Balconia

• Designer: Paul Schulz 
• Publisher: Area
• Players: 2
• Age: 10+
• Time: 20 mins
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3YrGeRC
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Life in an apartment complex can be hectic at times! Every resident has their own preferences: some dabble in gardening and would like nothing more than to be surrounded by flowers, some are obsessed with cats and are always happy to see one on the balcony next to theirs, and some just want to take a nice long nap. How do you keep everyone happy?

In Balconia, two players build an apartment complex, block by block, by filling a 5х5 grid. Each building block has four sides with different faces, and on a turn one player draws a token to determine which block to place, then chooses which two sides of the building block they might get and which two sides will be left to the opponent — then the other player decides where to place that block. They then swap roles for the next turn. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

To set up, choose one of the starting blocks at random and place it randomly in the bottom center space.  The color of the door on this block gives each player their color for the game. Place the selection disk between the players so that the colors match up.  The 22 building blocks are placed on the table.  The 22 numbered tokens are shuffled face down and 8 are discarded without being seen, leaving 14 to be used in the game.  During the game, you’ll only be able to see your own side of the building.

On a turn, the active player will draw a numbered token and then find the block with matches that number (you can see the numbering on the inside of the block).  The block is examined and then placed on the selection disk so that each player can only see two sides – the disk is colored so that each player has two sides of the block in their colored zone.  The other player then chooses where to place the block and which side they would like facing out on their side.  The one limitation is that it must be orthogonally adjacent to a previously played block.

Each of the blocks has a number of graphic icons on it (people, cats, flowers, musical notes, laundry, awnings, etc) as well as a scoring rubric at the bottom.  All of these components can be important when trying to decide where to place the block.  Once the second player has placed the block, the turn is over and the roles switch.

Continue this until all fourteen number tokens have been revealed and the board has fifteen blocks in the grid.  Now, each block is scored based on the scoring criteria printed on it.  Some tiles    Additionally, the starting block has rewards as well.  The player with the most points wins.  Ties broken in favor of the player who scores the most from the starting block.

My thoughts on the game

Balconia is actually listed as a 2024 release, but I didn’t get a copy of it until just before Spiel 2025.  It is a nice “city-builder” game, though here, it’s just an apartment building that you’re constructing.  Each block has both a scoring criteria on it as well as a bunch of things which are used in the scoring.  It’s often not obvious where the best location would be for a block as there are times where the icons and the scoring criteria work in different places on the board.

That being said, Balconia adds another layer of complexity onto the pieces.  One player gets to look at the piece and decide which two faces they have a chance of getting, but the other player is the one who gets to actually place the piece and choose which of the sides faces out.  So, when you are going first, you can try to pick sides that will hopefully help you, but you’re at the mercy of the other player as to which side you actually get.

And, of course, as you can’t see your opponent’s side of the board, it’s often hard to know what they might or might not want. For me, this is a good thing because it speeds up the game.  Unless you have an eidetic memory, you’ll have no idea what is happening on the opposite side of the board, and thus, you are limited to just worrying about your own half.  (I mean, yes, you could know half of the faces on their board)  This really cuts down on the decision making time, and it helps keep this game in a very manageable time frame.

The scoring sheet is easy to use, with a full grid on it, and you simply score each block that is actually filled in with the calculated amount.  The end result of the game is a somewhat chaotic looking collection of apartment residents, pets, and other things – but it is a very engaging game and one that I look forward to playing again.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Lorna – I enjoyed this game. I love pattern building and this one is short and fun. There is a fair amount of randomness and laughs about getting the wrong block at the wrong time but it’s a tactical game. The only thing that keeps this from an “I love it” for me is the production. The blocks are flimsy and don’t hold their shape. Some kind of actual solid shape would have been nicer even if just paper ones like origami or box would have been so much better even if we would have had to put them together, a missed opportunity.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y, Lorna
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3YrGeRC