My City and the Tetris Legacy Game That Works With Non Gamers

My City At A Glance

I have played through My City’s complete campaign twice. Once with my gaming group, and once with my parents, who typically avoid board games more complex than Scrabble. Both experiences fascinated me for different reasons, but what struck me most was how consistently the game worked across these wildly different audiences. My mum, who has never touched a polyomino puzzle in her life, was planning city layouts and debating building placement by game three. My hardcore gaming friends were equally engaged, discovering strategic depth that emerged slowly over the campaign’s 24 games (UltraBoardGames).

This is a Tetris style game wrapped in the gentlest possible legacy framework. You place building shaped tiles on your personal city board, trying to cover rocky terrain whilst leaving forests and water features exposed. Simple scoring rules gradually expand through stickers and rule additions. Yet beneath this approachable surface lies something more sophisticated, a game that understands how to teach complexity through repetition and gentle evolution rather than front loading rules.

What fascinates me about My City is how it solves the accessibility problem that plagues most legacy games. These campaigns typically demand commitment from experienced gamers willing to navigate complex rule sets that expand over multiple sessions. My City reverses this approach entirely, starting so simple that anyone can grasp it immediately, then building complexity so gradually that non gamers absorb strategic concepts without realising they are learning.

## What My City Really Is

My City disguises profound mechanical elegance behind deceptively simple actions. Each game follows an identical structure: players draw building polyomino tiles from a shared deck in the same order, then place them on their individual city boards. The tiles must fit without overlapping, following basic Tetris logic. Points come from covering rock spaces whilst avoiding covering trees and water. Games last about fifteen minutes of actual play time, with most of that spent quietly puzzling over tile placement.

The genius lies in what happens between games. My City uses stickers to permanently modify your personal board based on your performance (My City Rulebook PDF). Win a game and you might add a church that provides bonus points for adjacent buildings. Lose and you might place rocks that make future tile placement more challenging. This creates a feedback loop where your city becomes a physical record of your journey through the campaign.

The mechanical framework never changes, but the scoring considerations evolve constantly. Early games focus purely on covering rocks and preserving nature. Later chapters introduce objectives like connecting buildings to roads, clustering similar structures, or building around monuments. Each addition feels natural because it builds on established patterns rather than replacing them.

What makes this work thematically is how these mechanical changes tell the story of urban development. You start with basic shelter needs, gradually developing infrastructure, commerce, and civic buildings. The stickers create visual continuity, your city literally growing more complex and personalised as the campaign progresses. By the final games, your board tells a unique story of urban planning decisions, mistakes, and triumphs.

## The Teaching Power of Repetition

My City succeeds with non gamers because it understands something fundamental about learning: complex systems become intuitive through repeated exposure to simple patterns. The base mechanics never change. You always draw the same tiles in the same order, always place them following the same spatial rules, always score based on covering rocks and preserving trees. This consistency creates a safe learning environment where players can focus on strategic refinement rather than rule memorisation.

The campaign splits into eight chapters with three games each (My City Rulebook PDF). Each chapter introduces one new scoring element or placement rule, but these additions layer onto existing knowledge rather than replacing it. Players master the base game through repetition, then adapt to variations without feeling overwhelmed.

I watched this process unfold during my family campaign. Game one was purely about understanding polyomino placement. My parents needed several rounds to grasp how pieces could rotate and flip. By game three, they were planning ahead, considering multiple tile orientations before committing. The learning curve was so gentle they barely noticed they were developing spatial reasoning skills.

Chapter two introduced roads that must connect to city edges. This added a single new consideration to familiar mechanics. My mum, who initially struggled with basic tile rotation, was soon planning road networks that maximised building placement opportunities. The repetitive structure meant she could experiment with road strategies while the core placement mechanics had become automatic.

This gentle escalation continues throughout the campaign. Churches require adjacent buildings. Markets want to cluster together. Monuments demand specific placement patterns. Each addition feels like a natural evolution of existing rules rather than a jarring mechanical shift. Players absorb complexity gradually, building confidence through small successes rather than facing overwhelming rule dumps.

