Tile placement is a game mechanic that allows players to contribute pieces to a game board, helping create something bigger and satisfying by game end. A new tile placement game from R&R Publishing called Rome: City of Marble is a well-designed two- to four-player tile placement game that allows players to build Rome in less than 60 minutes.
To become the coveted Architect of Rome, appointed by Augustus Caesar himself, players will compete to score the most points by taking turns developing neighborhoods in Rome by placing influence around civic buildings so that when a building is completed, their people will be in place to benefit and score points.
Civic buildings available for construction include bath houses, temples, arenas, and theaters. The buildings come together at star-shaped points by placing between three to six tiles that touch that point. Three tiles create a temple, four create a bath, five create a theater and six create an arena. The harder the building is to put together, the more victory points it scores when complete.
The tiles that contribute to every civic building are one of four colors. These colors are associated with the four building types: Green for temples, blue for baths, yellow for theaters and blood red for arenas. Not only must a person play a tile to help build a civic building, he or she must also contribute the right colored tiles for what that building will eventually become. Ever tile that gets played is also marked by the player who played it to show ownership. For example if a building ends up as an arena, the player that contributed the most red tiles will score the building when complete.
If there is ever a tie with the same number of colored tiles when a civic building is constructed, it will become a fountain. Fountains score points for players owning buildings that are surrounding it but there are still more ways to score.
Scattered throughout the city are river spaces and aqueducts that allow players to construct special types of things to score more points. Bridges cover rivers and aqueducts stretch into the city, giving a supply of water to other tiles. If a player brings water to a tile or covers a river, he or she will score more points.
This Euro-style game is extremely well thought out and allows for little luck. It requires strategy and thinking each turn a player places a tile. When and where to play a tile is crucial and points go to the most savvy player. The components, board, tiles and wooden tokens are all top quality. This is a solid offering from R&R Games. Find out more at R&R Games.com.