Chinatown

"Chinatown" is a must-have game for moderate euro-gamers, and it, for whatever reason, seems to be a game no one ever talks about. In Chinatown, you are an entrepreneur in the chinatown region of an un-named city. You have the board, a map of a few city-blocks with grids of numbers laid out numerically as spaces in each block. You're also given a little start money, which are tiny linen, coated cards for money - not cheap copy-paper money, like you see a lot of times in games.On your turn, you draw from a deck of random numbers - these represent a 'title' to the ownership of the squares on the board map. Depending on the number of players, you'll draw a number of cards but have to put a few back, as you're only allowed to keep so many. And this is where one of the nail-bitter bits of "Chinatown" comes in. Soon after, you will draw a set of tiles that are business you are going to try to open, on the board - but they have to be in sets.So, for example, one type of store - to be fully open - needs four adjacent tiles. So I've drawn, for example, 1,3,4,6,25 and 27. Do I keep 1,3,4, and 6 in hopes I will draw 2 and 5 later, which I'll need? But if I do keep those, what if my opponent draws 2 and 5? Now I'm going to have to make a deal with them to try and get control, or 1,3,4 and 6 are not going to be of much use to me! Or do I keep 25 and 27 in hopes of making a 'foothold' on another block for later in the game?!? Maybe they'll need it?! What to do?!Players then draw, randomly, business tiles. These tiles let you open businesses on squares you own, but they have to be in sets. To get an optimum payout for the 'fish store', for example, I need 4 orthogonal squares (never diagonal), as having an 'uncompleted' business only pays a small sum per turn. So I'll need four squares, all touching, to maximize my income. And larger businesses like the 'factory' need 6 touching squares, but it brings in SO much money!And then comes "Chinatown"'s other ingenious rule. Everyone can make deals - and it's literally, any deal they want to make, WHAT SO EVER. So I can offer them my 'titles' to tiles in exchange for a business they've drawn. I can offer them a business, in exchange for money. You can ask for 10% of any profit made on a square in exchange for the title. They can offer to make you a sandwich for some business tiles. Literally, any deal!The winner, at the end of six all-too-brief rounds, is the one with the most money and every time, Because just when you think it's all working, and just when you think, "I just need #74 and #63 and I've got it, I'm going to have the cash pouring in!", that's when you look over at the round tracker and realise, you've only got one more round!If you have the kinds of friends that like a lot of interaction, that love to make trades and be very shrewd at games like "Acquire" or "Catan", then I cannot express enough how much I recommend "Chinatown" to you.I would like to note though, while the game is great there are a few little, notable issues I have with the actual game components themselves. For one, the money - there's a sort of limited amount. So by the third round, the 'banker' will be asking everyone to turn in their small 'bills' for larger ones - and while there is plenty of large denomination 'money', it can be a hassle. More experienced board gamers may just forgo the game money for poker chips anyhow. But it's worth noting.Second, the game doesn't come with a bag, or anything for the business tiles. The easy solution is to just flip them all face-down, or put them in the game box lid and hold it over your head to draw - but in our plays it's still a notable absence that can be made better with a bag to hold the tiles. And third, the cards (both money and property titles) are tiny playing cards (like those you may have seen in the USA "Ticket To Ride"), that I as a big handed, hamfisted, American male find a little annoying to play with because they're so tiny. None of which are reasons to not-buy the game, but are issues none-the-less.

Was not expecting this to be a good family game as kids are 8 and 11, but the youngest played it with us a couple days ago and it held his interest and we had fun...lots of fun. Like "ticket to ride," as long as adults can foster the right feel, I believe this can become an awesome family experience. We will be playing this game quite a bit and for a long time. What parent wouldn't want to give their "little negotiators" an appropriate space to strutt their stuff. I mean I'd rather have a healthy discussion about whether they want to buy my fish shop for 50k than whether they need 10 more minutes of electronics...awesome game highly under rated!Don't be afraid of it just because you never heard of it, or because the theme is potentially dry, or possibly even perceived as politically incorrect--in reality it's kinda more of a tribute to the tenacity of all immigrant populations to "wheel and deal" their way to the top. And in my mind that in and of itself blows monopoly away! "Chinatown" is a game that can teach us a lesson both about ourselves and others abilities to overcome adversities because we're mimicking that experience not mocking it.What can I say I'm a geek dad in love with the shared experience this game can engender if you let it.And, yes, "shut up and sit down" is absolutely right about this game!

I play board games with my neighbors so there's only 3 of us.. We had a great time playing this game though I must admit the bartering would be even better with 5 people. That being said, we enjoyed ouselves immensely and would play again. It's easy to learn yet crunchy enough to require strategic thinking and good bargaining.

Game components are well made. The money is plastic with all denominations having the same back. The shop tiles are thick, board well made. The game concept and design is very simple. Obtain through drawing or trading blocks of property on which to place matching shop tiles. Most money at the end of six years (each game turn is a year) wins.The hard part is the negotiation phase among the players. Trading cash, locations, & unplaced shop tiles. Three way trades are common. You have to decide if what you are trading helps the other player more that what you receive helps you.Have played at all player counts and four seems to be the best.If you want an economic game with heavy player interaction, Chinatown is a game for you.The game is historically based in the mid 1960's when a U.S. immigration reform opened the door for a wave of Chinese immigrants. The board is modeled after the Chinatown section of New York City at the time.

This game is a lot of fun. The negotiation side is very different from any game I have previously played before. I can't wait to play it again soon.

Played this game. Simple rules, crazy and entertaining trades with other players makes this a blast. Only time I had a bad game was when I played and nobody traded.

So much fun. Conceptually like Monopoly but plays very differently and is a much better game overall. Gone are the dice that determine 90% of Monopoly. Instead you build neighborhoods by claiming lots and placing shop tiles. The round of bargaining is the real meat here though. Anything and everything within the game is up for trade and trade you must if you want to have a chance to win. It's much more friendly when everyone is compelled to trade every turn because even slight improvements pay off long-term versus the one or two trades in Monopoly made unhappily by people desperately trying to catch the person who rolled their way into high finance. There is luck involved with Chinatown to be sure but you can still win even with bad luck. It's a great game though, as of this writing, sadly out of print.