In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection.
This breakdown is for the city-building game Sprawlopolis, and these expansions: Points of Interest, Construction Zones, and Wrecktar.
These 3 expansions add a number of new cards and scoring conditions to a normal game of Sprawlopolis. To play the Points of Interest expansion, you first play the Points of Interest card into the play area, cover half of that card, and then play the game as normal. At the end of the game, you will earn 1 additional point for each matching block that is adjacent to your starting Point of Interest.
To add in the Construction Zones expansion, randomly select one of the 4 Construction Zone cards and add it to your Scoring Conditions for the game. Add the other 3 Construction Zone cards into the draw deck, and play the game as normal. The Construction Zone scoring card selected at the beginning of the game will have placement rules/restrictions to be followed in play, and by the end of the game each Construction Zone block must be ‘completed’ (covered) in order to avoid scoring penalties.
And finally, to add in the Wrecktar expansion, shuffle the Wrecktar card into the draw deck, and start the game normally. Once the Wrecktar card has been revealed, it must be immediately placed on top of the last card played. For the remainder of the game, Wrecktar cannot be covered by another block. At the end of the game, when scoring, you will lose points for any Commercial blocks in the same row and column as Wrecktar. So he just adds another layer of strategy to your city-building!
Are these expansions necessary? No. Sprawlopolis already has so much variability and strategy to it, because the Scoring Condition cards are always chosen at random, and chances are you won’t draw the same 3 cards more than once. And if you do, you probably wouldn’t even remember it! I would say that these 3 expansions just heighten the challenge level of the game, and make it more of a brain-burner than a lighter filler-type game.
Official recommendation: I love Sprawlopolis as a standalone and got these expansions as stretch goals to the original Kickstarter. If I didn’t already have them, I probably would not get them just because the base game offers so much to players already. If you’re wanting more strategy and challenge from Sprawlopolis, then I would recommend adding any or all of these expansions to your collection.
