Tower Up

The Game

Tower Up is a game about constructing high-rise buildings. You collect blocks in four colours and then use them to construct buildings. You participate in multiple construction projects. The taller the buildings you are involved in, the more points you will score. This is a game with a spatial element. 

A turn is simple. You only have two options. You may pick one out of three resource cards, which will let you collect blocks. After that the card is discarded and a new one is drawn to replace it. Alternatively you may spend your blocks to construct a new building and upgrade other buildings next to it. Buildings come in four different colours. To construct a new building, you must pick a vacant spot which is next to an existing building. The colour of the new building must be different from all adjacent buildings. If you don't have the right colour, you can't build. When you build, you must also upgrade every building next to the new building. You upgrade them by adding a block of the same colour as these existing buildings. That means you also need to have the right colours in stock. If you don't, you can't build. If you have all the necessary blocks and manage to build, you now have the option of adding a roof in your colour to either the new building or one of the buildings being upgraded. Participation in a building helps you score points. Having added your roof doesn't mean that building can no longer be upgraded further. It is still possible to add more blocks on top of the roof, further extending the building. It is possible for others to join you at a building where you have a roof. They will build above your roof. 

These are the player boards. You can see everyone's blocks on the left of the boards. The vehicles track the number of blocks in each colour in buildings you are participating in. Some resource cards also let you advance your vehicles. At the end of the game, you score points based on the positions of your vehicles. 

That traffic cone at the bottom is for tracking how many of your roofs are visible from above. Roofs can be covered by blocks. Lucrative (i.e. tall) buildings will attract other players. They will want to add blocks so that they too can add their roofs and be part of the project. The more visible-from-above roofs you have at game end, the more points you will score. 

The three cards with green backgrounds are missions. When you fulfil the specified condition, you claim a point token. The first to complete a mission claims 7 points. Second place is 5 points, and third place 3 points. Taking the mission in the centre as an example, the condition is you must have participated in projects in all five districts on the map. 

The game ends when one player uses up all ten of his roofs. 

The Play

Gameplay is pleasant and smooth. You only have two options, collecting blocks or constructing. Blocks you have in hand determine whether and where you can construct. Every land plot can only be used once for starting a construction project. Thereafter you are upgrading the building by constructing in an adjacent plot. Players will compete for construction opportunities. Building heights can vary depending on where players construct first. It is beautiful to watch the city grow. It feels organic. 

You want to advance your cars evenly. Whenever you have all cars pass a certain threshold, you get an extra turn. That is significant. The traffic cone is an interesting consideration. It encourages you to wait and see, and let others construct tall buildings, so that later on you can swoop in to leave your roof at the top. Well, everyone is thinking the same thing. 

When I played, I decided to focus on the missions. I rushed and was first to complete all of them. That was satisfying. However I realised the point difference is not actually that big. Being first made me happy, but it did not necessarily help me much towards victory. That's okay. Happiness is important too. 

This is an open information game. You know what blocks your opponents have, where they can or cannot construct, and also which plots are lucrative to them. This game can be prone to analysis paralysis if you play that way. However it is not a complex game, so even if you want to analyse, it doesn't take too long. 

The Thoughts

In many Euro style boardgames, the board is a pretty tracker or spreadsheet. You don't play the board much. In Tower Up, the board is a big part of gameplay. It is refreshing, and I feel nostalgic even, to play a game where the game board has a major role. It makes me feel happy and grounded.