# London (Second Edition)

London (Second Edition) is a board game for 2–4 players. It plays in 60–90 minutes and is meant for ages 14 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 7.6 out of 10 by 99 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $57.39 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 60–90 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 14+
- **Complexity:** 2.7 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2017
- **Categories:** City Building, Economic, Card Game
- **Mechanics:** End Game Bonuses, Variable Set-up, Automatic Resource Growth, Loans, Contracts, Tags, Income, Action Queue, Open Drafting, Hand Management, Take That
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.6 out of 10, from 99 reviews
- **Owned by:** 167 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 530
- **Unique players:** 571

**Designers:** Martin Wallace

**Artists:** Mike Atkinson, Przemysław Sobiecki, Natalia Borek

**Publishers:** Osprey Games

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- [London](https://www.ludoya.com/games/london)
- [City of Iron: Second Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/city-of-iron-second-edition)
- [Brass: Birmingham](https://www.ludoya.com/games/brass-birmingham)
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## Rules questions

### Do I have to activate my top borough when I Run your city?

Yes — if your topmost borough card has an activation effect it must be activated during the Run Your City action (it can be activated before or after other cards); boroughs are never flipped. (Rulebook, p.9)

### How exactly is poverty counted when I run my city?

After activating cards you receive one poverty token for each stack in your display, one for each £10 loan you have, and one for each card in your hand. (Rulebook, p.9; example p.11)

### What happens if I can’t pay a cost — how do loans work and what are the penalties?

If you must pay but can’t (or choose), you take a £10 loan token and £10 cash; each £10 loan generates poverty every time you run your city; you may repay a loan by paying £15 at the start of your turn, and at game end you lose seven prestige for each loan you cannot repay. (Rulebook, p.5)

### Can I play or discard pauper cards like normal cards when developing?

No — pauper cards cannot be added to your building display or be discarded to play a card unless a card ability explicitly allows it; they may only be discarded via specific card abilities, when used to activate cards in your city as stated, or when you must discard down at the end of your turn. (Rulebook, p.8)

### When do I draw cards and can I take from the development board?

At the start of your turn you must first draw one city card, and whenever you draw one or more city cards you may take either the top card of the city deck or any available card from the development board (you may mix choices one at a time); the Draw Three action draws exactly three cards under the same option rules. (Rulebook, pp.5,7,9)

### What happens if I end my turn with more than nine cards in hand?

If you have more than nine cards at the end of your turn you must discard any excess cards down to nine; pauper cards may be discarded in this way. (Rulebook, pp.7,8)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/london-second-edition)
- [London (Second Edition) in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/london-second-edition)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/236191)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-18. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._