The game designer couple Shei S. and Isra C. have already developed numerous games together. Particularly well-known among them are their games “The Red Cathedral” and “The white castle“, both published in the original by Devir and in German by Kosmos Last year, at the Essen Spiel trade fair, their new 2-player game Flatiron was published by Ludonova. It was published in German this year by Pegasus Spiele. Find out how the game performs in the following review.
The Flatiron is a famous skyscraper in Manhattan, New York. It got its name from its unusual triangular shape, reminiscent of an old iron. As one of two construction companies, we are involved in the construction of the building, built in 1902, and we want to stand out. To do this, we must complete various tasks and comply with city ordinances. Our public reputation should also be considered. Whoever collects the most victory points at the end wins.
Simple placement & execution of actions
Flatiron is a two-player worker placement/tableau building game in which you take control of one of four construction companies included in the game. Each construction company is slightly different from the others. The basic principle of the game is relatively simple. On your turn, you move your playing piece and perform an action at the piece's location. Then it's your opponent's turn. The game lasts until the roof (or the 2th tile) of the Flatiron is built. Then the scoring begins – whoever has the most points wins.
At the beginning of our turn, we move our figure to one of five possible locations. These are the four streets surrounding the Flatiron Building and City Hall. We cannot place our figure on the same space as the opposing figure. Furthermore, our figure must move away from its current location. Once we arrive at the location, we can choose one of three possible actions. We can either buy a card, perform an effect, or take $5 from the supply. The first two actions differ depending on whether we perform them on one of the streets or in City Hall.
Improving your own tableau
On a street, we can only purchase the top street card. This card has two effects. We select one of these and place it under our personal tableau so that the desired action is still visible. The personal tableau has four areas, each of which represents the four streets surrounding the Flatiron. The street cards also have a similar marking, indicating which street they must be placed on when purchased. A total of only three cards can be placed per street.
The town hall has so-called City Hall cards (the brown card at the bottom right in the photo above). These can be placed under any street, but they count towards the three-card limit per street. City Hall cards specify certain collection conditions for generating additional victory points at the end of the game. You can always choose between two levels of intensity: one that generates more points, one that generates fewer.
The great effects fireworks
Executing effects really gets the construction of the Flatiron rolling. Depending on which street we're on, we activate the effects shown on our board, as well as the effects of the cards tucked underneath the board on that street. These effects are executed from top to bottom. This means that cards tucked underneath the board are activated last. These effects can include various things. They can generate money, enable the purchase of columns, and even allow these columns to be installed in the building, which earns victory points. If a floor has three columns, a new floor can be built, which in turn earns many victory points.
The Town Hall doesn't activate an effect on your personal board, but rather has a newspaper depicting an effect. If you want to activate an effect at the Town Hall, you activate the effect of the currently displayed newspaper. This action can be swapped at any time by activating your own newspaper tiles and exchanging them with the newspaper at the Town Hall. Newspaper tiles are earned when a player reaches a certain score.
The last possible action of taking $2 from the supply can be performed at any time as a substitute action. Using all three actions, you gradually build your personal board, then use the assembled effects to build the Flatiron floor by floor. Each individual floor has a special effect that remains active as long as the floor is face up. These can include perks, more victory points for certain effects, etc. Once the roof is placed, the game ends, and the remaining victory points in the form of the City Hall cards and the company's reputation (thumb) are added together. Whoever has the most points wins.
Info about Flatiron
| Number of players: 1 – 2 Age: from 10 years Playing time: 40 - 50 minutes Difficulty: expert game Classification: Worker Placement Author: Isra C., Shei S. Illustrations: Weberson Santiago Publisher: Pegasus Spiele, Ludonova Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2025 Language: German Cost: 29,99 € |
Conclusion
Flatiron is a fast-paced, fun two-player game that could easily end up on my table more often. It's quite cleverly designed, and you always have a good overview of all your options and how to make good progress. Flatiron requires good tactics and placing your pieces at the right moments. Timing plays a big role, and that's really fun! Flatiron is also refreshingly simple. You basically just move your playing piece and choose one of three actions. Perfect for after work!
The game also offers enough variety to prevent it from getting boring too quickly. The 15 different floors and their various additional effects alone add a good rotation to the individual games. The solo mode is also quite convincing. This is especially important for me, who enjoys a relaxing game on my own after work. Playing against the architect Daniel Burnham works well. The automatic opponent's actions often punish careless moments and feel like just the right mix of anger and counterattack on my part. It's great!
In our test rounds with different people, Flatiron definitely impressed everyone. It's definitely worth a look. For couples, for friends, or even if you just want to play something solo. Flatiron consistently shines.
* = Affiliate link/advertisementAs an Amazon Associate, we earn money from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through one of the links, we receive a portion of the purchase price as commission. This doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps support our website. Last updated on September 18.04.2026, XNUMX / Affiliate links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. Images from Amazon PA API.
