10 board games in which architecture plays a fundamental role

One hundred percent Italian, in Florenza (Placentia Games) from 2 to 5 players compete in order to erect the Renaissance Florence. As families’ aristocrats, they collect money and resources to build churches and monuments, hire actually existed artists (Raffaello, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Leonardo…) for decorations and, in the end, compare who, among them, built the most valuable works. A two hours long exciting game, after two editions sold out, the one celebrating the tenth year since its birth will be released soon. Almost a unicum for the Italian recreational world.

Definitely more engineering Barrage (Cranio Creations) which puts dams as protagonists. In front of the players there is a large dashboard with several rivers flowing and the challenge consists in grabbing the water trying to hinder the rivals. Creating upstream reservoirs is more profitable but more expensive and the level of each dam has its importance too. Low blows are always around the corner and this puts a lot of spice to a title that requires a lot of reasoning and gives a lot of satisfaction back.

Amongst the most cited games by architects (but little by gamers), in Blueprints 4 players compete to create architectural “masterpieces”. We use quotation marks because the actually available materials are dice. Everyone composes his or her work sheltered by a screen and then, depending on the value, colour and placement of each die, the points are counted. A light and engaging game, with a light tactical and strategic component but with a strong tactile and visual cue. It is fun to see these small squared buildings emerge one die after another and then there is always the challenge to make them better than the rivals’ ones.

Rome was certainly not built in a day. It took much less. In Rome & Roll (Giochix) we reconstruct the eternal city of the past by drawing the buildings on a common dashboard. The necessary resources are given to us by the dice but also by the cards, and then there is always some compliant official to help us. Admittedly, however, to corrupt him properly. The manual is very clear and the construction rules are strict; the Tiber is obviously off limits and even drawing straddling Servian walls or two hills is forbidden. Finally, therefore, a game that seems lighter than it actually is, with many possibilities that must be combined to bring back glory to one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 

We become experts in public works (or improve our skills in the sector) with Tramways (AVStudioGames) a management company in which we develop a tram network. There are two phases of the game: in the first one, through an auction, we acquire action cards that we will then use in the second phase to play. The latter is the heart of the game, in which we create and improve buildings, connect them to each other and then move the various passengers trying not to stress them too much. It looks like a light title but, in reality, it has an unexpected depth that requires a lot of strategy and ability to plan in advance your moves.

Definitely lighter, Tiny Towns (Raven) is a game in which even the youngest children can get involved. In front of us there is a 4x4 little dashboard and the aim is to make a city out of it by erecting various buildings. Each of these is made up of a series of colourful resources that have to be placed on the dashboard in a certain order and in a certain Tetris tetramine-style form. And here is the game because at each turn a player “calls” the resource that will be placed by everyone and he thinks in a strategical way, trying to trim the other useless resources adds a bit of healthy (and bad) competition.

Dedicated to interior designers, Dream home (Asmodee) has been harassed by a childlike graphic that leads to think of Barbie but, in reality, hides a tasty strategic side. The house-shaped dashboard in front of us has to be restored creating from scratch rooms as the living room, bathroom or kitchen. Everything is done with the help of papers, which also provide us with the necessary furnishings, but it is better not to exaggerate with creativity. Having at least a kitchen allows you to do more points as well as a bathroom on each floor or a bedroom. It is better to avoid the piano in the bathroom or the wardrobe in the living room. Suitable for seven-year old children and up, that bit of strategy is fun for adults too (provided you digest the graphics, of course).

And speaking of interiors, let’s move to an ancient castle of the past: Castles of Mad King Ludwig (Bézier Games). Not exactly “a castle” since we’re talking about Neuschwanstein, the splendid bizarreness commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria and transformed by the Americans into Disneyland. Starting from a humble courtyard, adding the ballrooms and the observatory, the music room and the gardens, trying to respect the (reasonable) limitations of the rooms themselves. Having a dark dungeon on the ground floor makes no sense as well as placing the billiard room next to the night room. One card after another, the game lasts a little more than an hour and can be played alone if desired.

Big City (Goldsieber Spiele) is certainly not so new considering that in 2019 a celebratory version was created for his twentieth birthday. In the new as well as in the old edition, the three-dimensional buildings that must be erected to create the ideal city stand out above all. More or less. The basic mechanism is in fact to collect papers which then have to be combined to allow us to have the largest possible lots. With one-lot buildings you don’t go very far, better three ones. But you don’t just fish and place because the value of the buildings is also determined by their location, the presence of commercial buildings and parks, the proximity of public transport and the distance from a factory. Simple to play with and very easy to explain, the new edition has made it even more opulent. A real joy for the eyes.

If you want something done, it is better to do it yourself but not in Between two cities (Ghenos Games). Here the collaboration is fundamental. The aim is building a city by placing tiles according to classic placement rules (houses far from factories, offices close to each other...). What is unusual is how to do it. We build a city with the player on our right and another city with the one on the left. But the problem is that they are our rivals. At the end of the game, whoever has the two cities that, added together, worth more will win. An insidious mechanism that stimulates us to play another game immediately, especially since the game lasts about half an hour.