Machi Koro

Machi Koro

Machi Koro (U.S. Edition)
Designer(s)	Masao Suganuma
Illustrator(s)	Noboru Hotta
Publisher(s)	Grounding Inc.
Years active	2012
Genre(s)	Card Game Dice Game Board Game
Language(s)	Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
Players	2–4 2–5 with expansions
Setup time	5 minutes
Playing time	30 minutes
Random chance	Medium (dice rolling)
Skill(s) required	Strategy, Resource Management

Machi Koro (Japanese: 街コロ "Dice Town") is a tabletop city-building game designed by Masao Suganuma, illustrated by Noboru Hotta, and published in 2012 by the Japanese games company Grounding Inc. Machi Koro won the 2015 Geekie Award^[1] for Best Tabletop Game, and was a Spiel des Jahres^[2] and As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année^[3] nominee that year; it was a Le Lys Grand Public^[4] finalist in 2014. It has been published in Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. The U.S. version is published by IDW Games and Pandasaurus Games.

Gameplay

Players assume the role of mayor of Machi Koro and by rolling dice, earning coins, and buying properties build out a city. The first player to build out a series of required landmarks is the winner. There are three phases to a player's turn. First one or more dice are rolled and compared against the player's cards and other players' cards. Second, depending upon the number rolled and the cards in each player's city, money is earned from the bank and/or from other player, money is paid out to other players, or both. Third, before ending the turn, the player may choose to buy an establishment or landmark. There are five types of cards:

• Landmarks: Each player starts with four (the Harbor Expansion adds two more) unconstructed landmarks that are developed over the course of the game. The first player to construct all of their landmarks wins.
• Primary Industry (Blue): These cards represent farms, mines, ranches, and similar industries. They earn the player money whenever someone rolls the card's corresponding number, regardless of whose turn it is. These cards have activation numbers from 1–12.
• Secondary Industry (Green): These cards represent shops, services, and other businesses. They earn the player money whenever she or he rolls the card's activation number during the player's turn. These cards have activation numbers from 1–12.
• Restaurants (Red): These cards represent restaurants. They earn the player money when another player rolls the activation number during the other player's turn. These cards have activation numbers from 1–12.
• Major Establishments (Purple): These cards represent other businesses and increase the strategic element of the game. They earn the player money from other players whenever the player rolls the card's activation number during his or her turn. These cards have activation numbers from 7–12.

Expansions

Two expansions have been released for Machi Koro. The Harbor Expansion (街コロプラス), released in 2012, expanded the base number of landmarks from four to six and allow the game to be played by up to five players. New rules (referred to as the 5-5-2 variant) were included to improve gameplay by changing how establishments and industries are made available for use/development. Additional industries and establishments related primarily to fishing and shipping were also added. Millionaire's Row (街コロシャープ), released in 2014, added additional luxury-oriented establishments and high-tech industries.

In 2015, a Deluxe Edition was released in the U.S. combining the base game and both expansions. In 2016, the standalone Machi Koro Bright Lights, Big City was released through Target featuring a combination of cards from the base game and both expansions and with gameplay focused on the 5-5-2 variant rules.

References

External links

• Machi Koro at Board Game Geek
• Machi Koro at Groundling Inc. (Japanese)
• Machi Koro at IDW Games
• Machi Koro at Pandasaurus Games
• Machi Koro Rulebook (IDW Games)