Firstly I want to thank Korea Board Games for sending me a copy of this game to review. While it’s more of a family weight game, City Chase caught my attention because it is a hidden movement game, but without a lot of moving parts. Plus then it has a lot of cool pieces as well in the game that makes it look even more fun on the table. But we’ll talk about those things later, how does City Chase play?

How To Play City Chase

City Chase is a pretty simple game in what you do on your turn. Once the buildings are on the board and helicopters have been placed, the player who is the getaway driver places their car and the token, creating their starting location. And each of their following turns they’ll leave the token and move their car to an adjacent building, but not diagonally adjacent.

The other player(s) play as the police trying to track down the getaway driver and car. Each helicopter, there are three, can do one action. They can move or they can search. Helicopters move intersection to intersection along the road. And then they can search the building. There are three things you can find in the building, nothing, the getaway car, or a token from where the car has been.

If the getaway driver can avoid being found, or trapping themselves, they can’t cross a token, they win the game. If the police can find them under a building, the police player(s) win.

What Doesn’t Work?

I don’t have any major complaints with the game but two minor ones. In my game plays it’s much easier for the getaway driver to win. Which, I think is fine. But having a variant and a 4th helicopter for the police in there, I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Especially since this is a light game. I could see an 8 year old playing it but they might prefer to have more of a chance to find the getaway driver, or their trail, early in the game and maybe push it too far in the helicopter advantage, but until they are ready for it to be harder.

And not really an issue of the game but something to know about City Chase and as the getaway driver. You can be heard moving stuff around. Probably not a major issue, but we found that chatting while the getaway driver placed covered up the noise plenty well. Is it something you can use for your advantage? Maybe.

What Works?

The hidden movement in this game is good. And it is good for all ages because it is simple. You need to remember where your vehicle is and that is it. And you barely even need to remember that, you can just look to find it again while the other player(s) have their eyes closed. The mechanic is simple of moving the vehicle and hiding it, but also a lot of fun doing that.

And I think that playing the police and figuring out where the criminal might be is fun as well. Which, for a game with two parts, or two distinct roles, is important that both are fun. Once you get that trail, I like the feeling of closing in and trying to find the two tokens, the starting token and round six token, to figure out where they are heading or might be heading.

The toy factor in this game is also amazing. I love the buildings and the helicopters for the game. I like, also, that they didn’t just make one type of building, but there are two different shapes with different heights. What does that add to the game, nothing but some fun difference on the board.

Who Is It For?

This game is one that would qualify as fun for adults, but it’s more for those buddying gamers in your life. Probably that 10-14 age range would be where it is best. But with that said, don’t sleep on it for adults. But more so, don’t sleep on it for adults as a kids game, mainly, that is fun for adults.

And I think so much with kids games that is important. You can even play with younger kids as well, I’d think. Especially if the kid and a parent team up against someone else. So if the kid and the parent or older person play as the police, they can work together in this game.

Final Thoughts on City Chase

This is an interesting game for me. I think that it’s likely going to stick in my collection, though probably not be on the main shelves. Mainly, my kid isn’t old enough to play it yet, but once he is, I can see this one being a fun one to play. Like I said in the who this is for, it is a kids game that adults will like. The game offers enough choices to make it fun.

And I really can’t talk about how much this works from both sides. That was my biggest fear going into the game that one side would be vastly superior to the other, in terms of the fun you are having. But both sides are a lot of fun. And both offer their own challenges. Only being able to move or search means the search is slow. You always want to do more. But with the getaway car, you will eventually reach the point where you need to go past a helicopter. And that is good tension as well.

Overall, a very fun game. Not one that I think is needed by everyone. But if you have a kid or play with kids, in that range, City Chase is a really fun time. And I don’t think between the toy factor and game play you’ll be disappointed in it.

My Grade: B-
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: B
Kids Grade: A

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