Ginkgopolis

The Game

Ginkgopolis is a game from 2012. I remember reading about it when it was first released. It received positive reviews, and was nominated for several awards. I was only able to give it a try recently on BoardGameArena.com. This is a game I didn't fully grasp even at the end of a complete game, but that's partly because I was playing online, and I had only breezed through the tutorial without reading the rules in detail. I generally understood the rules, but I wasn't exactly clear what the strategy should be. So my opinions about the game may not be well-rounded. I am further thinking about and digesting the game as I write this. 

Ginkgopolis is about developing a city. The city starts as a 3x3 grid of nine tiles. As you develop the city, you may place tiles on top of others, or add tiles along the edges (where the discs are), increasing the area. You have a hand of four cards, and the cards will always show either the number of one of the tiles, or the letter of one of the discs. The card deck in play is live. Whenever a new tile with a new number is introduced, a card with that number will be added to the game. Whenever a tile is covered by another, you claim the numbered card, taking it out of circulation. These cards you claim have various powers, some helping you gain resources during the game, and some giving you points at game end. 

Hand cards are passed among players. After you choose a card to play for the current round, the other cards are passed right. You will receive three cards from your left neighbour, and you will draw a new card. So together you will have four cards for the next round.  

There are three kinds of buildings in the game. Blue buildings help you gain new tiles. New tiles are needed for either growing the city upwards or sideways. Red buildings help you collect player markers. Whenever you place a tile, you also place your player marker or markers on it, indicating that this is your contribution. Player markers exert influence, and when you control districts at game end, you score points. If you are short of player markers, you can't place tiles. So this is a resource you must manage. Yellow buildings help you score points. You will score some during the game, but the bulk will come at game end. 

There is area majority competition in Ginkgopolis. At game end, every district is scored. A district means a connected group of at least two tiles of the same colour. You compare who has the most and second most markers in the district. Only these two players will score points, and the point value depends on the number of markers in the district. Districts grow and shrink during the game, because you can stack a tile of a different colour onto an existing tile. This area majority scoring is something you have to plan for throughout the game. 

The Play

Every round, players decide what they are going to do at the same time. You don't actually have many options, since you are limited by the four cards in hand. Also you are limited by the tiles you have. However your every decision can have many implications. Remember any card you don't choose goes to your right neighbour. You don't want to give them something very useful to them. You always have to manage these two resources - tiles and player markers. Whenever you are lacking in either one, you suddenly find yourself short on options. The many different aspects of the game are tightly integrated. One decision affects several things. You need to think about which tiles to cover so that you can claim their cards to augment your abilities. All this while you are also manipulating your dominance in the districts, and you are shaping the districts themselves too. 

If we refer to the screenshot above, we can see that district scoring has a big impact. There is one large blue district with 8 of the yellow player's markers and 6 of the pink player's markers. If the game ends now, yellow scores 8+6=14 points, and pink scores 8 points. 

The Thoughts

I have not fully organised my thoughts about Ginkgopolis. At the moment, it is a game I admire but not a game I like. The rational part of me says this is a well-designed game, but the emotional part is not moved by it. This might be because I spent the whole game trying to digest the strategy, and I had to spend the time writing this post to continue digesting it. So I did not have the opportunity to truly enjoy the game. This is a game with little fluff, and I like that. It is compact and tight. Many popular heavy games have several superfluous elements which aren't really important to gameplay. Ginkgopolis doesn't have such. Everything is linked to everything else. Your every move is important and has many implications. This is a game of meaningful decisions.