Cities: Skylines – The Board Game

The city-building computer game as a team puzzle: plan districts together, fit odd-shaped tiles and keep the residents happy.

Designer: Rustan Håkansson
Published by: KOSMOS
Editions by: IELLO, Ghenos Games

The computer game Cities: Skylines becomes a cooperative board game, and the city is now built from cardboard tiles on your table. You start with four land boards, work through a series of milestones and try to keep the residents happy along the way. Every milestone buys one more board, flipped from its nature side to its developed side. Each player holds personal cards showing what they may build, and the real fun is the talking: this park next to that housing block, but wait, that factory will make the garbage problem worse. The tiles come in awkward shapes. Picture an urban planning meeting with a Tetris streak where everyone sits on the same side of the table.

Cooperative city planning from the video gameLand boards flip from nature to developedPersonal build cards with side effects

Who it's for

You like the computer game or enjoy planning things together, and you want a cooperative puzzle where talking things through is half the fun.

Not for you if…

You want competition or a quick game. This is a slow-burning team puzzle where one dominant planner can easily take over.

Vibe's take

Relaxed and chatty, like a planning meeting where nobody is trying to win against you. Every placement has side effects, so you keep leaning over to ask what your neighbor's card would do to the same spot.