MegaCity: Oceania

EvEvanstar4,6

In this game players are tasked with getting a contract, and a hexagon tile of a matching color. To complete the contract, they have to spend actions drawing plastic construction pieces from a bag. In between turns you build your structure on the hex, so that it meets the requirements on the contract card. This could mean that it has to be at least a certain height, or can not contain pieces of a particular color, or must contain a specific feature. The shapes are all very interestingly cut and create some modern looking sculptures when put together. Then the dexterity element of the game comes into play. Once your structure is done, you have to carefully slide it into the hex grid of previously built tiles. If any part of the structure falls, you have to stop and you lose the rest of your turn. Points come from the completed contracts, with some bonuses for placing your structures next to green park hexes, and for building with all one color of material. Like most dexterity games, a bunch of the scoring elements don't really make a ton of sense. The core enjoyment of the game however is in stacking the pieces. Since the pieces are plastic, unfortunately you do get some unexpected unsteadiness where the mold release points are, but that's largely unavoidable with this kind of manufacturing process. Just something you need to be aware of when you are building your structure. The city that develops over the course of the game is really something to behold. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ★ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ☆ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★★★☆☆ Raw enjoyment