Michael G

The purpose of Urbania is to rebuild a rundown city. The game board changes each time you play. Each player sets out to score the most points, points being awarded for rebuilding city blocks, retaining advisors, and completing projects.

The game adds an additional layer of complexity (and excitement) by allowing each player 2 actions per turn and a choice of up to 4 different actions (build, draw, hire or play a project). This moves gameplay along swiftly and adds additional unpredictability and risk.

Since project cards often have overlap, many players have similar objectives which are often shared (though the project cards are hidden) which means moves that help you may also help another player and vice-versa.

In the rounds I have played, final scoring often comes down to a 10-15 point spread between all the players (in a 5 person game) which means all players really do have a chance to win. It is well balanced and well thought out.

One negative note: There are a couple color choices that can confuse early on since they are very close between the tokens and the game boards. The makers did add symbols that correspond, but this gamer feels that it is an area they could have improved on.

Overall, the game is a fun and mostly civil (stealing advisors from one another is the only aggressive move against another player) development game that should give you solid re-playability and fun.

The game lasts about 1 hour.