City building games are very popular and there are now a dime a dozen of them. With the flood of games available, it is often difficult to find the perfect title for families. Tower Up was the first game of the year at Pegasus Spiele a new city building game that impresses at first glance with its simple mechanics and great table presence. You can find out whether it is also convincing in terms of gameplay in our review.
The expansion of the city center is in full swing. Several different companies have been commissioned to build skyscrapers, but the city administration has set clear guidelines. When new buildings are built, the neighboring buildings should be included. The city administration also has clear ideas about aesthetics. No two neighboring buildings can be the same color. Each company tries to stand out and be one step ahead of the others, because the competition never sleeps.
construction contract with special specifications
In Tower Up, we take over one of four construction companies that have been commissioned to build buildings in the city center. In order to stand out, the companies must collect the right building materials to build floors and place their own roofs as cleverly as possible. In addition, they must achieve the three city building goals as quickly as possible in order to beat the other companies in terms of points.
The city center or the game board consists of 5 districts, which, depending on the number of players, have 6 or 9 or 10 square building sites that are connected by a road network. Two connected building sites are considered adjacent. On our turn we can choose between two actions: We take a card or build a new building. By Taking one of three cards on the table We get floors from the market, which we simply take from the supply. We just have to make sure that we don't have more than 10 floors at the end of our turn.
At the construction of buildings we place one of our floors on an empty building site that is adjacent to another building. You always have to keep an eye on the neighboring building sites. The color of the floor cannot be the same as a neighboring building. In addition, you should still have floors of all colors in neighboring buildings, because these must also be served by floors of the respective color after the new building is built.
Skillful placement of roofs for points
Once you have served all the buildings, you then place one of your own roofs on one of the buildings you have served or newly constructed. You then receive one point for each floor under the roof you have just placed. These are used to move further along the track of the same color. The further you have progressed on the respective tracks, the more victory points you receive at the end of the game.
In addition, the roofs are important for other victory point conditions. Since other players can also build over roofs, you receive additional victory points at the end of a game for each roof of your own color that is still open. This can be achieved through clever building. If all of a building's building sites are completely built on, it cannot be touched again. If you place your roof on such a building at the right moment, you have secured the points accordingly.
Roofs are also important for urban development goals. These usually specify goals for where roofs should be placed in certain buildings. For example, in a building that is located by a lake or in different buildings that are located in different parts of the city.
The game ends as soon as one person has placed their last roof. Each player then has one last turn. The points are then added up. Whoever has collected the most points wins.
Information about Tower Up
| Number of players: 2 – 4 Age: from 8 years Playing time: 30 - 45 minutes Difficulty: Family game Classification: Urban Planning, Resource Management Author: Frank Crittin, Grégoire Largey, Sébastien Pauchon Illustrations: Nadege Calegari, Laurent Escoffier, Geoffrey Stepourenko Publisher: Pegasus Spiele, Monolith Board Games Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2024 Language: German Cost: 39,99 € |
Conclusion
Tower Up impressed us. The game principle is simpler than many other family games - I would even say simpler than Monopoly. But Tower Up has an immense amount of depth in terms of gameplay. Here you have to cleverly place your buildings without wasting a lot of brainpower. That sounds strange, but Tower Up is pleasantly easy to play despite the many tactical refinements that you can incorporate. You just start playing and every now and then you think, "If I place my building here, I can prepare this target and steal valuable points from my fellow player." This makes you feel clever move after move, for good positions on the game board. The game is also convincing for two players. Clever: A city layout is used on the back, which only takes up half the game board. This means that the game board can be played when folded up.
I can't really say anything bad about Tower Up. The game is fun and you can't complain about the material compared to similar titles. Personally, I really liked it. Not everyone felt the same way, as it was too simple for some and therefore not really appealing. It could well be that Tower Up gets a bit boring over time. In the end, it's always the same, because apart from the structure, everything is always the same.
But it was precisely this simple game principle of collecting blocks or playing blocks that had a somewhat addictive pull. It all just felt very smooth. Tower Up is perfect as a family game or for players who want to play something quick and simple on a cozy evening after work!
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Pegasus Games Tower Up* |
37,28 EUR |
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