Underwater Cities Review
If you adore Terraforming Mars—pushing cubes, building economies—but harbor a deep resentment for the original components, you need to dive into Underwater Cities.
Designed by Vladimír Suchý and published by Rio Grande Games, this is a masterclass in building a complex engine without a five-hour slog. You have swapped the dusty red orbital colonies for massive, incredibly tense submarine domes. It’s like being asked to build an entire city under the ocean while your oxygen supply is being managed by a particularly grumpy accountant.
The Color-Matching Puzzle
The core mechanic that elevates this game is the integration of card play and worker placement. On your turn, you place a token on the board to gather resources or construct a tunnel. But you must simultaneously play a card. If the color of the card matches the color of the action space, you trigger the card's powerful ability! If they don't match, you discard the card into a void of waste.
This simple rule creates an agonizing, brain-melting puzzle almost immediately. You stare at three green cards that offer spectacular boosts, but realize every green spot has been blocked. You are forced to compromise! Do you take a sub-optimal yellow action just to trigger the green card? Or do you take the powerful green action and throw away your best card? It is sheer, unadulterated tension.
Suitability: Family vs. Friends
Family Sessions
Is this the perfect family game for a Sunday afternoon? Absolutely not. Unless your family enjoys intense, silent mathematical optimization over a tight three-hour period. Everyone is frequently staring predominantly downward at their own player board, ignoring the table conversation. It’s about as suitable for a family evening as a lecture on underwater architecture delivered in total silence.
Hardcore Gamers
It is an absolute heavyweight champion designed specifically for dedicated Euro-gamers who thrive on highly constrained, aggressively tight resource management. Scaling the economy from a single dome to a massive network feels deeply satisfying. It physically plays much tighter and feels noticeably more streamlined than Terraforming Mars. If you want profound strategic depth without deals with chaotic asteroids, this is a mandatory upgrade.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Color-matching card mechanic provides an agonizingly tight puzzle. | Base game essentially requires expansion for better player boards. |
Scaling the economy from a single dome feels deeply satisfying. | Player interaction is strictly limited to aggressively blocking spots. |
Physically plays much tighter and feels more streamlined than Mars. | Physical card quality is slightly thin and demands careful sleeving. |
Final Thoughts
Underwater Cities is a masterpiece of modern engine building. It is deep, tactical, and incredibly rewarding for those who relish the challenge of managing limited resources under pressure. It is a game that will keep you coming back for "just one more dive."
Final Verdict: Buy it yourself. It seamlessly perfects the heavily addictive engine-building loop. If you want profound strategic depth and deeply satisfying combo-building without having to deal with chaotic asteroids hitting your base, this is an absolute mandatory upgrade to your collection.
