Boom Town (1990)

About this game

Famous rare game from Ian Livingstone's company, players construct a 1950s English new town by laying tiles to show housing, shops, factories etc. As parts of the suburbs are completed, scoring goes to the majority holder, but there are spoiler tiles, like the rubbish dump, which will reduce your score. There's a strong element of mutual caution until somebody steps over the brink and lays those bad tiles.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 4 to 6.
• Rules load. At 1.8/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.