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Stepping into the mid-19th century, you are an architect in Barcelona, responsible for developing the city’s new expansion, the “Eixample.” Your mission is to construct buildings to house citizens moving away from the old city center. You will pave streets, establish tram lines, and develop public services, all with the aim of amassing the most victory points.
👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 60-90 minutes
📝 Designer: Dani Garcia
🎨 Artwork: Aleksander Zawada
🏢 Publisher: Board&Dice (review copy provided)
https://boardanddice.com/
Each round in Barcelona involves players taking turns and performing a sequence of tasks. Your turn begins with you placing two citizens on a vacant street crossing on the board. Depending on the chosen street crossing, there may be an associated cost in coins, which you would have to pay. Once placed, you may perform the actions associated with the streets intersecting at your selected crossing.
⚒️ The actions you can take include gathering cloth or coins, laying cobblestones, constructing wide or narrow streets, establishing intersections, and enhancing a Modernisme project space. These various actions provide different benefits, such as creating more storage space in your warehouse, earning victory points, gaining additional actions, or improving your scoring at the game’s end.
🏗️ After the action phase, you must construct a building if possible. The construction requires specific citizens around the building space, which must then be removed and placed on the corresponding citizen tracks on the main board. Successful construction provides you with victory points and other benefits. In some cases, you may even overbuild, placing a higher-level building on top of an already-built one.
🕰️ The game progresses through rounds, interrupted by three scoring phases, called “Cerdà scoring,” triggered when the citizen tracks on the main board have filled to a certain point. Each player scores according to specific goals and their position on the Cerdà track. Additionally, there’s also the possibility to advance on your Sagrada Família track, which offers opportunities to gain more benefits.
🏆 Once the final scoring phase (the last Cerdà scoring) is triggered, players have equal turns before proceeding to the final scoring. This stage includes assessing your achievements according to the cobblestone tiles removed, passengers placed, and the fulfillment of conditions listed on your Modernisme tiles. The player with the most victory points emerges as the winner, having made the most significant impact on the development of 19th-century Barcelona.
Barcelona, designed by Dani Garcia and published by Board&Dice, paints an immersive picture of 19th-century city development. With engaging artwork by Aleksander Zawada, this medium-heavy Eurogame offers players the chance to become architects shaping Barcelona’s new expansion, the “Eixample.”
🏙️ The game provides an in-depth city-building experience with a rich historical backdrop. Your task is to pave streets, construct buildings, establish tram lines, and set up public services. You do this by placing citizens on intersections of the grid-like board, representing the urban plan of Eixample. These citizens not only let you perform actions of the intersecting streets but also determine if you can construct buildings in the next phase. Constructing these buildings is a major goal, as they score you hefty points and count towards the achievement of Modernisme projects or Cerdà scorings.
📚 While Barcelona is rich in strategic possibilities, it can be a long teach due to the variety of actions. Despite the number of different icons, most are intuitive and easy to grasp. The exception might be the icons on the Modernisme projects, which sometimes require referencing the rulebook. Thankfully, the game provides handy player aids to streamline the game flow, making it easier to navigate the various phases of gameplay.
🔄 The gameplay includes the potential for significant turns with multiple combos, thanks to a range of benefits and bonus actions. While this might prolong some turns, there is little downtime, as observing opponents’ moves and planning your own are integral parts of the game.
🤝 More interactive than your average Eurogame, Barcelona has players actively shaping the city’s layout together. From placing citizens to constructing streets and intersections, your actions create opportunities for others. For example, creating an intersection on a spot that costs money makes the intersection cost-free to place citizens. Yet, this also proves beneficial to you, as it provides you with gains every time citizens are placed on these intersections.
⏳ The progression of the game is steadily paced, driven by the citizens placed on tracks after building, a mechanic that represents population influx to the newly constructed buildings. As you are obliged to build when possible, the game moves at a consistent pace, ensuring timely intermediate scorings and game ends. This progression necessitates careful planning and prioritization, as you may not accomplish all you want within the game’s timeframe.
🎨 Visually, Barcelona is an appealing game with lots of components and vibrant artwork. Watching the city grow and expand across the game board offers a satisfying, tangible sense of achievement. However, the lack of an insert and the amount of setup required could be seen as drawbacks for some.
⚖️ The game’s complexity and strategic depth can be a double-edged sword. For some, the layers of decision-making and the ways to amass victory points provide high replayability and a rewarding gaming experience. For others, especially less experienced players and those new to Eurogames, the abundance of actions, icons, and phases may initially feel overwhelming.
🔚 In conclusion, Barcelona is a thoughtfully crafted game that successfully blends a historical theme, resource management, and a bit of spatial awareness into an intricate strategic experience. It offers a deep dive into city-building with a rewarding array of scoring opportunities. If you enjoy games that allow you to flex your strategic muscles while immersing you in an evocative setting, you might just find Barcelona a worthy addition to your collection.
⚠️ Disclaimer: We would like to thank Board&Dice for providing us with a review copy of the game.
