About Us | Terms & Conditions | FAQs | Log in

Call us now on +44 (0) 20 8346 2327

Items: -

HOME

New Releases 21 May

New Releases Archives

Pre-Orders

Suggested Games

Roleplaying Games

Board Games & Card Games

Collectable & Living Card Games

Other Collectable Games

Historical Wargames

Miniatures Wargames & Rules

Miniatures, Paints etc.

Magazines & Comics

Accessories

Calendar

Events

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

CONNECT WITH US

WE'RE WITH BITS & MORTAR

SHOP WITH CONFIDENCE

Main Catalogue | Board Games & Card Games | Rio Grande Games | Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue

Price: £27.99

Board game, 2-4 players, ages 12+, Building in New York City is booming and everyone wants to get in on the new fad - buildings that touch the sky: skyscrapers! Players compete to build their skyscrapers in the best locations, but what is a good location? One with shopping - and the more shopping, the better! ++++++++++++ Counter review ++++++++++++ 2-4 players, 75 minutes designed by Wilko Manz reviewed by Ben Baldanza Games are certainly better when played with the right rules. As Stuart mentioned in the last issue, this review was delayed following some corrections in the translation initially used. Thankfully the Rio Grande edition is now readily available and while this won\'t make everyone like this new Alea output, it certainly will help ensure that the evaluations are based on the game as it should be played. Every Alea game comes with high expectations, so a game about building development in 1930\'s New York brings with it grand ideas. Grand it is not, unfortunately, but like the city itself this game gets more interesting with play as the initial impressions are replaced with some subtle undersides. The idea is pretty simple - get points by owning skyscrapers next to many shops - but the ways to get there are not intuitive. Each player controls a set of skyscrapers to be built in seven different neighborhoods plus overlooking Central Park. In each neighborhood, there are five building plots for either skyscrapers or shops - the two never co-exist. These are set up in a way that each plot is adjacent to two others. Since a maximum of two shops can be built per plot, each skyscraper has the ability to be adjacent to four shops. This won\'t always be the case, of course, as not all shops will be built, and skyscrapers will be built on adjacent plots effectively reducing the income potential of both. Two building commissioners keep patrol through the city, watching construction as it goes on. The path of the building commissioners determines where new buildings can be constructed. Skyscrapers are constructed by winning auctions. The auctions are bid with cards in five colors, matching the five plots in each neighborhood. The auction happens by neighborhood, not by plot, so during a single auction I may be bidding to build on the red plot while others are looking to build on green or yellow. Only one player wins the bid and builds on the spot matching the cards used to bid. On a turn, players have choices among these ideas - placing shops, getting skyscrapers ready to build, taking cards to prepare for the eventual building auctions, and moving the commissioner. Each player chooses among four possible 3-step actions: the first action defines what the second and third will be. For example, if choosing to place a shop onto the board, the second action is defined to be the taking of two colored cards, followed by moving one of the two commissioners. The commissioners each begin on the south side of the city, and will walk through exactly three neighborhoods before entering Central Park. The choice of neighborhoods is somewhat defined, but ultimately selected by the players who move the commissioner on their turn. After visiting Central Park, the next move of that commissioner is back to his office. When this happens, play is suspended in favor of a series of auctions to build in the three neighborhoods where the commissioner visited, and lastly to build adjacent to Central Park. These auctions are the primary action in the game, and the bidding feels somewhat similar to Taj Mahal. Players bid for the right to build in specific plots within the neighborhood, but their choice of spots to select is constrained. If a player already has buildings in that neighborhood, he must bid to add more to their same plot. If a player has no buildings, they must bid to build in an undeveloped plot - no other building or shops can be there yet. Bidding must be done with cards in the color of the plot. Say, for example, we are bidding to build on the 34th St., West block. I have no skyscrapers in this block, so must choose to bid for an undeveloped plot. Three plots are developed - either skyscrapers of other players or shops. I must then pick one of the two colors available and use cards in that color for the auction. If I don\'t have those color cards, I can\'t win the auction. Players add a card or cards each round in the auction, increasing their bid above the last, else they drop out and return any played cards to their hand. The winner can build, but what can be built is very cleverly constrained by how they bid. The auction cards come in values of four, five, and six. They can be bid in any combination; however, the use of higher valued cards constrains the building. Winning a bid using only four-value cards allows the player to build up to three buildings in their plot. Using even a single five-value card reduces this to two, and using even a single six-value cared reduces this to one. It\'s easier to win using higher-valued cards, but less building will result. In addition to the five colored cards, a set of black cards also is used. These are ``wild\'\' and can be used with any color, but at least one card of the necessary color must be bid first. The cards nicely show these limits with 1930\'s-looking workers sitting next to one, two, or three buildings. Once started, the process continues until all three neighborhoods visited by the commissioner are auctioned. Lastly, a Central Park auction takes place, and this is unique: first, the player who initiated the auction series (that is, the player who moved the commissioner from Central Park back to his office), starts the auction and picks a color. Everyone must then bid only in that color. Since no cards are generated throughout the auction process, there is a lot of strategy in selecting the right cards beforehand, using the cards judiciously in the neighborhood auctions, and having enough to win where it\'s most valuable. The winner of the Central Park auction places buildings adjacent to Central Park in a common plot - this is the only place where multiple-color skyscrapers can be built. All of these buildings will overlook the park and a set of shops. Winning auctions and building skyscrapers is essential to victory, since scoring is based on three things: the number of buildings constructed, the value of these buildings based on how many different shops they sit next to, and the diversity of neighborhoods where a players\' skyscrapers are present. Going back to the action selection, then, the ideas begin to make some sense. During the action selection, players are trying to build shops to increase the value of buildings they have placed (or hope to place), collect the proper cards to be best prepared for the auction series when it arrives, and to move the commissioners in ways that will bring the proper neighborhoods into play. Placing the shops, an action available during the normal turn cycle, has a set of interesting mechanics built into it. There are four types of shops, and 20 tiles representing these are randomly placed onto areas at the top of the game board. These are grouped into four sections of ``3+2\'\', meaning three are placed together, then a space, followed by two, then the next set. When choosing to place a shop, a player can choose from any available in the most current grouping; initially this will be three. When only one is left in the group, this building is placed into Central Park, and will be used in the final scoring to help determine the value of skyscrapers built there during the game. Placing all 20 shops is also the first of two game-end conditions. Scoring happens in four ways. The primary scores come from neighborhood scoring. Every skyscraper earns points equal to the number of unique shops it sits by. An isolated building earns just one point, while being adjacent to four unique shops nets eight per building. Every neighborhood scores at the end, but players can also choose to score a neighborhood as the first of their three actions. This selection is interesting, since it has several implications. A neighborhood can be chosen for scoring only if the commissioner is present. Sounds fine, except that choosing to score is the first thing someone must do - before they move a commissioner. The previous player must move the commissioner to a neighborhood where it is in your interest to score, else the likelihood of you choosing that option is nil. The result is a kind of natural partnership in pairs of players - if I can benefit from scoring in the same areas as the opponent to my left, I may be motivated to move a commissioner there at the end of my turn, to benefit if the next player chooses to score that neighborhood as his first action. Choosing the neighborhood scoring option also benefits the chooser in that two black cards can be drawn instead of colored cards. Since these are wild, they have are more useful in the auctions. The second scoring option happens through scope. After each of the first three ``3+2\'\' groups of shops are placed, each player with buildings in enough neighborhoods can earn four, six, then eight victory points. While not as significant as the neighborhood scoring, these values can provide the margin of victory. The third scoring is in Central Park itself, and this happens only at game end. Through the game, shops are placed next to Central Park. These are randomized and three are chosen. Every building built in the park scores for adjacency to these shops, so the random draw can make each building worth as little as two or as much as five. The final scoring option is also tied to the second end game condition. Once a neighborhood is ``full\'\', meaning that something is built in each of the five plots, the neighborhood is at risk of being closed. The winner of future auctions in this neighborhood can choose to close it down, rather than to build. Doing so causes a smaller scoring and can destroy significant value created earlier. If a second neighborhood is closed down in this manner, the game ends immediately but still all other neighborhoods and Central Park will have a final scoring. The effect of these disparate mechanics is a game that gives the sense of being deeper than it really is. Yet it is always possible to second-guess actions made earlier when you come up short of cards for an auction, or fail to get the commissioner where you want him, or fail to have enough buildings to place on the board, or come up short in Central Park. There is a lot to think of during this game, and yet when finished you wonder if the end effect was worth the trouble. It may simply be enough to place shops next to your buildings whenever you can, and concentrate on just a few colors to have a chance in the auctions that matter to you. My guess is that this game will quickly fall into the ``played a few times and forgotten\'\' category; it may in fact already be there for some gamers.

