If you've ever seen one of those fridge restocking ASMR videos online or clips of "perfectionist" cats and thought, "Yes, that's so satisfying!" then maybe you'd be interested in a puzzle game that's a cross between Tetris and a city builder. Perhaps you find joy in organizing and seeing your closet or pantry arranged in a way that fills up all the available spaces? Then I could confidently say that you'd most likely enjoy Tangram City by Uwe Rosenberg!
What's Tangram City about?
In this fast-paced tile placement board game for up to five players, you are city planners tasked by the queen of a beautiful eastern kingdom to build the biggest possible gapless rectangular city within a 7x7 grid using different kinds of polygonal tiles and keep the balance between buildings and parks (the two faces of the tiles) to earn the most points and be rewarded with all the riches of the kingdom. It's basically a multiplayer solitaire.
How do you play?
During setup, each player gets a city board, a set of 23 double-sided city tiles, six fountain tiles, and markers for tile balance (black and green) and for points. Over six rounds:
- Cards are drawn and dealt face down to each player, with the distribution varying depending on the number of players.
- Four cards are revealed one by one (three simultaneously on the final round) and each player simultaneously finds and places matching tiles on empty spaces on their own board, flipping and rotating them as needed. In case it would be strategically beneficial, you may choose to set aside and refrain from placing tiles instead.
- After each player places four tiles, they then add a fountain to their own board to fill any gap.
- After placing fountain tiles, players score the round and adjust their balance markers. Each player earns as many points as the number of squares in their largest fully-built rectangle and adjusts their black and green tile balance markers according to the number of completed squares with a black tile, a green tile, or a combination of either color and a fountain.
Players can get bonus points at the end for filling up the entire 7x7 grid of their board (15 points) and for having a gap of less than five between their black and green tile balance markers (up to 20 points). These usually help me win even when I'm behind on points until the fifth round!
I guess you can say it's ins-tangram-able
I don't really use Instagram anymore, but if I did, I'd say this game is worthy of some hearts. When your city tiles are laid out neatly, it looks like art. Though before placing them on your board, you might find all the pieces look more like scattered shards. Whether that looks good depends on who you ask. The tiles on your board may also slide ever so slightly when adding more. It's not that big of a deal, but I kind of wish the tiles had a bit more weight to them and a more tactile feel when placed next to other tiles—that would just make it a lot more satisfying to play.
It's all about finding balance
Tangram City is a family-friendly puzzle game with minimal player interaction. Unless you're playing solo, the most interaction you'd have outside of having a casual conversation is helping or correcting another player as they find the appropriate tile matching the card played. Either way, there's pretty much no downtime as everyone simultaneously plays every round.
Whether you're playing solo or with others, it's quick to set up and easy to learn and teach. It's also pleasing to look at, especially when you balance the "human" and "nature" part of your city and fully fill up your board with the game's uniquely-shaped puzzle pieces. With a bit of luck and some planning, it can be enjoyable for thinkers and doers alike, though it can get somewhat repetitive if played often enough since you have exactly the same 23 tiles every game.
