
Machi Koro
Players: 2-4
Recommended ages: 10+
Playing time: 30 minutes
Designed by Masao Suganuma
Artwork by Noboru Hotta
U.S. Publishers: IDW Games & Pandasaurus Games
Year published: 2012
As Machi Koro is easy to pick up, plays fast, and is a lot of fun, it has the honor of being the first game to be discussed and reviewed in this blog. I feel that it's an excellent transitional game for people wanting to explore out of their comfort zone of the usual mass-produced games that are sold at big-box stores and found under the tree during Christmas. The title itself translates to "Dice Town", with machi meaning 'town', and koro, taken from saikoro, meaning 'dice'.
My friend's brother owns Machi Koro, but because our group was usually six people, we never played it (my friends never want to partner up, something I'll mention many times in future posts). By luck, I happened to find this game at a Toys 'R' Us that was permanently closing the next day. It was discounted by 60%, plus an additional 20% at the register so I couldn't pass it up. The game was already unsealed, and when I looked inside, I thought that it was missing pieces. A quick look at an unboxing video on YouTube showed that everything was intact, and a few minutes later, Machi Koro was mine.

The game's components are simple and streamlined: a rule book, a pair of dice, 108 cards, and 78 coins, which are divided into three denominations (1, 5, and 10). The wells for the cards are deep enough to add the expansion cards (which are mentioned later), both dice get their own well, and there's a spot in the center of the box for the bag of coins to fit snugly in.

The cards are whimsically illustrated and consist of your starting landmarks and the starting, regular, and major establishments. The cards also have a construction cost, an effect, a type & name, and, for the establishments, the dice roll needed to activate said effect. The starting landmarks also have effects once they are built, such as choosing to re-roll your dice once every turn.
The establishments are also color coded and can earn the players income in different ways:
-The Primary Industries (Blue) earn you income from the bank during anyone's turn.
-The Secondary Industries (Green) will earn income on your turn only.
-The Restaurants (Red) allow you to take income from the player who rolled the dice.
-The Major Establishments (Purple) has you trading establishments or taking income from the other players on your turn only.
As Machi Koro is a game of random chance, it is also a game with resource management, card drafting, and light strategy added in. A player could be victorious by focusing on one color group for the entire game, whereas another could win by constructing at least one of every establishment and thus earn income on every dice roll.
Machi Koro has two expansions that can be added to the base game: the Harbor Expansion (2012) offers new rules and allows for a fifth player to join in on the fun, while Millionaire's Row (2014) adds a variety of new luxury and high-tech businesses.

I liked the ease and flow of the game, and that set up only takes a few minutes. Some games end in less than 30 minutes, and thus players will want to play a second (and possibly a third) round. The simple mechanics make it a great family game, and should little ones want to join in and "play", they'll love the colorful cards and collecting the coins.
Very interesting.. I'll have to try this game. I'm surprised I've never tried it. Great blog! Thanks! - Dan Bejma, Carlsbad (imtigger)
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