City Chase
- Board's Eye View
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
City Chase from Korea Boardgames is a hidden movement and deduction game where one player represents a fleeing robber and the other 1-3 players are police in hot pursuit. It's a light game, aimed primarily at children, but it encapsulates the essence of its slightly more complex predecessors like Scotland Yard (Ravensburger) and Fury of Dracula (FFG).
It's a game that plays super quick because there are never more than 11 rounds: if the cops don't catch the robber within those 11 rounds, the robber wins; the cops collectively chalk up a win if they catch the robber, which obviously has to be in less than 11 rounds.
Korea Boardgames certainly haven't skimped on the production and presentation of the game, adding hugely to its appeal . The City Chase takes place in a 5 x 5 city grid of buildings: chunky 3D skyscrapers that clip securely into slots on the board. At the start of the game and on each subsequent round, the police player(s) have to turn away so they can't see the building under which the robber places their getaway car and a token. On subsequent turns the robber must move their vehicle to an adjacent building, and they can't return to a building they've previously visited.
The police players control three helicopters, and each can either move one space (ie: to the next intersection) or use their turn to search an adjacent building. When the police discover a token they'll be able to make logical deductions about the robber's movements...
That's the game in a nutshell. It plays in no more than 15-20 minutes; and if the police get lucky and stumble on the robber's trail early on, they may well catch the thief in even less time. That means players can all take turns playing the robber. And children who enjoy City Chase will soon be ready to move on to more challenging hidden movement and deduction games like Sniper Elite (Rebellion Unplugged) and Go Ahead Punk! (Next Dimension)...
