Machi Koro 2 Review

Machi Koro 2 is a sequel to the original providing some quality of life changes and ways to streamline the game from its predecessor. If I'm being honest, I disliked the original a lot. Does the sequel change my opinion? Let's find out.

In the game, you are building a tableau of buildings with dice values that activate when a specific criteria is met. The first 3 rounds are simply spending your 5 coins to buy your starting properties and then it's off to the races. On your turn, roll one or two dice and add them together. Activate any cards that match. This can give you coins but it could also potentially cost you by forcing you to pay your opponents. There's also the potential that anyone will receive the benefit of your roll. Once you get paid, you can buy one building. Then the next player goes and so on. The way to win is by being the first player to purchase 3 landmarks.

The Good: I love that they kept the same plastic coins and chunky dice from the original. The coins alone are a nice touch. Another key change was that there must be 5 unique cards per row. Any duplicates will stack. That allows you to see more cards and increase your potential.

The Okay: This is a tough game to really plan anything for. Rolling dice means you're just hoping for the best results. You can try and cover each number but that could still backfire and other players could run away. Or you can bank on certain ones to combo off of and hopefully make a lot of money. With no mitigation it's tricky.

The Not So Good: The general card quality is pretty awful. Especially when you factor everything else in the box. The cards bend quickly and don't really feel great in your hands.

Final Thoughts: So did Machi Koro 2 change my opinion? Yes and no. I think this is a much better version of the game and it has some good features but it still feels like its missing something. When you have a big turn it's great but there can be a lot of downtime between those big turns. If I'm going to play a dice rolling game like this I think I'd prefer Valeria Card Kingdoms. This is a nice introductory game however and could be for you if you have newer players.

A review copy was provided by the publisher.