Cityscape
Cityscape Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Playing Equipment
- Wooden game board with 16 "vacant lots" arranged in a 4 by 4 grid
- 25 wooden building blocks (5 each of 5 different heights)
- 4 Cityscape dice holders
- 16 dice
- Rules
The Object of Cityscape
Build a city where the skyline matches your preset goals as closely as possible.
Cityscape Overview
A "Cityscape" is the skyline view after all 25 building blocks have been used to construct buildings throughout the city. Before building the city, you will secretly create goals for how the skyline should look, from your point of view, when construction is complete. The view from your side of the board will differ from the views the other players see from their sides of the board. Players score points if they have met their goals based on the skyline view, or Cityscape, from their own sides of the board.
The goals can be for the number of buildings (1-4) you can see in a line of blocks, or for having two or more buildings of equal height in the same line, or for having the tallest building on the board. These goals apply individually to the 4 lines of building blocks that extend away from you to the opposite side of the board.
Setting Up
- Decide on the number of rounds to be played. Although a game can consist of only a single round, Cityscape is best played with one round per player. Each round starts with a different player placing the first piece.
- Place the empty Cityscape game board between the players so that each player sits alongside one edge. If you have two players, see the "Two-Player Variation" section.
- Sort the building blocks by height and place them on the table near the game board.
- Give each player a dice holder and four dice. The holder is kept in front of each player so that the dice will be facing that player. Once you have placed your dice in the holder make sure that the other players cannot see your dice.
Two-Player Variation
When two play, place the board diagonally between the players so that each player takes two adjacent sides of the city. Give each player two holders and two sets of dice. The players place the dice in the holders separately for each of their two sides. When building, each player places only one block per turn. At the end of the round, score each of the four sides of the board independently, but each player gets credit for both of their two sides. The standard game consists of four rounds, alternating who builds first each round. This takes about 30 - 45 minutes. For a faster game, play only two rounds with each player building first once.
Playing the Game
Each round of play consists of three phases: Goal Setting, Building, and Scoring.
1. Goal Setting
At the beginning of each round the board is empty and its 16 vacant lots are visible. From your point of view, these lots are arranged in four lines that begin at each of the four lots closest to you and extend to the opposite side of the board. When buildings are constructed in these lines, they will be one behind the other. Sighting along a line at the end of the round, you will be able to "see" some of its buildings, but some may be hidden. You must now, at the beginning of the round, set your goals for what you hope to see in each of your 4 lines.
Use the chart titled Cityscape Codes to understand the goals and how the code values for them are represented by the faces of the dice. Then secretly decide your goals, and slide your four dice into the holder to record them.
The dice are placed so that, as seen from your point of view, each corresponds to one of the lines where the building blocks will be placed. For example, the die closest to the left end of the dice holder as it faces you, represents the code for the line of blocks on the left side of the board, from your point of view. Use one die per line of blocks to record your Cityscape goals.
As an example of a Cityscape code, 3-5-6-2 means that you hope to see exactly three buildings in the leftmost line of blocks, at least two buildings of the same height in the second line of blocks, the tallest building in the city in the third line of blocks, and exactly two buildings in the rightmost line of blocks.
You may use any of the six code values for any line of blocks. Therefore, you can use the same value for two or more lines of blocks.
When everyone has set their secret codes in their holders, the building of the city begins.
2. Building
For the first round the youngest player takes the first turn. Subsequent rounds will be started by other players in rotation.
A turn consists of selecting any one of the unplayed wooden building blocks and placing it on any empty lot or on top of any existing building.
- There is no limit on how high a building can go or how many blocks can be used to build it.
- Lots can remain vacant. Empty lots do not count as buildings.
- You cannot pass; you must build with one block each time it is your turn.
Play proceeds clockwise around the table with each player placing a piece on the board.
A round ends when all 25 building blocks have been played.
Try to build a Cityscape that matches your individual goals as closely as possible. At the same time, you can try to figure out your opponents' goals and place blocks to hinder their progress.
