Game of the Month: Happy City by Gamewright
We are constantly on the lookout for board games that work well for our family. First and foremost, we like engaging themes for the kids. We also like it when it’s something that’s pretty easy to learn and explain, but simultaneously still fun for adults. Traditionally we like simpler games, but I admit that our patience for more complicated games also creeps up a little bit each year as our kids get older.
In other words, we really like family games - games that fit very safely in that age range of 6-10. Generally speaking, my wife and I have very little interest in games that are too complicated to begin with, even if it’s just for us. We tend to gravitate towards games that are easy to learn and last less than 30 minutes. Maybe it’s a parent thing. If we played much longer than that by ourselves, the house might be burned down in the meantime.
And our newest Game of the Month for December - Happy City - comes in at exactly 30 minutes for an average playtime. We picked it up on a whim recently, simply because it’s Gamewright’s newest game, and they’ve yet to let us down. It’s also officially recommended for ages 10+, which is a great category for us right now. Although it does mean that our 5-year-old needs to team up with Mom or Dad. But I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she could play this one independently pretty soon.
Happy City also just so happens to check all of our other boxes - easy to learn, cute and engaging theme, and just as fun for adults as it is for kids. In fact, it’s one of those games that my wife and I are happy to play against each other even when the kids don’t want to play. We have tons of kids games, but only about 10 or so that my wife and I like to play against each other, so that’s honestly just about the best endorsement for a family game I can give.
Happy City is a city-building game, which means you’re managing an economy and purchasing buildings to add to your city. The buildings are things like theme parks, zoos, cake shops, and haunted houses - and the art is very cute. So, in a way, I guess you could say it speaks to that part of me that used to spend hours playing The Sims. And with the right synergy and a perfect balance of citizens and hearts, you could be the player with the happiest town and win the game.
I love how easy it is too explain this game, even though there is plenty of room for different strategies and every playthrough going a different direction. You can have a maximum of 10 buildings in your city. At the beginning of your turn, you take all of the income you are owed, and then you may buy one new building. That’s pretty simple enough, right?
And the really nice thing is that, other than the building cards, the money tokens are the only components to keep track of in this game - which is very nice for simplicity’s sake. Basically, the buildings you purchase can provide you with income, citizens, or hearts. But the number of citizens and hearts are printed right on the cards themselves. Your income comes in handy throughout the game, but it matters very little at the end. In the end, all you do is multiply your total citizens times your hearts to find out who has the happiest city.
I also like the fact that, even if we execute very different strategies, and even if it feels like it might end up being a blowout, the games always seem to end up very close in the end. I think that speaks well of the balance, and it certainly makes it tempting for us to play several games in a row.
Happy City accommodates up to 5 people, which we rarely need, but of course it’s nice to have the option. In fact the most we’ve played with is 3 players, because our 5-year-old still plays on either Mom or Dad’s team. And, like I mentioned before, playing with 2 players is still plenty of fun. And that’s always a very big selling point, because my wife and I love to find games for us. And this one fits in with some of our other favorites - games like Azul where the point is to execute an optimal strategy and outscore your opponent.
It’s our 9-year-old who will sometimes play with us, and it’s always a joy to watch him try to figure out new strategy games. The first time we played together, his entire plan was built around ensuring that he got to purchase the Lucky Cat Cafe (because he’s obsessed with cats of course). And it worked out well for him! He was just learning the ins and outs of the game, he was purposefully flipping over buildings he couldn’t afford, and he still only lost by a single point in the end.
Like any good family game these days, there are also ways to increase or decrease the complexity. There are special buildings in Happy City, and each player can only purchase one of them. The basic special cards simply offer extra citizens and hearts, while the advanced cards introduce more complicated and interesting synergy. Perhaps blue buildings will be cheaper for you to purchase, or maybe you’ll get a heart bonus if you end up with the most green buildings.
The funny thing is that I enjoy the increased complications of the advanced cards, but my wife prefers the simplicity of the basic cards. And she isn’t the only person I’ve heard say that either. There’s a lot to be said for simplicity in family games, and not just for the sake of kids. And this is another great example of why it’s very nice to have choices.
Happy City is the only city-building game in our family’s rotation right now, and I think it’s a genre we really like. It lends itself nicely to fun and engaging art, and encourages creativity and imagination at the same time. It’s fun to piece together a town full of haunted houses and igloos and dinosaur parks. And it’s simple enough for me to explain to my kids how to play in less than a minute, but engaging enough for my wife and I to enjoy playing by ourselves - and that’s quite an impressive balancing act!
Have you tried Happy City yet? Do you have any other city-building games that you love? Let us know in the comments!