More ...

Main Catalogue | Board Games & Card Games | Rio Grande Games | Fifth Avenue

**sRecentPrefix**

<br/><br/>
<div class="recenththeader">
<input class="recenthtbuttonright" id="scrollbackrecent" type="button" value="    Next >>" onclick="ScrollBackRecent();">
<input class="recenthtbuttonleft" id="scrollforwardrecent" type="button" value="<< Previous" onclick="ScrollForwardRecent();">
<div style="text-align:center">Recently Viewed</div>
</div>
<br clear="all"/>
<table id="recenthtitem">

**sRecentImageRowPrefix**

**sRecentImageItem**

**sRecentImageRowSuffix**

</tr>

**sRecentDescRowPrefix**

<tr>

**sRecentDescItem**

**sRecentDescRowSuffix**

**sRecentPriceRowPrefix**

**sRecentPriceItem**

**sRecentPriceRowSuffix**

**sRecentDeleteRowPrefix**

<tr>

**sRecentDeleteItem**

**sRecentDeleteRowSuffix**

</tr>

**sRecentSuffix**

</table>

**sRecentEmptyList**

Events Calendar, both
In-store & Conventions

About Us
Site Map

Terms & Conditions
FAQs

New Releases
Notice Board

Leisure Games, 100 Ballards Lane, Finchley, London, N3 2DN
Site maintained by ITQ Solutions Ltd.