Sprawlopolis Review: Build a Metropolis!

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Jackhammers pounding, trucks honking, engines roaring: construction is everywhere. Sprawlopolis is growing, and you're in charge of it all. Transform this small town into a thriving civic center. Can you work as a team and meet the authorities' demands?

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Fun Facts About Sprawlopolis

Sprawlopolis is one of Button Shy’s biggest success stories. It stands out because it's a “microgame” with just 18 cards that still delivers a deep, highly replayable strategic experience.

The development process behind Sprawlopolis was curious, to say the least, because it did not begin as a city-building game. The designers were initially working on a pyramid-building prototype. This idea eventually evolved until it became an urban-planning game, and, like so, the project developed a proper identity.

Button Shy bought the idea because it specializes in “wallet games," that is, compact games that literally fit in a wallet.
Sprawlopolis in a Wallet
Sprawlopolis in a Wallet

Despite including just 18 cards, this game offers 816 possible combinations (in terms of goals), so every game is unique. To show you how deep Sprawlopolis can be, two members of the Board Game Geek community, Josh and Jeff, decided to challenge themselves and play all 816 possible combinations.

Josh and Jeff’s project, which they called “Sprawl Quest,” revealed fascinating details: win rates above 70%, the most challenging cards, and even memorable ties. This achievement shows how a game with just 18 cards can offer an almost never-ending experience.

Let’s explore Sprawlopolis!

Game Details

Sprawlopolis is a game for 1 to 4 players, ages 8+, designed by Steven Aramini, Danny Devine, and Paul Kluka. The art was created by Loïc Billiau and Danny Devine.

Game Box
Game Box

It was released in 2018 by Button Shy. In Brazil, it was published by Funbox Editora in 2020, while the current 2025 edition is from Across the Board. Its main mechanics are tile placement, cooperative play, hand management, layered components, and closed drafting.

Game Components
Game Components

In the year of its release, 2018, the game was nominated twice:

- for Best Card Game at Golden Geek, AND

- for Best Solo Board Game, also at Golden Geek.

The Game

In Sprawlopolis, players work together as a team to build a new city from scratch. With one important detail: communication is limited. Players must communicate and plan without revealing their own cards as they work to develop the largest possible areas in each of the four zone types: residential, commercial, industrial, and park.

Keep an eye on road construction. The authorities hate paying for road maintenance, so each road will cost you points at the end of the game. Can you meet the authorities’ demands, work as a team, and build an urban marvel? It’s time to find out!

That’s the setting of Sprawlopolis!

Before we explain the setup, we must show you what a Sprawlopolis card looks like. First, it is double-sided:

- one side shows the blocks, AND

- the other side shows a goal.

On the block side, every card has four blocks, one for each type:

- commercial (blue);

- park (green),

- industrial (gray), AND

- residential (orange).

In addition, on the block side, each card always has one or two roads. A “road” is defined as a continuous stretch of connected road segments, which may be just one block long or span several blocks.

Card Side Showing the Blocks
Card Side Showing the Blocks

The goal side of the card shows a number, which is its value, and the card’s title. Below that are a few lines of text and artwork explaining in detail how to score points with this card. Goal cards sometimes cost you points.

Card Side Showing the Goal
Card Side Showing the Goal

With that information in hand, it’s time for the setup:

- shuffle the 18 cards and place 3 of them on the table with their goal sides face up. The sum of those 3 cards’ values becomes the target score.

- choose a starting player and give them 3 cards with their block sides face down (from this point on, ignore the goal sides of the remaining cards).

- deal one card with its block side face down to each other player.

- do not show the block side of your card(s) to the other players.

- place the remaining cards with their block sides face up to form the draw pile. This lets players see the top card of the pile in advance.

- place the top card of the draw pile in the construction area to begin building your city.

Setup for 2 Players
Setup for 2 Players

A turn is simple but highly strategic:

- choose one of the 3 cards.

- place the card in the city, AND

- pass the remaining cards to the player on your left.

If you are the starting player, choose one of the 3 cards in your hand. It sounds simple, but it is highly strategic: you have to consider what is already part of the city and still try to meet the goals on the cards at the same time.

Placing the card in the city means actually trying to complete the goals, but there are some rules you must follow:

- at least one edge of the card must touch the edge of an existing block OR

- you may place your card so that it lies over or covers one block (or multiple blocks) with your new card.

- you may NOT place a card underneath another card already in your city AND

- you may NOT place a card so that it connects to your city only by a corner.

- when placing a card, you may rotate it 180 degrees, but you must position it horizontally.

- you are allowed to leave an open space in your city.

