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Gamesnight 21st November …… ‘Metropolys’ – Sebastien Pauchon
Kendall has stood waiting outside Dicken’s house for near on a minute. This is because son Tim (tonight’s guest) has not pressed the bell with sufficient force to actually ring it. At least Kendall sports his favourite Millet’s coat (was £83, reduced to £26 – you can’t beat a Millet’s bargain). Tim is just wearing his school shirt (and trousers etc.), a fact immediately seized upon by both Carol and Dicken as the temperature is already sub-zero.
Not only is it warmer in the Dicken home, it is also brighter. ‘Oh, I see you’ve bought an up-lighter!’ exclaims Kendall – slightly rueful that his recent purchase has been matched. In fact, it’s double delight for Dicken; there’s a second up-lighter lurking in the living room.
Tonight’s game ‘Metropolys’ is already set out. The up-lighter proves immediately useful in allowing a good look at the really contentious board. Initial reactions at this table are that someone has tried to give the board some style as in Powergrid and that there seems some incongruity with the 1920’s ‘flapper’ lady pictured on one of the counters. No chance of packing the game away in disgust, but then maybe the Ragnars don’t have the artistic sensitivities of others in the hobby. Vinci and Il Principe have game-boards with more question marks.
Dicken explains the rules; all seems fairly straightforward, but then the ‘Family’ version is appreciably simpler than the ‘Expert’ game. There are a couple of helpful tips concerning dead ends and watching for other players’ special objective … and then the game starts.
Tim is drinking coke. This is good as he is only fourteen. Kendall has also brought along some rather insipid onion dip and is eyeing up Dicken’s more palatable humous. Carol is on red wine, while Kendall and Dicken stick to hops based drinks.
Kendall plays first and, having no better idea places a 3-point office (small tower with a 3 on top) in the centre of the map. Dicken follows with a 4-point office, placing it adjacent to Kendall’s. Tim places an 8-point office adjacent to Dicken’s and Carol an 11-pointer adjacent to Tim’s. Kendall decides to ‘pass’, as do Dicken and Tim. The 11-point tower is now inverted and stays on the map. Carol also collects the ‘flapper’ lady counter (worth 3 victory points) that is in the area of the 11-pointer. The other towers are removed to respective player’s supplies.
Phew! That just about illustrates the main / only mechanic of the game. And a very good mechanic it is too – a kind of mobile auction. The towers come in three sizes and each player has a set numbered 1-13. Once one player has placed all his / her towers the game ends.
Points are scored at game end for having towers adjacent to ‘areas’ as shown on an objective card that each player receives at the start of the game. These are secret; although it doesn’t take much guessing which card each player has. Add on the bonuses for the lady and Metro station counters, subtract the archaeological site counters (i.e. some areas are worth more, some less) and you get a final score each of around 30 points.
Of course, things are never so simple when the Ragnars first learn a game….
Meanwhile, Tim is displaying a reluctance to commit his towers. He doesn’t seem to grasp that placing a low value tower will simply allow others to move on to fresh areas. If the area Tim wants isn’t where he might currently place, it may be available when / if his turn comes round again. Young people often find it difficult to think outside the immediate.
Carol is building at a great rate of knots. Kendall admires her canniness ‘She’s a shrewd old bird’ he quips. ‘Less of the old’ barks Dicken who appropriately quotes from ‘Little Dorrit’ something about the rarity of finding brains and beauty combined in one woman . Kendall tries unsuccessfully to dig himself out of a hole.
Not surprisingly it is the larger towers that find their home on the map first as they are ‘stoppers’. As towers are only placed one per area, ‘dead ends’ are eventually created. It’s good to ‘win’ one round, then (and because the player who placed the last tower starts first in the next round) start the next by placing a low value tower in a dead end. Despite the helpful tip, the Ragnars haven’t quite caught on yet.
Tim has lots of high value towers in hand. He simply bangs them on the map without opportunity for others to play. Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kendall has five towers left. He simply bangs them in all the available dead ends. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Count up finds Tim and Carol tied for second, Kendall the winner and Dicken in last place. A look at the objective cards reveals that no-one has guessed correctly. Indeed it appears that Tim and Carol have actually been collecting the same objective, surely a mistake in the design! Dicken is adamant that this is perfectly acceptable and takes it on the chin when Carol points out that he managed to come last despite NOT sharing an objective. Kendall wonders if the four cards indicate that the objective is NOT the colour of area, but the lakes, statues, bridges and (most peculiarly) the space-like border of the city. Dicken is adamant that this is not so, but graciously rereads the rules. Oh! Yes! It is the lakes, statues, bridges and border.
After a few minutes chat – which includes the usual ‘blame the designers’ session – it is decided that playing again is the best option. Declining to be considered ‘Experts’, the ‘Family’ version gets another try.
Game number two has a different feel. Carol seems to find it easy to position her towers next to the very few lakes and is particularly quick to place her 13-point stopper between the two central lakes. Some time later, Dicken points out that this will only score the once – another rule that has, until now been misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, Tim is displaying a reluctance to commit his towers ……Young people …….
Kendall is convinced that placing next to the borders is a disadvantage. However it does generate a few jokes (and that’s always a good thing …); ‘Look! He’s heading for the border!’ (...or maybe not).
Tim cleans up a few more areas and then sits waiting with a couple of small towers left in his hand. Can the seniors outwit him? No. He sees his chance and finishes. At count up Tim top scores with over forty points. Kendall and Dicken manage 27 each and bemoan their objective cards.
Post-game analysis suggests that game 1 (with the wrong objectives) made just as much sense as game 2 (with the right objectives). Looking at the Expert game there seem to be any number of other ways the game might be organised in terms of scoring; and that appears to be the way the game is designed. However, the tower mechanism is strong enough to keep players interested amidst the flashing lights.
How good is ‘Metropolys’? Probably not as good as the box-top artwork which reminds Dicken of a cross between Port Merion and Venice (he’s traveled a bit). It’s a game that owes less to futuristic urban planning and more to several other auction based resource management games but the tower block placement mechanism is clever and the game is relatively short so if you get stymied it’s not too long before you can have a go at the person who refused to take a hit for the team and let the winner get away with a bonza tower placement!
It will get played a few more times for definite as it’s easy to pick up the rules for novice gamers and it has a fun feel to it – two hit factors in a game for Ragnars.
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