Metro X
Designed by: Hisashi Hayashi
In Metro X everyone takes their turns at the same time – a card is flipped, and then everyone assigns the card to one of the routes on their own laminated metro board, crossing off the number of stations it allows. The goal is to score the most points – how? Predominantly by finishing routes (ie crossing off every station, and if you’re first to do it – even better), but also by minimising uncrossed stations when the game end arrives (-minus points!) and perhaps maximising points from your transfers.
Mixed in with the basic number cards are some tactically-helpful ones. With the basic card you write the number in one of the train windows at the start of the route, then cross off the matching number of stations, going from left to right. BUT that’s when things can get tricky, as the moment you reach a station already crossed off, you must stop. And because all the routes intersect with each other in various places, progress along one line can and will hamper progress on another: you might write a ‘4’ in your orange train, but only cross off two stations before it meets the pink line, which has already crossed off the next station on the orange route – so you must stop.
Skip cards, the Transfer card and the Free card give you a bit more flexibility. The skip cards function the same as a standard card but allow you to hop past already-crossed-off stations and continue. The Transfer card allows you to write in a number (which will be scored later) on the first empty station on any route; double the amount of trains that stop there. And the free card allows you to cross off any station, anywhere.
Management of these special cards is really key to progress and victory, as each train will only take 2, 3 or 4 numbers before it’s full, so completing a route relies on the various routes ‘helping each other’ by filling out the stations they share. When everyone has crossed off all of their train windows, the game ends with players scoring for completed routes, transfer points and deductions for empty stations.
Sam says
A deft little flip-and-write game that reminds me of one of my favourite little games Avenue. But whereas Avenue and games like it (I’m thinking specifically of Take it Easy) have the delicious agony of desperately needing a certain card to come out, Metro X is a little gentler, a little less in-your-face about it. For me it’s less alluring as a result, but I can see how for many that gentleness is actually preferable. The overlapping of the various routes still gives you a puzzle, and there’s a nice sense of satisfaction when your routes come together and what looks like an underground building site suddenly forms into a functioning metro system. Neat.
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Take That!
None to speak of. Players are racing to complete routes, but there's zero direct interaction.
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Fidget Factor!
Minimal, though sometimes you may need a moment to scan the map for the best place to put a Free or a Transfer.
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Brain Burn!
It's about getting those routes completed, and more pertinently the means of doing so. Going for it route by route isn't the answer: you need to get the routes 'helping' each other by making sure when you advance one route, you're doing the others a favour at the same time.
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Again Again!
The boards are double-sided, offering Metro City for beginners or the trickier Tube Town side. Outside of that the nuance is supplied by the fall of the cards, and how you implement them.
