NEOM

Draft tiles at the same time, build a modern city and unlock a tree of goods for increasingly powerful buildings.

Designer: Paul Sottosanti
Published by: Lookout Games

NEOM (2018) is a modern city-building game for one to five players. Everyone drafts tiles at the same time and places them to grow a city, drawing inspiration from 7 Wonders, Carcassonne and SimCity. A tree of 17 goods across three tiers can be unlocked, which allows more powerful tiles later. Tiles also carry roads that must connect without being rotated, so you always have to plan your layout a step ahead. At the start of every game you draft cornerstones, powerful tiles that change what matters most. About forty-five minutes, with simultaneous turns that keep the pace up.

Simultaneous drafting and tile placementA tree of 17 goods in three tiersCornerstones change every game

Who it's for

You enjoy 7 Wonders-style drafting but want to build a connected city, and you like games where nobody waits for their turn.

Not for you if…

You want a purely solitary builder, or a game with no road-matching constraints. The no-rotation rule is what makes it tick.

Vibe's take

Brisk and satisfying. Everyone drafts and builds at once, so there is little downtime, and fitting new tiles to your roads without rotating them is a pleasant spatial puzzle.