Akropolis

Flourish as the finest architect of ancient Greece in Akropolis; a Tile Drafting and Placing Game with a twist. Plan a city and grow it horizontally and vertically. Tiles represent different city zones with varying rules of scoring. The higher you place them, the more valuable they are.

Straightforward rules conceal a hardcore strategic game that exhibits the magnificence of games such as Go.

Akropolis is a two to four-players Tile Drafting and Placing Game game that lasts from twenty to forty minutes, according to the player count.

Gameplay Overview

Do you have what it takes to be the best architect of ancient Greece? In Akropolis, players will compete to see who can build the most impressive city in Greece.

Tiles represent city zones such as Houses, Temples, Markets, Gardens, Barracks, and Quarries, each with its own scoring rules. Tiles can also represent zone-related Plazas, which work as multipliers for the zone points acquired. Tiles always come in sets of three,

During setup, players prepare several tile set piles facing down. Players reveal these piles at the "construction site", one at a time, facing up, every time only one tile set remains left. Tile sets cost stones from zero up, depending on their position in the "construction site".

Building a city is hard work, and you must carefully plan your city's growth. The gameplay is straightforward; players will take turns drafting and placing sets of three tiles each to build their city.

One can place a set of tiles horizontally, adjacent to existing tiles, or vertically on top of other titles. A city can have up to three layers of titles, and one cannot place a tile set with two tiles in common with those below. Each tile built on top of a Quarry gives the player a stone.

Once players draft and place all tile sets but one, the game ends, and players can evaluate the final score points. For each zone type, multiply the number of Plaza Stars by the number of points acquired for that zone type. Remember that zone tiles, not including plazas, count one on the first layer, two on the second layer, and three on the third layer. One also counts one point for each remaining stone. The player with the most points wins the game.

Game Experience

In Akropolis, you will take on the role of one of four architects vying for the chance to build a great city of Ancient Greece. 

Though the rules are straightforward, a deep strategy is required to win. Players will need to plan their city carefully to maximize their points. Scoring in Akropolis seems pretty clear - each tile has its own scoring rules triggered at the end of the game according to specific conditions. For example, only the largest group of adjacent houses score points. However, the strategy required to achieve a high score is anything but simple! Planning your city's growth so that you can score points efficiently is crucial to success in Akropolis.

The game combines mechanics such as Drafting, Tile Placement, Tableau Building (city building), Layering and Pattern Building without adopting complex rules. It embraces a Eurogame style with minimal and indirect player interaction determined by the shared pool of tile sets available on the construction site. Players usually focus on their cities rather than their opponents ones. It is rarely the case that interfering with the opponent's strategies drives players' decisions. As "construction site" tile sets are random, each game can play entirely differently from the other.

The unique mechanism of allowing players to build on three vertical layers adds a new depth of strategy uncommon to Tile Placement games. Those who choose to bet on building high cities must make sacrifices at the beginning of the game, pushing their luck without the guarantee that such a decision will pay off. It is undoubtedly simpler to build a city horizontally over one layer only. Yet, it may not be as rewarding as constructing a tall city with high-valued zones on top tiles. This simple mechanism leads players to adopt various strategic modalities. Ultimately, the result is asymmetrical play and high replayability.

The game artwork may appeal to some more than to others. Still, overall design choices lend to a beautiful game that adequately portrays the game theme and successfully distinguishes city zones, quarries and plazas very clearly. Component quality is also exceptional for this type of game, which uses exceptionally thick cardboard tile sets that will stand the test of time.

Final thoughts

Akropolis is a fun and challenging game that captivates players. If you're up for the challenge, you might just become the best architect of Ancient Greece.

Beware, Akropolis is coming to your tabletop, challenging the likes of Cascadia (winner of the 2022 Spiel des Jahres). We're excited to see who will triumph in this delightful battle of board game gods!

Score: 5 out of 5 - Akropolis successfully combines multiple mechanics in a quick-paced game with simple rules but a deep strategy that takes time to master. With high replayability, you are encouraged to return to this game many times, even if for the simple pleasure of beating yourself.

Hits:

• Simple mechanics conceal deep strategy.

• A simple twist to Tile Placement mechanics makes this game unique.

• Quick-paced asymmetric play with high replayability.

Misses:

• Little to no player interaction.

• Game artwork may appeal to some more than to others.

• Different city zone scoring rules may be slightly confusing for beginners.