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lordunborn — 2007-04-19T14:41:56+00:00

Close Up

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lordunborn — 2007-04-19T14:41:44+00:00

Set Up

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lordunborn — 2007-04-19T14:41:31+00:00

Box Cover

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:11:54+00:00

Value card

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:11:15+00:00

Tracts for advanced variable board setup (you have to like those bunnies)

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:10:15+00:00

Planning Cards

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:09:38+00:00

Money (notice the Art Linkletter $100,000)

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:08:25+00:00

Shopping Center

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:07:54+00:00

School

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Mike A — 2007-03-25T02:07:18+00:00

Houses

Thread: Re: Square Mile Game Review

mallory — 2006-02-16T14:12:31+00:00

WoW! I thought I was the only one who had this one any more. You covered all the bases. So, you never lose at this one?

Thread: Square Mile Game Review

gideonn — 2006-01-23T15:38:37+00:00

Square Mile is a two to four player game of land development. The players in this dice less game act as land developers competing with each other to develop tracts in the square mile (SQM). Whoever does the best job will naturally accumulate the most money and be the winner.

The game board consists of a 4 x 4 = 16 sections of an undeveloped square mile. Each of the 16 squares is identified by a letter from A through P. The game board comes with precut holes into which must be inserted plastic posts which will hold the development pieces, particularly the roads, later on. This clever touch keeps the pieces from getting pushed all over as new ones get added to the board later on. The SQM is rather glibly illustrated with rivers, a swamp, and some water color, art deco type, drawings of land, vegetation and random animals. Only the swamp and the rivers have any effect on game play.

Each player starts the game with five colored pawns/token which will be placed on the tracts he comes to own. He is also given $100,000 to purchase tracts and buy improvements.

Planning Stage: Each game begins with a cooperative Planning Stage wherein the SQM is zoned for that particular game session. There are 16 Planning Cards any of which can efficiently serve many purposes. This Planning Deck is shuffled and the first card is turned up. This tells where the railway, represented by two light cardboard pieces with tracks drawn on them, will be placed for that game session. The four tracts through which the railway runs are then zoned for Industry with the red cards. The next Planning Card is turned and it tells where the School (green card) will be. Tracts boarding the School are zoned for Housing (green cards). The next Planning Card places the Shopping Center (orange card) and bordering tracts are zoned for Apartments (blue cards). The next Planning Card determines the location of the Church (green card). Each player then draws a Planning Card which determines his first owned tract, an un-zoned tract. At this point with the board almost completely set, each player writes secret bids on some of the un-owned tracts. With two players, each can make up to four bids; with three-three; with four-two. Each un-owned tract is then pointed to in order and any written bid is exposed. The tract goes to the highest bidder. These bids may be as low as possible, starting at $1,000, which would be below their Market Value. [The Market Value is the money which one gets from the bank for the tract during the SELL PART below.] Due to this some players can start the game with more tracts than the others. As an alternate start for newbie players, the Planning Deck could be reshuffled to include all the tracts that are not yet owned and each player could draw an equal amount of tracts, say two for now, to give everyone an even and fair start. In either case, after this second stage of tract accumulation, the Planning Deck is reshuffled and one last Planning Card is drawn to determine where the first road will be placed.

Development Stage (Game Stage): The game is then played in Turns. Each Turn has three Parts (Phases is the more popular term today). In his turn each player may do any or all of these Parts before his turn ends. He must, however, do them in the proscribed order as shown below.

Part One: SELL- To start his turn a player may SELL any of his tracts to the bank for the current Market Value of the tract. This allows him to make profits from his developing of his tracts and supplies him with cash which he will need for further development and to buy more tracts. Usually this will not happen during a player’s first turn as his tracts have not had any improvements done to them. That occurs in Part Two.

Part Two: BUILD- The player may now buy improvements for as many of his currently owned tracts as he has the cash to do so. But he must develop a tract in a particular order called Steps.

BUILD- STEP ONE: Roads- Each tract must be first completely enclosed by four roads. Normal roads cost $10,000; those with bridges needed to cross rivers and the railway cost $15,000. If a tract already has the four roads, the player can do:

BUILD- STEP TWO: Subdivide- The player buys a subdivision piece, which resembles a tic-tac-toe board, for $25,000. If a tract is already subdivided, the player may purchase a building for it in

BUILD- STEP THREE: Buildings- A subdivided tract may be built on. If the tract is zoned, only that type of building may be built there, Industry on the four tracts with the red markers on them back when the railway was placed in the Planning Stage, for example. Un-zoned tracts may be developed in any way, with Apartments being the most costly and most profitable.

As mentioned, a player may develop each of his tracts during this phase, BUT he may only do one step to each during his turn. He could put roads on his Industrial tract, subdivide his Housing tract which he enclosed in roads last Turn, and build an Apartment on his un-zoned tract that is already roaded and subdivided.

The goal of this phase is to develop as many tracts as possible to maximize profits. Each fully completed step increases the value of the tract beyond the cost it takes to do so. For example, a simple tract can be surrounded with four roads for $40,000. Once this is done it has a Market Value of $75,000. Add the cost of a subdivision, $25,000, to the $40,000 = $65,000. This subdivided tract now has a Market Value of $125,000. Buildings which cost as little as $25,000 for Houses and run to as much as 100,000 boost the Market Value of the now completed tract to $200,000 with a House, 300,000 for an Apartment tract.

Which type of building a player BUILDS can be limited by what is left available. There are five Industry pieces, five Apartments, nine Houses, and one each Shopping Center, School and Church. Since four of the Industry must be reserved for the four tracts which will always be zoned that way, there will only be one available for un-zoned tracts. At least two of the Apartments and Houses will be set in the Planning Stage. The Shopping Center, School and Church can only be placed on the tract reserved for each.

