Grey Fox Games GFG96732 Accessories

This game arrived very damaged. As it was to be a christmas present I wont be able to give as a gift.

I got this game on a whim because it was less than $7. I didn’t realize how big the box was! For $7 it’s a good deal even if it isn’t game of the year. I watched reviews BEFORE purchasing and thought it was worth it and I’m glad I did. The building cards are very colorful, almost dizzying but I assume that it’s supposed to be trippy because it’s called Zoned Out. I personally might like this style than other building games that are “normal”. I especially like that one of the player colors is PINK. At first scoring looked intimidating, but it really wasn’t. The main issue was the rulebook. It isn’t the worst rulebook, but it easily could have been made better with more care from the publishers/designers. The rulebook needs some guidance. I had no idea what the skyscraper thing was until the end at scoring and I didn’t know what to do with the city center tile. Zone is not clearly defined, so I incorrectly thought it was contiguous colors - it’s contiguous colors and building number. Skyscraper isn’t in the glossary for some reason. There was a huge end game scoring example that was too much for me to read so I ignored that. Bite size info please! And um...I didn’t realize we were supposed to be counting points throughout. I know it’s there in the middle of the page, but it slipped by me. I’m still not really sure how skyscrapers work, so I’ll have to watch the video - and that is what is disappointing...a rulebook should be able to stand by itself. I should be able to learn a game without watching a video. If you buy this game definitely watch the video first or while playing. It also was not easy to understand when to use the little permit token, but I figure I’ll figure it out when I need to. Eventually. I looked at the example several times and gave up. I wish the cards were better quality - I could sleeve them but I just might be happy without. It might be a nightmare having slippery sleeves and plastic buildings, but there is an extra slot in the box for card which might be because they anticipated people who sleeve cards. My 13-year-old cousin liked it. He likes Cities Skylines and felt comfortable with the rules and objectives. The first thing he did was stack the tower as high as he could till it fell. So if you want a tactile, building game, with card-laying, and you like colors especially pink, this is a quick, easy game to play with family.

Good: beautiful to see a city growing in your table. The translucent pieces are spectacular. Bad: simplistic decision space. Basically your only decision is whether to push your luck each turn and hope for the best while losing yet more points. Overall it’s a fun, light experience that’s worth what I paid for it— less than the price of a lunch special.

I got this for about $5 on a whim and it is surprisingly good! I can't say it will stay in my board game collection forever, but totally worth a handful of plays. Colorful, simple to learn and teach, quick to play, but will not offer deep strategy. Can't see it standing up to repeated plays, but great for a few games!