City of Iron is set in Ryan Laukat’s fantastic world of Above and Below, Islebound and The Ancient World. And, though it might seem repetitive to keep tapping into the same setting, artistically and mechanically, Laukat manages to create a captivatingly fun game.

City of Iron is an evolution from Above and Below and Islebound in the sense players are managing and aggressively pursuing their own agenda in direct conflict with each other. Its mechanics and game sequence is more complex, though, if you are familiar with Ryan’s game design, the complexity is not overwhelming. City of Iron is a welcome deepening of more complex gameplay. The game revolves around players competing with one another to expand their capitol cities power. There are multiple paths to winning; political, military and economic. Each of these paths diverge and converge with other players agendas. Loukat’s design prevent players from playing a mildly annoying Euro-style game of occasionally inconveniencing each other through first paler worker placement. The game and includes mechanics where players are intentionally and strategically confronting one another.

City of Iron draws your attention immediately to the central tableaux. The artwork is (as we have come to expect) gorgeous and compelling. Sweeping landscapes that read like an atlas of the different lands in this world. The iconography, once you’ve played a few rounds, is intuitive and enhances tracking and record keeping. The various cards and tokens that revolve around the central tableaux visually enhance the game.

Mechanically players will compete for resources to create an economy that fuels city expansion. Expansion through political and / or military is left up to players. As city states are co-opted into the expanding empire players have access to an increased range of choices. Though in order to expand players are challenged to ‘re-focus’ their own capitol tableaux by replacing outdated technology and resources with newer and more efficient options.