## The Sticker System That Actually Works

Legacy games typically use destructive changes to create drama. Cards get torn up, components get permanently altered, storylines branch based on irreversible choices. My City takes the opposite approach, using constructive permanence to build rather than destroy. The sticker system creates lasting consequences without punishment, making every campaign unique whilst keeping all options accessible.

The sticker rewards are tied to performance, but not in ways that create runaway leader problems. Winning often means adding positive elements to your board, churches that provide bonus points or roads that create scoring opportunities. Losing typically adds challenging terrain, extra rocks or blocked spaces that constrain future building. However, these penalties often force creative solutions that lead to more interesting city layouts.

What makes this system brilliant is how it personalises each player’s experience whilst maintaining competitive balance. My father’s board developed into a compact city with tightly clustered buildings and efficient road networks. My mother’s became a sprawling town with scattered districts connected by winding paths. Both approaches remained viable throughout the campaign because the sticker system adapted to different playstyles rather than enforcing optimal strategies.

The stickers also create emotional investment in ways that abstract scoring cannot match. When my mum placed her first church, she spent five minutes deciding exactly where it should go. Not because the placement was strategically crucial, but because it was becoming part of her city’s permanent landscape. These moments of careful consideration transformed routine tile placement into meaningful urban planning decisions.

The physical permanence matters more than I initially expected. By mid campaign, players develop emotional attachments to their boards. You remember the game where you earned that market sticker, or the challenging round that forced you to add those awkward rocks. The city becomes a visual diary of the campaign experience, with each sticker representing a specific moment of triumph or frustration.

## Gateway Drug to Spatial Reasoning

My City excels at teaching spatial reasoning skills that transfer to more complex games. The polyomino placement mechanics are identical to those found in games like Patchwork, Cottage Garden, or Barenpark, but presented in the most accessible possible framework. Players who master My City are prepared for the entire genre of spatial puzzle games.

The genius is in the puzzle difficulty curve. Early games use simple building shapes that fit together easily. As the campaign progresses, the tiles become more complex, with awkward L shapes, narrow strips, and chunky squares that require careful planning to place efficiently. By the final chapters, players are solving placement puzzles that would have been impossible in game one, but the learning process was so gradual they barely noticed the difficulty increase.

The competitive element adds urgency without creating overwhelming pressure. Since everyone uses the same tiles in the same order, success comes from making better placement decisions rather than getting lucky draws. This creates a pure strategy environment where improvement feels earned rather than random. Players can immediately see how their spatial reasoning skills improve by comparing their city layouts to those of other players using identical tile sets.

I particularly appreciate how the game handles different skill levels within the same group. The sticker system naturally balances stronger and weaker players over time. Players who consistently struggle receive stickers that make future games easier, whilst consistent winners face increasingly challenging constraints. This keeps everyone engaged without creating artificial handicapping that feels patronising.

The theme reinforcement works perfectly here. Players are not just solving abstract puzzles, they are building cities. Every tile placement decision has a narrative justification. You are not just covering rocks for points, you are clearing land for development. You are not avoiding trees for scoring reasons, you are preserving green spaces for urban planning purposes. This thematic coherence makes the spatial reasoning feel purposeful rather than mechanical.

## Building Complexity Through Familiarity

What impressed me most about My City was how it uses familiarity to enable complexity. By the campaign’s end, players are managing multiple scoring systems, planning around permanent board modifications, and optimising tile placement for interconnected objectives. Yet none of this feels overwhelming because each element was introduced individually within a familiar framework.

The campaign structure creates a sense of progression that keeps non gamers engaged across 24 games. Each chapter feels like reaching a new level in a video game, unlocking new content whilst building on mastered skills. My parents, who typically avoid games with campaigns or ongoing commitment, completed the entire experience because each session felt like a natural continuation rather than a separate learning challenge.

