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Take the Path to Riches: The Golden City Reviewed

Jeff McAleer

Apr 20, 2011

Game Name: The Golden City

Publisher: Z-Man Games (Originally released by KOSMOS)

Designer: Michael Schacht

Artists: Martin Hoffmann and Claus Stephan

Year: 2010

Players: 3-4

Ages: 10+

Playing time: 60 minutes

MSRP: $54.99

The Golden City is an introductory game, originally from KOSMOS and available here in the States from Z-Man Games, which is a nice choice to break out for new gamers or those who enjoy lighter, faster fare. For three to four players, you’ll attempt to build a network of connected buildings across the four types of terrain leading to the center of the Golden City. Since the board is broken up into sections you’ll see that there is a traditional area control mechanic at work as you wind your way to the gates of the city and beyond. Play begins at the ports, building businesses along the paths outside the city. After a while, players will enter the city and continue laying down businesses until they hit the center. While you’re doing this you’ll score victory points (or what are called Letters of Business in the game) and, obviously enough, the player with the most VPs at the end is declared the winner.

Once you get the hang of the rules, and it won’t take but a few minutes to do so, a game should be played to completion within about thirty minutes or so – even with four players involved.

Each round begins by turning over one of 16 scoring cards, which I detail a bit later. Then a number of Landform Cards are drawn and placed in two rows, side by side; the number of cards drawn is twice the number of players in the game. These cards represent either ports or terrain types. The first player will then place a hand counter (I kid you not – it is a counter in the shape of a hand!) across two cards that are side by side in an attempt to claim them. The following players can then either plop their hand on another, unclaimed pair of cards, or pay a cost in coins to outbid someone who has already made a claim. The cost will increase the more times bids are made on cards in the round. Once the bids are completed and all the cards are claimed it’s time to get those cards in your hands and move along to the next phase.

Ah ha! So there’s a bidding mechanic as well!

In the next phase players will place up to two buildings on the board (they may not even place a building if they choose not to or don’t have the appropriate cards) starting with the first player and moving clockwise around the table. To build on a port you must have a port card in your possession. To build outside of the city or in one of the two outer areas of the city, you must play two matching Landform Cards showing the appropriate terrain type of the area the building is to be located. You can also use two matching Landform Cards to equal a terrain type of your choosing thus allowing a building to be placed at the cost of three cards. The only limitation when you’re placing buildings is that you must directly trace a path to a building you previously built. Outside of the city each area can only contain one building but once you enter the city gates each segment can contain multiple buildings but only one for each player.

Now we can see that there’s a set collecting mechanic to the game as well.

Let’s move on to the bonuses. Depending on where you’ve placed your building you’ll receive a bonus for that location. That bonus could be coins, goods, an extra Landform Card, a Special Bonus Card, or an all-important Key. Keys are very important because there are only six in the game and you cannot place a building in the center of the city until you use a Key to unlock the area. The Special Bonus Cards simply add additional VPs at the end of the game.

Once everyone is finished placing buildings (or choosing not to) you’ll move on to the scoring round. That scoring card at the beginning of the turn shows two goals for the round which provide victory points to those players who have managed to fulfil either, or both, of those goals. Players also receive victory points for being the first or second player to place a building in a section of the city.

Play continues until either all the scoring cards have been played, thus sixteen turns, or a player has placed all of his buildings. Once that takes place you tally the VPs (or Letters of Business) and the high score wins. Or if tied, the player with the most buildings in the Golden City earns the victory.

As far as the components of the game, they’re very nice – especially the game board – with one exception: I hate the cards. Not only are the cards kind of cheaply produced but they’re also that Ticket to Ride sort of size. When are publishers going to realize that if a game isn’t made for a six year old then maybe the playing cards shouldn’t be designed for a six year old’s hands?

All in all though the game is fun and is one that will entertain those who are new to our hobby. Plus there’s enough there to keep the more experienced gamer involved as well. It may not be my top choice as a gateway game (mainly because of the need for four players to really appreciate the gameplay) but it definitely falls into my top ten to introduce people to meatier games.

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...