Card Placement Rules
Card Placement Rules

After placing your card, pass the remaining cards to the player on your left. That player now has 3 cards in hand and becomes the first player to go in the next turn.

Finally, draw a card from the top of the pile so that you have 1 card in hand. If there are no cards left in the pile, continue playing with an empty hand. If you have fewer than 2 cards to pass when your turn ends, pass whatever you have.

That’s a Sprawlopolis turn!

End of the Game

The game ends when all 15 cards have been played, meaning your city is complete! It’s time to calculate your team’s final score and compare it with the target score.

Scoring takes the following into account:

- blocks: score positive points.

- roads: score negative points, AND

- goal cards: may score positive or negative points.

Your team earns 1 point for each block in the largest group of each zone type out of the four available types (residential, commercial, industrial, and park). A “group” is a cluster of same-color blocks connected by at least one edge.

An important detail about block scoring: only the largest group of each type scores points. If 2 or more groups of the same type are tied for size, you choose which group to score.

Your team loses 1 point from its final score for each road in its city. Remember that a “road” is defined as a continuous stretch of connected road segments.

The score from combining blocks and roads is called the basic score.

The following image shows an example of a basic score:

- 11 positive points from blocks: 2 points for the commercial zone (blue), 2 points for the industrial area (gray), 4 points for the parks (green), and 3 points for the residential area (orange).

- 7 negative points from roads: there are 7 roads (please note that a road is a continuous stretch).

- TOTAL BASIC SCORE: 4 positive points.

Example of largest blocks and points lost from roads
Example of largest blocks and points lost from roads

After calculating the basic score, you also score points from each of the 3 goal cards, each of which has a specific scoring condition. These goal cards can also cost you points instead of awarding them.

Now add or subtract the points gained or lost from the goal cards to your total basic score to determine your final score.

If this final score is the same or more than the target score, which is the sum of the values of the 3 goal cards, you win!

Strategic Tips

Sprawlopolis rewards you for finding balance in terms of the basic score and the points from the goal cards, and you can start doing that with the very first card placed at the start of the game. This partly explains the success of Sprawlopolis: every card placed matters.

The basic strategy is to maximize your zones. After all, for the basic score, you earn 1 point for each block in the largest group of each type (residential, commercial, industrial, and park). Connecting blocks of the same color to create large, continuous areas is key.

With roads, the opposite is true: the priority is to minimize them or at least keep them a single line so that you lose as few points as possible. The idea is to avoid isolated road segments.

Always focus on the goals. They can score either positively or negatively, so plan every move around them.

Use card overlap to your advantage. Since the rules allow you to place a new card over or covering existing blocks, use this well. It is a great way to “hide” blocks that are getting in the way of a goal.

Communicate with the other players, but remember that you cannot show your hand. Discussing the best way to position a block card to meet the main goals is essential to win.

Finally, avoid leaving empty spaces in the middle of the city unless they serve a strategic purpose, since isolated blocks make it harder to create large groups.

With that in mind, watch for the opportunities the game presents, develop your best strategy, position your cards carefully, stay focused on the goal cards, and win at Sprawlopolis!

Unboxing, Rules, and Gameplay Videos

Here's an unboxing video:

Check out the rules:

Watch some gameplay:

Educational Tips

If you are looking for a game that is easy to teach and learn, with vivid artwork that captures children’s attention and high replayability, Sprawlopolis is the game for you!

Sprawlopolis works with just 18 cards. It is a quick game that will hold children’s attention. They will be fascinated by the idea of “building” their own city and, best of all, doing it with their friends, all working as a team.

With children, placing a card will quickly turn into a lively and fun debate about the best way to play it, whether to overlap another card or block, and so on. It will be great fun, with everyone talking at once.

At the same time, you will notice some players watching the card being placed while others keep an eye on the 3 goal cards and offer their opinions on the best way to position it. That is one of the best things about Sprawlopolis: teamwork and communication. It is excellent for children!

Sprawlopolis offers all that, but beyond the fun, children will also have the opportunity to exercise important skills:

- resource management: managing the block cards in their hand.

- strategy: finding the best position.

- teamwork: talking and discussing how to get more points.

- spatial awareness: because it is a city, how and where a card is placed makes all the difference.

- decision-making: effectively choosing which card to use and when AND

- mathematical logical reasoning: calculating the points earned and the final score in real time.

From an educational standpoint, Sprawlopolis covers resource management and encourages strategy, teamwork, spatial awareness, decision-making, and mathematical logical reasoning. It's also fun on top of all that!

I highly recommend adding Sprawlopolis to your collection!!!

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