This game was gifted to us by Gamewright, but all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
As the mayor, can you build the happiest city from the ground up?
Quick Stats
The Components
The game is composed of well-made cards and thick cardboard coins. My only “problem” with the components is that the cards are smaller than standard-sized cards, and I find smaller cards more difficult to shuffle, but I think that’s just personal preference. And although I find them annoying to shuffle, in this game, smaller cards make a lot of sense because laying out all the cards if they were standard size would take up too much table space.
The Game Play
Each player starts their town with just a Happy Market. Through 2 phases (the income and Action phase), players develop their cities. During the income phase, everyone gains coins from the bank based on the income symbols on their cards. During the Action phase, players take turns revealing cards from the building card decks and adding a building or residence to their city. You can also earn a bonus card if your city meets certain conditions. The game ends when the first player builds ten buildings in their city. The number of hearts multiplied by the number of citizens determines who has the happiest city at the end of the game. That player is the winner!
Gameschooling
Happy City would be a great game to introduce or reinforce the concept of multiplication. The game also has an opportunity for a geography lesson. While many of the locations on the cards are fictional, several are real landmarks, and it could be fun for kids to find these on a map or globe.
Overall Thoughts
Chaosman (7) has been obsessed with this game. He’s been asking to play every day, and no one has grown sick of it yet! I think that if you’re playing together as a family, you can ignore the 10+ label for most kids. Our kids are 9, 7, and 5 years old and could all play. The 7-year-old completely understood the strategy and was able to win more than once. The nine and 5-year-olds were more focused on building their cities with the cards they liked but still enjoyed playing.
Happy City is a great family game that will keep everyone entertained. I love that it has “family” and “expert” versions. This is great for playing with kids or for learning quickly for a friends’ game night.
You can get a copy of Happy City here!
