Build your civilization and expand your empire!
I will preface this one with this: Ryan Laukat is one of my all-time favorite designers, and I am on a mission to own every one of his games. He has been able to create an entire world with familiar characters and landscapes, yet he brings a completely different game experience with each of his designs. Though City of Iron is not on top of my list, I enjoy it more each play-through, learning more of its intricacies.
In City of Iron, you take the role of an entire nation trying to explore and conquer the world around you. However, you can't found new civilizations without a robust military, merchants, explorers, researchers, bankers; the list goes on. Players must build their deck with strategic citizens to conquer new lands while harvesting its resources. Your deck of cards fuel your ability to purchase buildings that allow you to discover rare resources that can earn your nation income and influence (points). Become the strongest nation with the most variety of resources to supply the world!
Mechanics: Deck building, Resource management
ART: 10/10
I personally adore this painted, vibrant, fantasy art style. As a nature-lover and landscape photographer, the artwork encapsulates the wondrous landscapes of the world. The character creation might appeal more to children, but they blend nicely with the wispy brush aesthetic. This character style could allow this game to appeal to families with kids. I also enjoy the mixture of humanoid and beast characters to show the diversity of this world.
STORYTELLING: 5/10
Initially, I wasn't going to score this category high, but the more I thought about it, everything made sense. You can't take any significant actions without citizens in your deck. That is how a society thrives; by diverse occupations coming together to improve the world. Each character has an occupation listed that is directly associated with the appropriate action, such as conquering territories or soaring the skies to discover new worlds. If you have come from a background of other Laukat games, you will already be immersed in the world from the other stories told across the other board game experiences.
The reason this is in the middle of the road is due to the resource aspect of the game. I get supply and demand, but why these specific resources, and why are they the main objective for scoring points? It is quite challenging to conquer and explore just to earn resources, so this seems confusing to me. It streamlines the game but doesn't fully encompass how a nation can succeed.
COMPONENTS: 6/10
The board is thick, with what seems like a protective gloss over its beautiful artwork. The cards are acceptable. Wooden cubes are fine, but they are pleasantly colored for each nation. The punch outs are cut in the correct shape, but as always, splurging for plastic components would have been nicer, as I have seen in other games. Each player gets a mat which is a nice addition. Lastly, the lands to explore are thick cardboard, which feels much better to move around a table. The print texture is also nice on the land tiles and doesn't feel like it could rip off like I have seen with some other components' printings in games.
From a usability standpoint, Laukat games are always on point for reminding the user of the rules from every icon seen on player mats to the main board. Not a single piece of key information is left out of the interface, such as what income is earned or actions a player can take. As a UI designer myself, this can be a challenge to do well, and I think every one of his games has nailed it.
COMPLEXITY: 7/10
Easy to play, hard to master. What citizen cards do is straightforward. Knowing what cards to buy in order to conquer or explore is also relatively clear. It is also essential to have enough money and books to purchase buildings which is common in many games. We gamers have done all these things before, but there are so many different routes to obtaining resources that not one strategy will win. Do you try many things or stick to just conquering territories? Figuring out that balance and deciding which citizens will help you the most (out of several) lies the challenge.
TRAVEL-FRIENDLY: 3/10
There are a LOT of components and cards in this one, and many cubes that could get lost. There isn't any component you could do without except for the "buy pool" mat, so between the large (and long) main board and having to use your single-player mat, a large amount of space is already taken up. You also need to have room to access your cards at any time. Yes, the lands could be in a single stack, but players would have to keep looking through the pile to plan. The building cards have room to go onto the board, so the designer at least thought of one way to save space. You need to keep this one in the box and only plan on bringing it on a trip where you have the time to play this long game.
UNIQUENESS: 4/10
As I mentioned before, a lot of the mechanics you have done before, most likely just one at a time. Combining them does add to its uniqueness, but not enough to give this a high score. The one aspect I find different from other games is how the deck building is done. Everyone has the same cards. Everyone can figure out the optimal strategy just the same if they would like. Knowing all cards without randomization and building your deck is interesting, given the randomness in other aspects of the game may influence your choices. Not shuffling is also a unique touch when you have to move your discard pile to your deck again. There are also two decks, which I haven't seen often either.
Final Comments
This game seems complicated the first couple of playthroughs, but it starts to make more sense every time and feels like a solid, cohesive game where there's a wide variety of ways to play. If you are into the art and exploring this world Ryan Laukat has made, I would definitely add this game to your repertoire. Don't expect to figure out the game the first time, and don't feel overwhelmed. Honestly, I wasn't sure how I felt about the game initially; it was a bit much for my brain to handle some nights. But now the paths to take are much more clear, and it doesn't take as much of my brain power to play anymore. Do I like it? Yes. Do I love it? No, it's not something I am dying to play, but I am always up for the challenge every so often.
Mash Up Of: Abyss, Scythe, Everdell
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Publisher: Red Raven Games
Game(s) Pictured: City of Iron (Second edition)
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