Ever since we opened our company to submissions from other designers, we’ve had one core philosophy: Because of the amount time, money, heart, and soul we put into our games, we’ll only publish games from other designers if we love them as much as if we designed them ourselves. This is one such game.
The game is called Between Two Cities, designed by Ben Rosset and Matthew O’Malley. It is a partnership-driven, tile-drafting city-building game for 3-7 players that plays in about 20 minutes. The game also includes a 2-player variant, and Morten Monrad Pedersen designed the solo “Automa” variant. The rulebooks are here.
In Between Two Cities, you are a world-renowned city planner who has been asked to redesign two different cities. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person, so for each assignment you are paired with a partner with whom to discuss and execute your grandiose plans. Each turn features a simultaneous discussion with your two partners to decide which of your tiles to place into the cities you’re building with each of them and where in those cities to place the tiles. At the end of the game, there is only one winner, as each player compares the lowest scoring of their two cites.
There are 7 reference cards in the game, 23 Automa cards, and 15 seating randomizer cards (a total of 45 cards). All cards are 57x87mm. It is available on Tabletopia.
Capitals Expansion
36 Comments on “Between Two Cities Original Edition”
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Love this game and the expansion, but it’s just too much game for one box. Any chance of getting a base+expansion size box in the future? I WILL GIVE YOU MONEY $$$$ 😀
100% THIS
I like that idea!
We like this one as our family game, will always play with Capitals, very friendly game, no confrontation, perfect for younger kids.
This is probably my favorite and most-played game that we own. It’s perfect for bigger groups and newcomers, and I think we’ve introduced this game to at least 30 different people in our families and friends.
We have played with the Capitals expansion as well and love the extra challenges that it provides, but my question is – Any plans for any more expansions? :)
Thanks Simon–I’m so glad you’re enjoying Between Two Cities. We don’t have any plans to further expand it, though we’ll continue to support it!
Thank you for the reply!
That’s too bad! I hope you will give it a second thought in the future. ;)
Another question – one of my landmark pieces got chewed up by the family dog… Is there any possibility to buy replacements?
Thanks!
Definitely, we’re always happy to replace pieces destroyed by pets! Just fill out our replacement parts form and we’ll take care of you (it’s on the last page of the rulebook, but I’ll include a link here too): https://stonemaiergames.com/about/replacement-parts/
Hi Is it possible to buy the automa deck by itself? My cat spilt my drink while I was playing and soaked the cards😪
We’re happy to replace your Automa deck. Just let us know which cards are damaged on the form at the top of this page: https://stonemaiergames.com/about/replacement-parts/
Hello Jamey,
My wife and I enjoy playing Between Two Cities , but we had a question on scoring.
If you had four Parks in one of your cities, just say in the upper left quadrant of the city (i.e., a 2 x 2 “square” of Parks), how would you score it? Would that configuration be considered: 1) two pairs of two Parks (2 x 8 = 16 points), 2) a single string of four connected Parks (13 points), or 3) three connected Parks plus one Park (12 + 2 = 14 points)?
We really enjoy playing the two player version of this game. Since we got the expansion, we’ll be trying out the Between Two Cities: Capitals two players version very soon. Thank you,
Stan
Thanks Stan! Since all of those park tiles are connected, it would score for 4 total connected parks (I don’t have the game handy, so I’m not sure what the scoring is for 4).
Thank you for the clarification. If four connected Parks are only worth 13 points (no matter the configuration), then it would be better to have two pairs of connected Parks to get 8 + 8 = 16 points. We will need to include that in our strategies for future games. We also have Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, but haven’t played yet. Thanks again, Jamey.
Stan: Exactly, the idea with parks is that you want separate groups of 2 or 3 that don’t connect to the other groups. :)
Back in stock! And ordered!
I am attempting to complete my “Stonemaier Games Collection” and need to get a copy of Between Two Cities and its expansion… :)
I see it is not currently available. Will this be back in stock soon?
Thanks in advance!
We should have a reprint arriving in May (assuming no delays from the current global situation). You can sign up for a “back in stock” notification on the product page so you can be notified when we have it available. :)
Thanks for being a Stonemaier fan!
Thanks, Joe! I feel like we are becoming old friends or something.
Based on that, I just ordered the expansion (“Capitals”) and some additional dice for “Tapestry” — looking forward to getting a copy of this game soon.
My kids love this, but the expansion seems hard to get? Is it out of print? We are in Sweden.
Cheers!
I don’t know if it’s in stock in Sweden, but we have it in our online store right now. :)
Haha, we’ve been skipping the player on L/R to the next player for teams. It still works but I totally get the concept now and it’s easier to explain.
PS. Working through the Charterstone campaign now, loving it!
One of the best tile laying games to date! We’ve played 7 games since Christmas, I have to say it is so well done.
We are curious how to score with 4 players since your partner for both cities is the same? We’ve decided to build the city in front of each player and the right.
Great job Jamey and the team!
Thanks Joshua! I’m glad you’re having fun with it. With 4 players, you should have different partners. Maybe you mean 2 players? There are special rules for 2 players in the rulebook (you each have 2 cities, and you compete head to head).
Hey Jamey. I hope all is well in St. Louis. My wife and I played Between 2 Cities for the first time on Wednesday night at the Spielbound Cafe in Omaha where they were running a demo of the game. Very solid game. We love the player interaction between the players on each side of you. We also love the 15-20 game time which allowed us to play a couple of games in a short time. I was wondering if you plan on releasing any more lighter/gateway games similar to the weight of between 2 cities? My family and I aren’t into euro games, but would love to keep playing Stonemaier games. Thanks.
Denny: I’m glad to hear you got to hang out at Spielbound! I’ve heard it’s an awesome space. I’m certainly open to publishing this type of lighter/gateway game if it’s unique and if I really love it. It’s not my design niche, so it’s an area that I look for designers to submit games to us for consideration.
I want to say that this has become one of our most favored games. My wife and I love pulling this out after the kids go down and playing a quick 2 games. We love it!
Pete: That’s great to hear! I’m glad you two are enjoying it. :)
Just got my copy in the mail today. It looks awesome. Great artwork and can’t wait to play.
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