The Card/Board Community Resilience Game
RIGHT TO THE CITY is a cooperative or competitive game designed to get people thinking and talking about our relationship to land use, particularly in the urban context. Play as community organizers, developers, or city government to advance or defeat proposals, impacting quality of life in the neighborhood.
The game is inspired by the politics and material realities of land use in the city of Philadelphia. It aims to motivate and inspire people to organize or otherwise work collectively toward building an alternative future.
Objectives
Community
Players work to improve the neighborhood’s THRIVING SCORE, determined by the assets and burdens associated with land uses.
Developers
Developers’ primary goal is to build WEALTH, by investing in high value properties or through real estate speculation.
Government
Government grows INFLUENCE by putting their political capital behind successful projects, whether they respond to community needs or increase tax revenue.
Land Uses
There are a wide variety of LAND USES in the game, divided into categories such as residential, commercial, and industrial, and corresponding to common city zoning codes. Each one comes with its share of ASSETS or BURDENS which can enhance or diminish the neighborhood.
Dimensions
Every asset or burden for a land use is categorized within 12 ECOSOCIAL DIMENSIONS, such as food, water, or shelter. The dimensions improve or deteriorate with each new development, increasing or decreasing the thriving score.
Tactics
Through a series of rounds, players shift the momentum of a proposal. TACTICS are special cards, unique to each faction, that may either help to advance or defeat the land use card currently in play, change the current game conditions, or impact other players and factions.
Wild Cards
WILD CARDS are unpredictable events that cause dramatic changes to play conditions.They may impact requirements for land uses to be advanced or defeated, increase/decrease capital requirements, automatically advance or defeat proposals, or even destroy a previously advanced land use.
Power Players
In addition to the three factions, players may choose to act as one of nine POWER PLAYERS which represent the range of motivations among developers, community members, and government officials. Each archetype has their own private victory objective, loss condition, and a unique special ability that can be used once per game.
Finishing the Game
Development of a neighborhood ends when all land use parcels have been filled or development capacity is maxed out, Winning or losing depends upon the modes of play, with Factions and Power Players each having their own conditions.
Play may continue with a new neighborhood, with players carrying over their individual and team progress. But if any three neighborhoods drop to a thriving score of zero, or three ecosocial dimensions have collapsed, the game ends and everyone loses.
Interested in playing RIGHT TO THE CITY?
For Everyone
Sign up using the form below and once we have enough players in your area (zip code) we’ll reach out by email to invite you to the next upcoming game.
For Hosts
Is your organization interested in hosting a game for clients, staff, community members? Let us know the details and we’ll be in touch.
Upcoming Events
Check our calendar for details on upcoming public games. You can follow with a Luma account, or subscribe to our newsletter for updates.