3. Scoring
When a round ends, everyone reveals the Cityscape codes in their dice holders. Earn points for each line of blocks where you succeed in meeting your goal. Refer to the chart titled Cityscape Codes and examples.
If you don't meet your goal for a particular line of blocks, you get no points for that line. Partial scores are not allowed. For example, if you choose Code 3 for a particular line of blocks but you can see only two buildings there, you score no points for that line of blocks.
To get your total score for a round, add together your individual scores for each line of blocks.
Illustrated examples: from the New York side the four lines score 25, 0, 30, 20; from the Tokyo side they score 0, 10, 20, 30.
Winning the Game
Keep a running tally of each player's total score, and update the totals after each round. The winner is the player with the most points after playing the agreed upon number of rounds!
The Cityscape Codes
You use the dice to indicate your goals for the Cityscape. Choose a specific goal for each line of building blocks with a number from 1 to 6 as follows:
| Code (die face) | Goal | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | When looking at this line of blocks, you will "see" exactly one building. | 10 points if you can "see" exactly one building in this line of blocks. |
| 2 | When looking at this line of blocks, you will "see" exactly two buildings. | 20 points if you can "see" exactly two buildings in this line of blocks. |
| 3 | When looking at this line of blocks, you will "see" exactly three buildings. | 30 points if you can "see" exactly three buildings in this line of blocks. |
| 4 | When looking at this line of blocks, you will "see" exactly four buildings (the maximum possible). | 40 points if you can "see" exactly four buildings in this line of blocks. |
| 5 | When looking at this line of blocks, you will "see" at least two buildings of identical height. | 10 points for each visible building in this line of blocks that has exactly the same height as another visible building in this line of blocks. |
| 6 | This line of blocks will contain the tallest building in the city. | 25 points if the tallest building in the city is in this line of blocks. |
Examples and Explanations of the Codes
Achieving code values 1-4: In order to get credit for a code value from 1 to 4 in a particular line of blocks, you must be able to see exactly the number of buildings you specified for that line of blocks.
Viewing the skyline by looking straight ahead towards the far end of the board, you will "see" only some of the buildings. A taller building in front of a smaller one blocks the shorter building from view. To be considered visible, a building must be taller than every building in front of it.
Examples: (1) If there are buildings on each of the four lots and each building is increasingly taller as you look up the line of blocks, you see all four buildings. (2) If the front building is the tallest, it is the only building you can see because it blocks your view of all buildings behind it. (3) If the second building is the tallest, you can see two buildings, the one in front and that second (tallest) building. The other buildings are blocked from view. (4) Similarly, if the second building is the shortest but the third building is the tallest, you would still see two buildings, the first and third buildings.
If two buildings are exactly the same height, the building in back is not considered visible when evaluating code values 1-4. And, if a lot remains vacant, it is not counted as a visible building.
Achieving code value 5: When you check a line of blocks for this value only, raise your point of view slightly so that you can "see" if there are two buildings of equal height. You satisfy Code 5 if two or more buildings of the same height are visible, with no taller buildings in front or in between. Vacant lots do not count as buildings, so two or more vacant lots in a line of blocks do not satisfy Code 5.
Scoring a 5: You score 10 points for each visible building that has the same height as another visible building in that line of blocks. Because at least two buildings will always be involved, you will score at least 20 points if you are successful. But you can score more.
Examples of higher scores: (1) If three buildings have the same height, and you can see all of them, you get 10 points for each, for a score of 30 in that line of blocks. (2) If two pairs have identical heights (for example two buildings are 3 units high and the other two are 4 units high), you get 10 points for each building for a total of 40 points. In this case, the shorter pair must be in front of the taller pair so that all four buildings are visible. (3) You can also score 40 points if all four buildings have the same height.
Achieving code value 6: In order to get credit, the line of blocks must contain the tallest building anywhere in the city. If two or more buildings in the city are tied for the highest, you satisfy this code as long as at least one of those buildings is in this line of blocks.
Scoring a 6: You cannot score more than 25 points in a line of blocks for the tallest building in the city. If two or more buildings in the same line of blocks are tied for the tallest buildings anywhere in the city, your score for that line of blocks is limited to 25 points.