One of a Kind
Crimopolis has a built-in system of adjusting the strategy depth and complexity. We call it evolution. Whether you like lightweight games or heavy games, Crimopolis offers a wide range of complexity choices.
Game mechanics, and therefore strategic complexity, can be individually selected to create your ultimate game experience from light to deeply strategical games.
We work on the evolution packs Buttons & Bulls and Personalities.
How It Works
The most lightweight version of Crimopolis introduces core mechanics of the game as explained in the Rules. Players can start the game within minutes and find themselves in a world of crime in the 1920s.
More complex game mechanics can be added by evolving Crimopolis. To give you examples:
(1) Select the Buttons & Bulls evolution pack which brings the police, a non-player character, to the board. It also adds hospitals and prisons for a more immersive game-play and a self-learning solo variant that optionally adjusts its play strength to yours.
(2) The Sugar evolution pack adds the exploit mechanism and turns Crimopolis into a true 4X game. Resources need to be gathered and traded for goods and services to grow your influence.
(3) Enemies & Mergers turns Crimopolis into an asymmetric game with cooperation aspects for up
to 7 players. You choose whether you play gangsters, citizens, detectives or the mayor of Crimopolis.
to 7 players. You choose whether you play gangsters, citizens, detectives or the mayor of Crimopolis.
In total, there are six individual evolution packs. They can be selected individually or together as you wish. They turn Crimopolis into a strategy game that is as unique as you are and only uses mechanics which you like to play.
How We Did It
The original game idea, from 2013, came with a fairly complex set of mechanics. That made Crimopolis a deep strategy game, required a lot of table space, and was hard to learn. We couldn't play it with friends because many were occasional players who like light games for social nights.
We stripped back the rules one by one. That hurt. That hurt a lot. However, it lifted the game and we called the result the Crimopolis core game, or officially just Crimopolis. We ran blind play tests successfully which confirmed that the rules were easy, the theme was immersive, and most importantly, we still felt it was an original Crimopolis game.
Nonetheless, the idea of having a game with the entire set of rules from 2013 stuck with us. We plan to re-introduce the original rules, but in a way that they can be chosen voluntarily. While tinkering about the original rules, more ideas came up and certainly, more are to be explored. However, we already settled on six evolution packs to come and what their core themes will be.
