Point City

Point Salad is my favourite little filler, and that has not changed. Point City is not trying to copy it, though. It takes the same clear, immediate idea and makes it one step more like a full board game. It is still easy to bring to gateway players or children, but now you feel like you are building something instead of simply collecting a cheerful pile of cards.

Drafting is not the whole point here. You choose cards to build your production and develop your engine. Your choices need to fit together, so your city starts giving you more and more to work with. The trick is simple: take things that help you take better things later.

You also watch what the other players need, and sometimes you take it first. The counterdrafting is stronger than it is in Point Salad, without becoming the tiresome sort of move that exists only to spoil somebody’s day. There is snowballing, though: a player who gets ahead early can be difficult to stop.

It is a very good twist on the original design, and it earns its place even on a shelf that already has Point Salad. Point City is easy to recommend: simple, immediate, and just a little more about building when you want more than a salad.