Metropolys

Overview

Metropolys is a bidding and area-control game where players are urban planners competing to construct buildings in the best locations across a city divided into five districts. Each turn represents a call for proposal: one player starts a bid chain by placing a numbered building, and subsequent players outbid by placing higher-numbered buildings in adjacent neighborhoods. The last bidder standing wins the call and permanently places their building. Tokens on neighborhoods provide bonuses or penalties. The game ends when any player has placed all 13 buildings, and the player with the most prestige points wins. Includes Family and Expert variants.

Components

• 1 game board (city with 5 districts, neighborhoods separated by rivers/lakes)
• 52 buildings numbered 1-13 in 4 colors (blue, red, white, gray)
• 9 “trendy neighborhood” tokens (worth +3 prestige each)
• 9 “subway” tokens (worth +1 prestige each)
• 9 “archaeological site” tokens (worth -1 prestige each)
• 1 “archaeological site” card
• 1 “subway” card
• 4 “Area” secret objective cards (Family version)
• 5 “Neighborhood” secret objective cards (Expert version)
• 5 “Area” secret objective cards (Expert version)
• 5 “Highest building” tokens (Expert version, worth 5 prestige each)
• Player aids

Setup

1. Place the board in the center. Lay out neighborhood tokens: 7 in the center district and 5 in each peripheral district. Do not place tokens in blind alleys (dead-end neighborhoods surrounded by water).
2. Place the subway and archaeological site special cards next to the board.
3. Family version: Shuffle 4 area cards; each player draws one secretly.
4. Expert version: Shuffle 5 area cards and 5 neighborhood cards separately; each player draws one of each secretly. Discard remaining cards unseen.
5. Each player chooses a color and takes their 13 buildings (numbered 1-13).
6. Choose a starting player.

Player Count Adjustments

• 3 players: Remove one peripheral district from play. Remove 2 subway, 2 archaeological site, and 1 trendy neighborhood token.
• 2 players: Remove 2 adjacent peripheral districts. Remove 3 subway, 3 archaeological site, and 4 trendy neighborhood tokens. In Family version, also remove the Borders area card.

Turn Structure

Each turn is a “call for proposal”:

1. The starting player places one of their buildings (any value, number visible) in any empty neighborhood.
2. Clockwise, each player may Outbid or Pass.
3. The call ends when only one player remains (all others have passed), or no one can outbid.
4. The winning player flips their building over (number hidden); it stays permanently. They collect any token on that neighborhood.
5. All other players retrieve their unbuilt buildings from the board.
6. The winning player starts the next call for proposal.

Actions

Outbidding

• Place a building of higher value than the most recently placed building.
• The building must be placed in an orthogonally adjacent neighborhood to the most recently placed building.
• The neighborhood must be empty (no other permanent building).
• Crossing bridges is allowed; lakes and rivers are impassable.

Passing

• Once you pass, you cannot place another building during this call.
• Buildings you placed but did not win are returned to your hand at the end of the call.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends immediately when any player places their last building. All players reveal secret cards and tally prestige points.

Family Version Scoring

| Source | Points | |——–|——–| | Each trendy neighborhood token | +3 | | Each subway token | +1 | | Subway card (most subway tokens) | +3 | | Each archaeological site token | -1 | | Archaeological site card (last to gain one) | -2 | | Each building next to the area type on your secret card | +3 |

Expert Version Scoring

All Family scoring plus:

• Highest building token: In each district, the player with the tallest building (by number value) earns 5 prestige points. Ties broken by second-tallest building, etc. If unbreakable, each tied player gets 5 points.
• Neighborhood card: 2 prestige per building in neighborhoods matching your card’s type.
• Area card (Expert): Variable points per group of buildings meeting the card’s spatial requirement (bridges=4/pair, statues=7/trio, lakes=5/group of 3+, districts=4/district with 3+ buildings, chains=4/chain of 3). Each building may only count toward one area objective, but can count for both area and neighborhood objectives.

Special Cards

• Subway card: Held by the player with the most subway tokens. Changes hands when another player surpasses; ties do not change holder.
• Archaeological site card: Held by the last player to gain an archaeological site token.

Winner: Most prestige points. Tie: most buildings constructed. Further tie: shared victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Building sizes: 1-5 are small, 6-9 are medium, 10-13 are tall (relevant in Expert for highest building scoring).
• A player with no buildings left or no buildings of sufficient value must pass.
• If the starting player places in a neighborhood with no adjacent empty spaces, they win automatically.
• Both special cards can change hands in the same turn.
• Each building may only count toward one area objective (Expert), but can satisfy both area and neighborhood objectives simultaneously.

Player Reference

Turn flow: Start player places building -> Clockwise outbid (higher value, adjacent) or pass -> Last bidder wins -> Flip building, collect token -> Winner starts next turn

Building values: 1-13 per player (13 buildings total)

Key tokens: Trendy (+3), Subway (+1), Archaeological Site (-1)

Game end: Any player places their 13th building -> Score all prestige -> Highest wins