Review: Quadropolis (Days of Wonder)

City planning must feel like designing a massive jigsaw puzzle — at least that’s what it looks like from the outside.

You want to create some kind of coherent vision, with residential and retail over here, industrial and business parks close by, but not too close, and some parks to keep everything green and everybody happy.

Days of Wonder brings those challenges to your tabletop in Quadropolis, their new city building game. Thanks to some clever design choices and excellent use of a random setup, this game gives you plenty to love while exercising your creative problem solving abilities.

Let’s dive into five things you need to know about the game.

A place for everything

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When you first open the box, Quadropolis greets you with a thick stack of cardboard sprues filled die-cut playing pieces. Punching out and sorting everything takes a few minutes, but it goes quickly. After you finish, follow the instruction sheet that directs you to put the now-empty empty cardboard frames in the bottom of the box, under the organizer tray. That raises the tray so it sits flush with the box top, which will keep all of the playing pieces solidly in the organizer.

Sort the playing pieces into groups by the number on their backs (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). As you sort them, you’ll find a bunch of pieces that just have the number on the back, plus a few pieces marked “Classic” or “Expert.” You’ll quickly figure out where sets 1-4 and the architect pieces go; by elimination, you’ll find spots for set 5 and everything else.

Planning for Points

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The basic game (what the rules call “Classic”) plays in four rounds, thus the tiles numbered 1-4. (Set 5 is for Expert mode — more about that later.)

Each round, you use one of your four architect tiles to choose a building from the construction site. The architect’s number governs both where the tile can come from on the construction site and which row or column you can place the building in your city.

For example, the 1 architect lets you pick a building that’s anywhere along the outside edge of the construction site (because it’s the first tile from the side). Once you pick the building, the 1 architect lets you put it on any space in either row 1 or column 1 of your city.

Once placed, you also get meeple people or energy tokens (or sometimes victory points) from the new tile. The people and energy activate your buildings at the end of the game so they score points.

Active tiles earn points based on different combinations. For example, factories score points by being next to shops or harbors, while towers earn points for being tall (building tile on top of each other). If a tile needs energy or a person but you don’t have any to assign, then the building doesn’t count toward your final score.

And, of course, if you have too many people or too much energy after activating all of your buildings, that costs you some points.

Watch Your Numbers

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The architect numbers are one of the most elegant and strategically challenging game mechanics I’ve seen lately.

Since the construction site tiles come out randomly, it’s possible — no, let’s say probable — that two tiles you really want will both require the same architect number. Or worse yet, the architect number it takes to claim the perfect tile for your city has nothing to do with the row or column where the tile needs to go.

Quadropolis presents you with juicy decisions to make almost every round. As the game continues, the decisions get more challenging. Do you make an existing tower taller or snag a public services tile for one quadrant of your city? They both give you points, but which will make the bigger impact?

Moving to Expert Mode

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Once you feel comfortable with Classic mode, try Expert mode for a completely new challenge. This mode adds another round to the game, so you get five opportunities to build instead of four.

The architects flip from their color side to their gray side, then they all go into a shared pool. Need a 4 architect to get the right piece and land it on the right space in your city? Better hope that the other players left one for you in the pool!

Expert mode adds office towers and monuments, both of which give you new scoring opportunities with new challenges.

Trying the Free Mini-expansion

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For a little twist, break out the free Playgrounds mini-expansion, included in the box. The playgrounds replace several park tiles in the basic setup.

Playgrounds give you people when you place them, but they don’t absorb extra energy at the end of the game. Use them carefully. The extra person might boost your shop score (shops need customers, after all), but you need to keep a tight rein on your energy production at the same time.

Quadropolis makes a strong introductory game to bring new people into the designer gaming hobby. It still requires solid strategy from the players, but the random setup of buildings in the construction site help balance strategic thinking with snap decision making.

Verdict

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I see plenty of evergreen replayability in Quadropolis, along with a high “one more game” factor because it’s fast to play and easy to reset. Check your local game store for a special set of promotional monument tiles, too. They’ll bring an international flair to your game!