Nano9Games Volume 2: City Planner

Didn't expect a city-building game to make me actually think about zoning, but here we are. Balancing commercial, industrial, and residential areas so nothing clashes is way more satisfying than it sounds, and the civic service cards add a nice twist. Played three rounds back to back the first night

The building code cards force you to think about where industrial sites sit relative to residential, and my first game ended with a smog-choked neighborhood I absolutely deserved. It's a heavier puzzle than I expected from the box art, but every placement actually matters.

The way commercial zones interact with civic services really forces you to plan ahead, and I've already lost an evening to just one session. My first city was a mess of code violations, but figuring out the residential-to-industrial balance is incredibly rewarding.