High Rise is a city-building strategy board game with a bit of corruption from the designer of The Networks, Wordsy, and Bad Medicine. It’s a game for 1-4 players, running 90-120 minutes (100-150 minutes if you play the 3-round Full Game).
In the game, you and your opponents are constructing skyscrapers in a somewhat unreputable city. You’ll move around the board on a one-way track, choosing any unoccupied space ahead of you and doing its action, and waiting for everyone to pass you until you take your next action.
As you play, you’ll be frequently tempted to enhance your actions… but whenever you do, you will gain Corruption. This can give you an edge over your opponents, and it can also periodically penalize you if you gain too much. You can win games with little Corruption, and you can win games with a lot of Corruption; it all depends on the decisions you make relative to your opponents.
Most of the spaces on the board represent Tenants; various corporations and government entities who would love to move into a notable new building. Each Tenant offers a different power for players who land or build on them. The game comes with 45 Tenants, of which you’ll only use 15-20 (depending on player count), so every game you play will require different strategies and tactics depending on which Tenants are on the board.
