Scribble City
- Board's Eye View
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
Scribble City is a deceptively simple city building game from Nekomancy where, every turn, the 2-4 players each have three cards from which they must choose one for its road and one for its building. The third card is retained in hand and can be used on a player's next turn.
Players are plotting out their own cityscape in a roll & write, or rather draw & write, manner. It's buildings that score, depending on their position in relation to other features, but you need roads to be able to place out buildings, and - in roll&write style - you get to cross off bonuses along tracks that let you add more to the cityscape map you are building over the course of the game. There are 'city plans' which are shared objectives that award points when met, and with more points for the first player who satisfies the plan.
Often roll&write/draw&write games are multiplayer solitaire (and, yes, Scribble City is playable as a solo game) but designer Isaac Tan has kept the 2-4 player game interactive. Obviously there's a race element to be the first to satisfy a plan but there's interaction too in the fact that the two cards you use to add to your map are then passed to your neighbouring player to form, with their reserved card, their hand for the next round. Many players will just remain focused on their own cityscape but more competitive players will have regard for what their neighbours are building and may bear that in mind as a factor in deciding which cards to use and therefore pass on.
Scribble City is a colourful game. The maps are drawn using coloured pencils that correspond to the colours indicated on the cards, and the game is designed so that the cards can be used with a variety of different maps.
