City Building is something we do on a daily basis at our house…blocks, dominoes, Legos, magnatiles, cushions and blankets… we are practiced builders, so a city building card game is right up our alley!
Machi Koro is a really fun, very interactive, fast-paced, easy-to-learn game for 2-4 players, ages 10+, in 30 minutes. (My almost 7 and 9 year olds play no problem, but the box says 10, so use your best judgement!)
Each player starts the game with these 4 Landmark cards, which are the focus of the whole game. The first player to successfully build these Landmark cards wins the game! But they’re expensive and cost a lot of coins, so players have to build their cities with other money-making establishments first!
Players also begin with 2 starting establishments, a Wheat Field and a Bakery.
On a player’s turn, he takes 3 actions:
- Roll Dice
- Earn Income – based on the result of the dice roll, players take the actions on those cards in their cities.
- Build – players can build 1 establishment or landmark by paying the building cost for the card.
There are 4 different types of Establishments (cards) in Machi Koro and they are activated in a specific order after the dice is rolled. Each card has a number at the top, which indicates when they are activated by the dice.
- Red Restaurants (activated on opponent’s turns)
- Blue/Green Primary & Secondary Industries (blue activates on anyone’s turn, green activates on your turn only)
- Purple Major Establishments (activates on your turn only)
If a 3 is rolled, the red cards are activated first, so players have to GIVE coins to their opponents and THEN they can collect any coins from the bank from blue/green 3 cards.
Each Landmark card has an extra special ability that are activated once they are built and they are SWEET abilities! They’re expensive though, so players have to manage their money well and hope for good luck with the dice!
Players keep rolling, earning income, and building until someone successfully builds their 4 Landmark cards.
After the Landmarks are built, Machi Koro is complete! The city is built, and the best builder wins the game.
Machi Koro would be an excellent game to add to a study of economics, markets, business, current events, and more. There’s math involved, strategic planning, abstract thinking, cooperation, and money skills. Whether you play with school in mind or just for fun, the learning still happens!!
Thanks to Pandasaurus Games for sharing this excellent family card game with us!
