City of Gears cover
2012BGG rank #4,726

City of Gears

by Chris Leder, Daryl Andrews · Grey Fox Games

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Players2–4
Time45–60m
ComplexityMedium-Light
Age8+

About the game

What is City of Gears?

City of Gears is a unique steampunk game of exploration, area control, worker placement, and engine building. From your incredible Factory, you must race to claim ownership over the magnificent ruins of an abandoned clockwork metropolis. Each game plays in under an hour, and because only nine of the city tiles (from dozens available) are randomly chosen and placed each game, no two games ever play the same. Each turn, you roll a number of production dice and activate City Tiles, then you move your automaton workers and perform a variety of actions (such as drawing and placing gears to reactivate areas of the city, sabotaging opponents, and activating unique steam powers) as determined by your resources. Along the way, you will develop your Factory with special powers which set it apart and provide you with powerful bonuses. As the city is revealed and its abilities are discovered, players must concoct plans to accrue prestige and hinder opponents so that once Opening Day arrives, they will emerge victorious! Do you have what it takes to set the City of Gears in motion?

How it plays

Mechanics

Area Majority / InfluenceDice RollingModular BoardTake ThatWorker Placement

On the shelf

Categories

City Building

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in City of Gears?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?