San Francisco Review

I've never been to San Francisco. I'd like to go one day but in the meantime this'll do. In San Francisco, players are attempting to complete their 5x5 grids by drafting cards of the various districts. On your turn, you will either add a card to the draft or you'll take all of the cards in one of the silos and put them on your board. If you take cards however, you'll need to take a contract. These slow you down because you can only draft from silos that have more cards than you have contracts. Luckily, any time that someone else takes cards you get to discard a contract. There is always a player that will have zero at the table. This is a very low scoring game, it largely boils down to majority wins. Having the most workers in a row, the most trolleys, the most skyscrapers, all nets you points. Whoever has the most points wins the game.

The Good: This is a very simple drafting game. With most Knizia titles, the rules are very straightforward. There's a surprising amount of depth here too though. You need to be aware of what other players are working towards and need to pivot quickly to figure out how best to stop them from completing their goals. However, it never felt like I was throwing away my game to stop a move from happening. Most of the cards can be beneficial in some capacity. I love the little trollies as well. The stickers were a bit of a pain to put on but it really helps with the overall aesthetic.

The Okay: A lot of your turns can feel a bit underwhelming. You'll be putting cards in a silo more than you'll be playing them. Sure there's some thought needed to make sure you don't help you opponents but it would have been nice to do more. This is me being picky, but I really wish that there were other types of skyscrapers. They're the most attention grabbing component to the game but they're all the same which feels a bit like a miss to me.

The Not So Good: I found San Francisco to drag a bit more than I would have expected. It's really not a long playing game (at 2 players it's maybe 30 minutes) but the theme didn't grab me like I hoped it would. There wasn't a ton of variety in the card art and for a city as unique as San Francisco I wish there was more to it.

Final Thoughts: I haven't played many Knizia games (now 3), blasphemy I know. I'd put San Francisco right in the middle. The core gameplay is very simple and there are a lot of qualities about this game that I really love. I think at 2 players this plays best because of the direct competition aspect and tenseness that comes with the worry that the card you need will get taken before it comes back to you. The theme feels like they could have used any city and I wouldn't have thought otherwise. I think this could be a solid way to start a game night to get your brains working a bit.

Thanks to Rebel Studios for providing me with a review copy