City Hall

About this board game

City Hall is a 2014 board game for 2–4 players that takes about 90 minutes, challenging you to become Mayor of New York City. Success depends on balancing two goals: bringing people into the city and earning the citizens’ approval.

Each round, players activate one of the seven City Hall offices, including the Tax Assessor, Surveyor, and Zoning Board. Activating an office does not guarantee control. Other players can use their influence to take it over, forcing you to spend your own influence to keep it—or allow them to control it and add their influence to yours for a later advantage.

Control of these offices lets you shape the city and manage your campaign. Buy land and build properties to create attractive neighborhoods that draw in residents, or place a factory beside an opponent’s housing complex to drive people away. Raise funds by taxing your constituents, with the option to accept lower popularity in exchange for higher tax rates.

• Buy and sell influence through the Lobbyist.
• Campaign to increase your approval level.
• Build neighborhoods that attract people to the city.
• Use factories and zoning decisions to affect opponents’ housing complexes.

On election day, citizens vote according to the people each player brought into the city and that player’s approval level. Special interest groups also award votes for specific achievements, such as Wall Street supporting the player with the most money.

The player with the most votes becomes Mayor of New York and assigns the other players to the Sanitation Department. In City Hall, every decision can influence both the city’s population and the campaign for its highest office.