Board game hit Magnate gets a global release and exclusive retailer promo

Magnate: The First City isn’t a cheap board game as it comes in at about £75.

However, it’s doing well, climbing the charts at Boardgamegeek, winning “Game of the Year” at GameBoyGeek and landing a global release for March 1st.

Described as “Sim City meets Monopoly” the game is a high-stakes drama around a market crash.

James Naylor, the designer and publisher, told the press;

It’s tremendously exciting to see this much organic, grassroots interest, the only challenge now is making sure we keep it stocked. There are lots of markets where we’ve run out already and are on our 2nd restock orders – so we’re having to move stock around just to meet demand. We’re so fortunate. Most first-time projects don’t get to print more than once. I only wish we’d be in a position to order more to begin with – but you just don’t know how these things are going to go”

There’s also a retail-exclusive promo on the way to celebrate the retail launch, a move that follows the successful 2019 Kickstarter.

James told Geek Native;

In the game you try to move tenants into your buildings: so in a very meta-move I thought it would be fun if you could have game businesses / tenants that all have thematic effects. The game cafe is straightforward – it’s great for gamers nearby. But the gamers themselves are even better: providing a double bonus to the cafe (a retail type)… thanks to spending all their money on games (and naturally since all their money has gone on games… they pay out next to nothing on rent). Naturally the boardgame publisher is bad for nearby offices… because when there’s games being made next door.. no one is going to get any work done!

The game plays for about 1 or 2 hours, and for 1 to 5 players, the solo aspect is undoubtedly an effective lure with lockdowns and board games still front of mind. It’s suitable for players aged 10 and up.

The large box features 50 realistic 2d buildings, a tutorial mode so you can ignore the rulebook, AI rules to support the solo mode, strategic gameplay and high production values on the pieces.