The scoring complexity is particularly well handled. Early games have simple point structures: cover rocks, avoid trees, basic arithmetic. Later games add churches that multiply adjacent building values, markets that create set collection bonuses, and monuments that reward specific placement patterns. By the end, players are managing six different scoring systems simultaneously, but the gradual introduction means each addition feels manageable rather than overwhelming.

The mechanical variety prevents repetition fatigue whilst maintaining core accessibility. Some chapters emphasise road building, others focus on clustering buildings, others reward efficient space usage. These variations keep the experience fresh whilst never abandoning the fundamental polyomino placement gameplay that makes the system accessible to all players.

## Is My City Still Relevant Today?

My City won the Spiel des Jahres in 2020 (Wikipedia), and four years later it remains one of the most successful gateway legacy games available. The design feels timeless rather than trendy, focusing on fundamental gameplay principles rather than fashionable mechanics. The production quality is excellent, with thick boards, durable stickers, and clear iconography that supports rather than hinders gameplay.

The game’s approach to legacy mechanics feels more sustainable than many alternatives. Where other campaigns create elaborate narratives or complex branching storylines, My City focuses on mechanical evolution. This makes it more approachable for casual groups whilst creating genuine strategic depth for experienced players. The experience scales beautifully across different gaming backgrounds without compromising either accessibility or engagement.

My only criticism is that the campaign feels finite in ways that might limit replay value. Once you have played through all 24 games, the experience is complete. Kosmos includes an eternal game mode for continued play (Kosmos), but this loses the progression element that makes the campaign special. However, this limitation feels appropriate for the target audience. Non gaming groups are not looking for infinite replayability, they want a satisfying complete experience that does not overstay its welcome.

The component design remains excellent. The polyomino tiles are chunky and satisfying to handle. The sticker sheets are well organised and clearly labeled. The individual player boards provide enough space for creative city building without feeling overwhelming. Every element supports the core goal of making complex spatial reasoning accessible to casual players.

## Why You Should Play My City

If you want to introduce non gamers to spatial reasoning games, My City provides the gentlest possible entry point. The campaign structure removes barriers to entry whilst creating genuine engagement through meaningful progression. You are not just playing the same puzzle repeatedly, you are building something unique together.

If you enjoy polyomino games but want to share them with family members who avoid complex board games, My City translates the genre into its most accessible form. The thematic presentation and gradual complexity introduction make abstract spatial concepts feel concrete and purposeful.

If you appreciate elegant design that solves accessibility problems through mechanical innovation rather than dumbing down content, My City demonstrates how to create genuine depth within simple frameworks. The sticker system and campaign structure are masterful examples of progressive complexity that maintains engagement across diverse skill levels.

If you want a legacy experience that enhances rather than overwhelms casual gaming sessions, My City proves that permanence and progression can work in light games. The 30 minute session length and gentle learning curve make it perfect for groups who want meaningful development without major time commitments.

## Verdict

My City is a 9/10 gateway legacy experience that successfully bridges the gap between casual family gaming and strategic hobby play. I have completed two full campaigns and remain impressed by how effectively it teaches complex concepts through simple, repetitive gameplay. The sticker system creates genuine emotional investment whilst the gentle complexity curve ensures all players can participate meaningfully throughout the entire 24 game journey.

This is spatial reasoning training disguised as casual entertainment. My parents, who began the campaign struggling with basic tile rotation, finished it planning multi layered city layouts that optimised multiple scoring systems simultaneously. The transformation was gradual enough that they never felt overwhelmed, yet comprehensive enough that they developed genuine strategic thinking skills.

My City proves that accessibility and depth are not mutually exclusive. It demonstrates how thoughtful design can create meaningful progression experiences for mixed skill groups without compromising strategic interest. This is essential gaming for anyone interested in introducing spatial puzzle mechanics to non gaming friends and family.

See our breakdown of the top 10 gateway games for new players

William

William’s a graphic designer from Leeds with a passion for board games that tell great stories. He champions theme-driven experiences where dice rolls shape the drama and mechanics serve the narrative. If it doesn’t make a good story, he’s not interested.