Counter history: the best board games about cities

said braka 7:09 AM
In 1666 a terrible fire raged through London,

destroying most of the medieval city and consuming more than 13,000 houses, churches and monuments. It is estimated that at least 70,000 of the city’s 80,000 residents had their homes reduced to cinders. In the ashes of this tragedy, London needed to be rebuilt, creating myriad problems and opportunities.

This massive rebuilding effort is the theme of Martin Wallace’s board game, London, which is set in the immediate aftermath of the fire and encapsulates 250 years of ensuing history. Players must decide what and where to build, and deal with poverty and paupers – all with the aim of rebuilding the great city district by district.
Many modern board games tell a story, and increasingly they are leaving behind fantasy-based staples for historically influenced settings – including simulating how real cities operate. Often this setting is simply akin to a movie set, with the game itself bearing little relation to the city where it is cast. For example, the award-winning game Carcassonne has the famous medieval French city as its backdrop, but aside from building multiple towns with walls, the game has absolutely nothing to do with the French landmark. Other games, however, are based on history and attempt to teach players at the same time.
“I’ve designed many games with historical themes and in each case the aim is to deliver something which is as historically accurate as possible within a reasonably simple rule set,” Wallace says. “There always has to be a degree of abstraction, so the challenge is to encapsulate some of the main characteristics of the theme. If people learn something from the game, then that is a happy by-product.”