Magnate is a board game coming to Kickstarter tomorrow that focuses on property development in very strategic gameplay that is a cross between sim city and monopoly on steriods. This is a great looking game that I have a review copy of that we will be digging into over the next few days and weekend.
Here is where the Kickstarter is located.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magnategame/magnate-the-first-city
Magnate: The First City press release
Magnate: The First City - the highly anticipated city building game - announces KS launch
Magnate: The First City, the hotly anticipated property-themed, city building game has announced it will finally be launching on November 21st 2019, after more than a year of public demos at tradeshows and conventions across the UK and Europe. According to convention attendee planning tool Tabletop Together Magnate was the most anticipated game by a new publisher at The UK Games Expo (the country’s largest board game show) earlier this year.
A kind of ‘Sim City meets Monopoly’ in thematic terms, the game is already getting glowing reviews for its highly strategic gameplay (“it has the strategic depth to sit among other economic classics like Acquire and Powergrid.”) and gorgeous components, including highly detailed, realistic building models of quality not seen before in city building games.
Physically impressive and known for its strong table presence on the convention circuit, Magnate is also praised for its accessibility through its fluid, intuitive mechanics. Before a single game is up, players are actively strategizing for their next game and the next opportunity to be a growing city’s wealthiest property Magnate.
How the game works:
In Magnate players play property developers out to make the most money they can in a fast growing city.
Land comes up for sale in the city’s various neighbourhoods and players bid against each other to buy the best land.
Once they own their land, they have to decide what building will be best for the site from a range of four types: offices, retail, industry and residential. If they make the right choices they’ll attract high value tenants. They’ll rake in substantial rent and make their buildings worth more.
However at the same time, by bringing in new people and businesses, they’ll also be creating opportunities for their opponents. An entire city rapidly emerges and property prices go through the roof.
Inevitably, the boom eventually turns to bust. Before they get burned, players have to work out when to sell to make the biggest pile of cash they can before being caught by a game-ending market crash. Go too early, they’ll miss out on considerable profits. Go too late and they stand to lose a fortune.
The wealthiest Magnate after the crash is the winner.
About the creator
Magnate: the First City was designed by James Naylor and published by his new startup, Naylor Games. Naylor is a London based board game designer and publisher who is passionate about product design and its role in game experience. His professional background is in software product management where he has had multiple roles, including head of product and engineering for a multinational advertising technology company and independent product consultant on numerous startups. Naylor also has a background in community journalism, founding and running local non-profit newspaper the Croydon Citizen as a part-time project until its closure in 2018, after almost 4 years of publication in print. He is a passionate board game enthusiast who likes tension, drama and the potential for emergent strategy in his games.