The City

Grid Lock City is a 6 × 6 grid of empty city blocks laid out between intersections. No streets are paved yet.

Pave a Road

Standard Game is for exactly four players. Each turn starts at MANAGE CITY; when ready, choose PAVE ROAD and tap a gap. A “Pass to…” card protects hot-seat turns unless Quick Handoff is enabled.

Claim Blocks

Pave the last road around a block and it's yours: it gets your colour and flag. One road can close two blocks at once.

Keep Going

After a capture, resolve CAPTURE / DEVELOP for each new block, then take your BONUS ROAD. Captures can chain. A road that closes nothing passes play only after you deliberately entered PAVE ROAD.

Money

Every mayor starts with $12,000. Each block you claim pays $500.

At the start of your turn you collect income from your developed blocks. Vacant lots earn nothing.

Develop

Claimed blocks start Vacant (Level 0). Choose Develop Now (free: a capture reward) or Leave Vacant; double captures are offered one at a time. During a later MANAGE CITY phase, tap your blocks to build or upgrade up to Level 3.

Each MANAGE CITY gives you 1 Development Action: one build, upgrade, sale or redevelopment, then you must pave a road. Costs are paid immediately. Once you choose PAVE ROAD, an unused action is lost.

★ Bonuses: 3+ connected homes or shops form a district, parks boost the homes next to them, and a connected home + shop + park cluster earns a mixed-use bonus.

Prestige & Takeovers

Prestige scores at the end: Parks, Civic buildings and especially Landmarks earn it, and parks add Prestige to the blocks beside them. Industry next to homes loses Prestige unless a park buffers it.

Hostile takeovers (City era): your developed blocks next to a rival's block put pressure on it, shops most of all. If it beats the block's control (ownership, its level, nearby Residential, Civic and Landmark, and the owner's buildings next door), spend a City Action to take it over, buildings and all, for 125% of its market value. The owner gets the market value; one takeover per turn, and a block just taken is safe until the next full round is done.

Industry makes builds next door 10% cheaper. Tap any block to see its Prestige and control.

City Events

After a full round there may be a calm round or a city event. At most two overlap; storms, fires, festivals, booms and recessions change income, prices or modest repair costs.

Emergencies skip blocks inside a civic building's protection zone.

Debt & Bankruptcy

Every turn you pay upkeep: land tax plus building maintenance, and some emergencies add a repair bill. If this pushes you below $0, sell or downgrade buildings before playing.

If even that can't cover it, declare bankruptcy: your blocks are abandoned, the debt is wiped and you restart with recovery capital ($2,000, less each time, never below $500). You keep playing, but each bankruptcy costs more final City Value and some Prestige. Any mayor can open sealed bidding to restore or clear an abandoned property: the device goes round and each eligible mayor bids or passes in private, then the winner is revealed. The former owner cannot bid, and if everyone passes nothing happens.

Winning

Paving the final road starts the City era: no more roads, 4 more rounds of income, upkeep and events, and 2 City Actions per turn to build, upgrade, sell or redevelop. Then choose End Turn. Clearing debt never costs an action. The mayor who paves the final road has already used this turn's Development Action, so they just develop that capture (free) and end the turn.

City view (the map button at the top) outlines your takeover targets, your blocks at risk, recently protected blocks and abandoned lots. Player cards show your Net / turn: income minus upkeep.

After the last City round, highest City Value wins: all cash + 70% of land + 100% of actual construction investment + $150 per Prestige point.

Ties go to more Prestige, then more development levels, then more cash, then more blocks. Awards like Most Prestigious and Greenest City go to standouts too.

Ways to Play

Play Solo against three Mayor Bots, Local Multiplayer passing one device around, or a Custom / Mixed Game of people and bots.

On a bot's turn its card glows and a strip says what it is doing. The board waits for it. Pause, Speed up or Skip any time.