Skyrise | Game Review

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Hello everyone! Welcome to our review of the game Skyrise!

In Skyrise players take on the role of an architect to expand the city in the sky! Players take turns bidding on where to place their buildings, with the only rules being you cannot replace a bid you already placed down, and you can only bid higher than the previous bid.

The game itself it simple in concept, but with all bidding games difficult to really master. You must place bids in adjacent empty sections of the city. If there are no adjacent sections, then you win the bid by default. Whomever wins the bid, starts the next one.

The game is played over two eras, with the only difference really coming in the form of the wonders in the second era. These play as a “trump” of sorts, where you can instantly win the bid when you place it down. The catch is that you cannot START with a wonder, unless it is your only building.

Scoring is done at the end of each era, based on various factors. The main score comes from the end of the second era with your multipliers on what colored sections you have, and what they are worth. When you win a bid, you also claim it’s disc that is randomly placed at the start of the game. These affect scoring at the end but can be sought after to assist in scoring higher points.

All these factors blend together amazingly to really bring out a fun, excited game each time. And while there are only 4 boards to chose from, and based of the number of players only so many in play, the replay ability comes in the form of where the discs land, and where the buildings go.

That being said, there are a few issues with the game as a whole. The first is what was just mentioned: replay-ability. While there are some factors that help with it, the fact that the buildings are the same numbers for the assigned colors matched with the same boards, can lead to a few identical games.

There are some clear advantages to some colors, as we’ve found the blue to be the lowest in most designated colors, and thus you must really plan ahead when playing as them. This is made up for with experience, as the winner of the most recent game played as blue. Knowing how many “winning” bids you have, and for what, really helps nail down when to put out which numbers.

And then, there are the cards. The “secret objective” is silly, and not always worth going for as you can get more points by picking up what you want for the discs instead of claiming that sections. Likewise, the Era cards are something you fight over in the first era, as the buildings stay on the board, but lose their appeal in the second era when there are more and often better plays to be had. It doesn’t help that the wonder cards are what make or break your run too. Some cards are incredible, and others we really don’t see the point of, or the value isn’t there in our eyes. Some make sense for 4 players, and others are just ok all around. As you’re stuck with them early, and you can use the 1, 2 if in a 2 player game, they can really affect your game as a whole.

All that being said this game is a solid bidding game. We enjoy how it shifts each game, and while it has it’s flaws, there are ways to work around them to secure a win. Like getting all era bonuses in the first era to guarantee 48 points in the game…..

Thank you all for watching, and let us know what you think of the game in the comments below. Enjoy!