Helsinki, the successor to Copenhagen, will soon appear. This should be more complex. Copenhagen itself is colorful puzzle fun that is easily accessible. Collect cards and spend them on facade tiles - there is not much else to consider. The rules are kept simple. In this review, we show whether and how much fun there is when playing.
The Danish capital Copenhagen is criss-crossed by canals and ports. Nyhavn is famous for its colorful gabled waterfront houses. In this entertaining family game, the players now have to design house facades themselves. The aim is for the facades to blend seamlessly into the harbor scenery. Points are awarded for filling in rows and columns. Whoever collects the most points at the end or reaches 12 points first wins the game.
Many colorful plates in Copenhagen
All players receive in Copenhagen her own house to design. There are other tableaus in the form of the point tableau and the port, on and at which the cards are placed. Like the Polyomoino facade tiles, these cards are available in five colors. Together they form the heart of the game. The facade tiles are supplemented by 1 special tiles. You can get skill tiles by placing them skillfully. In addition, each player has a point marker in their own color.
The game setup is done quickly. After everyone has received their house and placed their own character on the point board, there are not many more steps to be taken. The harbor is populated with seven face-up cards. The draw pile is also placed there. The players receive between two and four starting hand cards. Depending on the number of players, some polyominoes are removed from the game and the end card is placed in the draw pile or set aside for the time being. Once everyone has received the “Any Cards” ability tile, the game can start.
The puzzle begins
As the game progresses, the facades of the houses are gradually decorated with the tiles. In your turn you can either take two adjacent cards from the harbor or expand the facade. If the first option was selected, the free spaces are then filled up again. The hand limit is seven cards.
The other option is to remove the facade. For this purpose, cards of one color are discarded from the hand according to the size of the selected tile. If you build a tile adjacent to another tile of the same color, the costs are reduced by one card. The tile paid for in this way can then be placed on your own house board. If you complete such a row or a column, you get a point or two. If these only consist of windows, the points are doubled.
If you have completed one of the three rows of coats of arms or covered one of the coats of arms with a tile, you can choose from three options. You can take a size one special tile. Alternatively, you can choose a new ability tile or make all used ability tiles usable again. These ability tiles offer various special actions. Instead of choosing cards that are next to each other, you can choose any card you want, carry out both possible actions in one turn, draw a third card, reduce the building costs by one or play two colors as one. All effects are one-time and only available again after being refreshed by completing crests.
The game ends as soon as one person has reached 12 points or the game end card is revealed. In this case, the person with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, victory goes to the person with the fewest empty squares in the front of the house.
Infobox
Number of players: 2 to 4
Age: from 8 years
Playing time: 20 - 40 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Long-term motivation: good
Genre: family game
Core Mechanisms: Set collection, puzzle, open drafting
Authors: Daniel S. Pedersen and Asger H. Granerud
Illustrations: Markus Erdt
Official Website: Link
Year of publication: 2019
Language: German
Cost: 45 Euro
Conclusion
With Copenhagen Queen Games has a nice family game that also manages to be interesting for frequent players. Of course, you won't find much depth here. But a puzzle game that can be played in a relaxed manner, which, despite the required card luck, is never really felt to be too luck-heavy.
The topic is well chosen. It's not really needed. At its core is an abstract puzzle game, the setting of which is, above all, well implemented visually. The mechanics used to pay for the facade tiles is reminiscent of ticket by ticket. Due to the hand limit and the "small goals" in the form of tiles, you never have to draw cards forever before the first cards are played. The individual trains run quickly. You don't have to wait long here.
The game material is very good. The rules leave no questions unanswered. Only as a "book" instead of the double-sided, foldable sheet would they be a little easier to handle. The polyominoes and skill tiles are made of thick, sturdy cardboard. When doing the puzzle, the facade tiles fit well together and into one another. There are no signs of wear and tear on the cards either. A nice addition to the cards are the illustrations of the different shapes of the facade tiles of the corresponding color. The optics are also very successful. The symbols on the skill tiles are unique.
Now comes the biggest negative point in the gameplay. The game end can be quite abrupt if the game end card is very high up in the bottom ten cards it is shuffled into. So it can easily happen that a lucrative next move can no longer be executed. With the tight scores, this is often decisive for the game.
The long-term fun of this game is good. The constantly changing composition in the display requires the trains to be planned again and again. In terms of game mechanics, however, there can be some signs of wear and tear due to very frequent play, since there are only two options per turn, the process of which is always very similar. However, this shouldn't be a problem for family and occasional gamers, and even frequent gamers will always have fun with occasional games.
