My City

Legacy board games have a reputation for demanding a lot from players: long sessions, complex rule chains, and a group willing to commit to an entire campaign arc. My City came along in 2020 and quietly subverted almost all of those expectations. Designed by Reiner Knizia and published by KOSMOS, it’s a polyomino tile-placement game spread across 24 episodes that plays in roughly 30 minutes per session, introduces new rules gradually, and is aimed squarely at families and casual gaming groups.

The conceit is simple. Each player develops their own city from preindustrial beginnings through industrialization, placing building tiles on a personal board and accumulating points. Cards are flipped to reveal which tile everyone must place, so the core puzzle is shared, but each board plays out differently. Over time, stickers get added, cards get modified, and the game becomes something specific to the people who played it.

This approach earned the game a Spiel des Jahres nomination in 2020, and the broader community has rewarded it with consistently positive reception. The criticism that exists is real and worth knowing about, but it doesn’t change the picture significantly: My City is one of the most accessible entry points into legacy gaming and a well-liked game in its own right.

My City’s Player Interaction Shines

The approachability is the game’s single biggest strength. A round of My City takes around 30 minutes, and the rules for any given episode fit on a half-sheet of paper. New players don’t have to absorb the full rule set before sitting down. Each chapter introduces its own twist, and the structure means even younger players or those new to the hobby can engage without feeling lost.

The puzzling itself is well-designed. Everyone receives the same building shape when a card is flipped, but where you place it depends on what’s already on your board, and your board diverges from everyone else’s over time through stickers and persistent changes. A shape that’s easy to slot in early becomes a constraint-solving challenge by episode 15, when your board is partially locked by permanent features from prior rounds. Players describe this as the game’s quiet pleasure: the growing tension between an increasingly cluttered board and the unchangeable shapes you’re still required to fit.

The legacy arc deserves credit for restraint. Rather than dramatic narrative revelations, My City uses legacy elements to introduce rules and evolve your board. That humility is actually the right call for this game’s audience. Players who aren’t looking for epic storytelling appreciate that progress is measured in city-building milestones rather than plot twists. It makes the game portable in a social sense: easier to explain, easier to start, easier to return to after a two-week gap.

Catch-up mechanics are also well-regarded. The game tracks performance across episodes and gives players who fall behind slight advantages going into later games, preventing a runaway leader from dominating an entire campaign. For family groups with mixed skill levels, this matters.

After the 24-episode arc is complete, flipping the boards over reveals The Eternal Game, a standalone version of the tile-laying experience without legacy elements. Players who love the puzzle and want something replayable without campaign stakes find genuine value here.

Where My City Stumbles

Randomness is the most consistent frustration. Because everyone draws from the same card deck, a run of tiles you simply can’t place well is entirely possible and entirely outside your control. Players describe situations where the right tile never arrives, forcing a string of penalized turns. In a short game without many catch-up opportunities within a single episode, this can feel unfair in a way that competitive games with more player agency don’t.

The legacy elements feel modest to some players, particularly those coming in from heavier campaign games. The permanent changes are mostly additive stickers and rule modifications rather than dramatic board alterations or narrative consequences. Fans of more aggressive legacy design find My City’s approach safe to the point of feeling underwhelming. Boards reset each chapter, which limits how dramatically the game evolves over time.

Two players have a workable experience but miss some of the scoring and reward structure that comes from playing with three or four. Several mechanisms distribute rewards on a first-, second-, then everyone-else basis, and at two players that middle tier largely disappears. The game functions at two, but it’s clearly designed with fuller tables in mind.

Narrative thinness is a related complaint. If you come to a legacy game wanting character, story beats, or a reason to care about what happens beyond placement optimization, My City doesn’t offer much. The city grows, the rules evolve, but there’s no particular reason to feel attached to the outcome. Some players find that freeing; others find it hollow.

The Right Expectations

My City’s quality depends heavily on what you want from a legacy game. Compared to shorter, lighter experiences, it’s a satisfying campaign with real permanence. Compared to heavier campaign games, it’s a gentle introduction without the density that makes those games compelling to their audiences.

The game found its audience by being the right thing for a specific group: families, casual players, and gaming skeptics who were never going to play a full-weight legacy experience. For that group, the 24-episode arc delivers real investment at a manageable commitment level. The people who rate it most highly are rarely veteran campaign gamers. They’re players who didn’t expect to care about a legacy game and found themselves looking forward to the next session anyway.

Should You Play My City?

My City is for family groups, casual players, or anyone curious about legacy gaming who wants to test the format without committing to a 10-hour campaign. It’s also a good pick for groups that include younger players or people newer to hobby gaming, given its short sessions and progressive rule introduction.

Skip it if you want a narrative-heavy experience, a game with minimal luck influence, or a legacy arc that fundamentally transforms the game’s mechanics over time. If you’re already deep into complex campaign games, My City will feel too restrained.

The Verdict on My City

My City is a legacy game built for people who would never normally touch a legacy game. Its 24-episode arc is approachable, plays fast, and builds real attachment to your personal board without demanding full campaign commitment. Some randomness will frustrate and the narrative is thin, but it earns its place as one of the friendliest entry points into campaign gaming. Knizia’s puzzle design keeps individual sessions enjoyable even when the broader stakes feel modest, and that’s enough to make it worth finishing.