piece on their board without it hanging off the side. If both players can’t place a piece on the same turn, then each person counts up the biggest mass of adjacent open spaces and whoever has the highest number wins!
There are a couple aspects about the game I really enjoy. First, that it’s quick to play and easy to learn – great when considering games for a classroom or school setting. I also like that you’re forced to consider what pieces you’ve already played and the ones you’ve yet to play when placing the current piece.
You don’t want to leave an open space in the shape of a piece that’s already been played because it’s going to be very hard, if not impossible to fill. The game requires some spatial thinking, including the identification of piece relationships – but of course, this is done in a purely fun way.
There are also a couple game variations in the box that are just as fun to play, but I’ll let you discover them on your own. I highly recommend this game and hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Note: I also have to give mad props to whoever designed the packaging. The box looks great — but it’s the inside packaging that made me melt. There is a black plastic piece sorter that has 4 spaces: 2 for the colored tiles, one for cities and one for cards — and oh my gosh – the boards snap in place like a lid so the pieces don’t get all jumbled up inside the box. OUTSTANDING!
If you’re looking for an expert in the game industry, you’re probably looking for Kim Vandenbroucke. Not only does she review games at The Game Aisle, but she also designs them and is one of those people that companies call when they need to have a game designed.
