Board Games | Society

Homeowners’ Associations are Fascist | Suburbia

The following was partially inspired by the indomitable JC.

The state of the market at the end of the game.

A turn of Suburbia is played thusly: The player selects a tile from a common market, pays its price, and adds it to their borough. These tiles can be one of three Common tiles (Suburbs, Community Parks, or Heavy Factories), or a specialty tile. The remaining specialty tiles are then moved to fill in gaps in the market, a new tile is added, and the next player goes.

I might have left out a step or two, but that’s the gist.

Alternatively, players can Invest in one of their existing tiles. This doubles the bonus or penalty of the tile. I call this making a tile “Really Nice”. My Really Nice Suburbs and Community Park house twice as many people and add twice as much to my borough’s Reputation.

Of course, they cost twice as much, both in the short and long terms. The Suburbs are probably gated communities with swimming pools and rent-a-cops armed with machine guns. The Really Nice Community Park has a super-safe carousel and outdoor movies in the summer. Both are…