Foundations of Metropolis
- Selwyn Ward
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
I grew up avidly following the comicbook adventures of Superman, so I always identify Metropolis as the home of Clark Kent and the Daily Planet. It's such a strong association in my mind that there's an inevitable pang of disappointment whenever I encounter any references to Metropolis that don't in any way relate to the Man of Steel. Case in point, Foundations of Metropolis, from Arcane Wonders. But tho' Superman sadly doesn't make an appearance in this game my disappointment has been short lived because it's nonetheless a very good game, and one that can be played and enjoyed by both experienced and novice gamers alike.
Foundations of Metropolis is a citybuilding game that's essentially an evolution of the classic 1964 game Acquire (Avalon Hill). Foundations first appeared in 2022 as the incredibly over-engineered Foundations of Rome (Arcane Wonders). That game came in a ginormous box to accommodate the huge quantity of 3D plastic buildings. Foundations of Metropolis is the same game but for this version designer Emerson Matsuuchi has stripped out the Classical Rome theme in favour of a modern city setting and replaced the inevitably expensive 3D plastic buildings with rather more modest but equally playable cardboard tiles.
The 2-4 players are collectively building on a shared city grid (7 x 7, 8 x 8 or 9 x 9, depending on the number of players). There will be deed cards for each location in the grid - so A1-G7 in a two-player game. Players are dealt out an initial starting set of deeds but others have to be purchased from the market display. Players each have their own board of available building tiles. These are polyominoes whose shape shows the layout of lots required for their placement; so, for example, you'd need to have acquired deeds for two adjacent lots to be able to place out a two-square building. Each building shows the benefit it gives, either in income, population or 'prestige' (victory points) and the building's empty space on your player board also shows this at a glance.
On your turn you choose either to buy a deed, construct a building or take income. When you take income, you get $5 plus whatever additional income you're entitled to as a result of buildings you've previously placed out.
You can 'upgrade' buildings, replacing a smaller building with a larger one, and the score for certain buildings is dependent on the building types that are adjacent to it, regardless of who owns them. If you're introducing Foundations of Metropolis to players coming new to modern board games, you're likely to find that those players focus primarily on getting out their income and prestige buildings. More seasoned players will keep a closer eye on the 'civic' buildings that can rack up big scores for adjacency; making an 'upgrade' that changes the building type can be a way of reducing an opponent's scoring opportunity...
We've had a lot of fun in the recent past playing Foundations of Rome with its undeniably impressive table presence, but Foundations of Metropolis delivers a similar gaming experience in a much more manageable form - so this is a game you'll more readily get to the table and, with its easy set up and take down, it plays comfortably in no more than an hour. It's just a pity Kal-El doesn't get to make an appearance :-)
(Review by Selwyn Ward)