Once the player has finished Building he moves to

Part Three:- BUY: A player may now attempt to BUY any one tract that is not owned by anyone else. This tract can be in any stage of development. To do so he announces his desire to buy, "Tract A." He then opens the bidding with a bid which must be at or in excess of the current Market Value. For a simple tract this would be $5,000; one which is already subdivided would command a starting bid of at least $125,000. Other players are allowed to raise the bid, in increments of $1,000, if they so desire until one outbids the others, pays the Bank and places his Token on Tract A. If the player whose turn it is gets the tract, his turn ends and the next player starts with the SELL PHASE. Should he be outbid, he could declare the bidding now open on any other un-owned tract until he finally gets one. Each player may gain one and only one tract during this bidding war. Fully developed tracts cannot be purchased. There is no reason to buy any tract which has been completely developed as its Market Value can not be increased. This would only tie up a player’s ready cash. They do, however, play a role in when the game ends. Again, newbies might want to dispense with this bidding. Instead each player could just be allowed to buy one open tract during his turn. But this bidding will make the game more fun as it allows no one a free ride. A little competition is a good thing and it will bring out the Donald Trumps in all of us.

When this player’s turn comes up again, he might SELL one or more of his developed tracts to make profits which he would then use to BUILD on his owned tracts and to BUY a new tract at the end of his turn. In this way each player tries to make as much money as he can, because that is the goal of the game.

FINISHING/WINNING: The game ends as soon as the last un-owned, not fully developed tract is BOUGHT. The game can come to a sudden halt just like that. At that point all tracts are sold to the bank, the cash is totaled and he who has the most money is the winner. Players have to think ahead as to which tracts to buy and how to develop each of these tracts in an efficient manner, all the while keeping an eye on the other players’ progress. It is recommended that one does not openly display his cash as that can aid a competitor.

REVIEW: I got this game when it first came out for Christmas, 1962. It has always been one of my favorites. I left it home when I went away to college some years later, but found a new copy while on my honeymoon in St Alban’s, Vermont, 1971. Yes, I could be nominated for Geek of the Week on that note. I still have that copy.

I like some many things about it. First of all, with no dice, luck plays almost no role in it. While SQM borrows from Monopoly in the idea of building things up, bad dice roles cannot land you in jail, bankrupt you, or put you through a series of meaningless moves. The player is only limited by his lack of foresight and imagination.

Repeated plays are guaranteed to increase one’s business savvy. As well, since the board is randomly determined by the PLANNING STAGE, the game seldom follows a set pattern. Also, the game comes with 16 alternate tracts. If you get tired of the regular board these 16 can be placed over it further varying the way the SQM can be developed.

Another fun part is the BUYING PART as it allows other players to affect the current player’s turn in some way, yet he is guaranteed to be eventually able to buy his one tract during his turn. He cannot be shut out, unless the last un-owned, not fully developed tract is purchased at this time. Of course, the other players who forced these bidding stages might have done so with just that in mind. Even though it is not your turn, you can still be scheming, conniving, and licking those lips. Very little down time.

Two player SQM works, even if those two are husband and wife; this cannot be said of Monopoly. SQM has similarities to the very popular Settlers of Catan of the current era, with the competition being milder. You cannot get boxed in or beset upon by a robber who can ruin some favorable dice roles. In SQM you compete with the other players, but you do not have to deal with them. It could serve as a way of introducing younger gamers to this type of game and prepare them for Catan. It also has educational value. I could see it at the junior high setting in a civics class or even in senior high in an economics class.

Each player starts with $100,000 dollars! Yes, $100,000. There are $100,000 dollar bills in the game. While Settlers are offering ‘two wood for an ore,’ SQM’ers are hoarding 100K notes. How cool is that?

My game has been with me for 35 years. It was obviously well made. Even though I store it at the bottom of the stack games under the basement stairs, the box is still in one piece. The corners have been reinforced with duct tape, but the box still holds up. The interior of the box is well thought out with a space or compartment for each building piece, the subdivisions, and the pawns. They do not get tossed around during storage. [Are you reading this Betrayal at House on the Hill?] There is a large free standing Value Card which displays the cost prices for everything, no need to keep going back to the ‘rule book.’ The ‘rule book’ is found inside the box cover. The rules will take about ten minutes to read, and the game itself lasts about an hour. I could picture a mother or a ‘house husband’ or both playing this with the kids on a rainy or snowy afternoon. It can easily be suspended and resumed with little loss of strategy. The game board is very sturdy, with two folds, and has passed my test of time. I particularly appreciate the plastic inserts which hold the development pieces in place on the game board. They came in handy when I introduced SGM to what were then 12 and 10 year old nieces, and now can stand up to my cats. Cattie and Jaryd enjoy a good romp across the Square Mile. [Doesn’t work with Zombies] If you come across one in a garage/tag sale, it should still be in playable shape.

CAUTION: Ok, OK, I really like this game, always have, always will, but . . . I have yet to play with anyone who shares my enthusiasm. This could be because I always win. Seriously, I have never lost at this game and very few people will play me more than twice. But at the same time, that is why I always win. Most people start off small, not really sure why, but they BUY one road when they have the money for all four. By the time they get to subdividing, I have sold my first Apartment and am well on my way. Also in today’s visually stunning world, the goofy graphics of the game board are somewhat laughable. To me, that is part of its charm. SQM is a period piece offering some nostalgia to those of us who grew up in the housing developments of the post World War Two era which no doubt inspired the game in the first place. And now the cats offer little competition. Cattie is always just counting her money while Jaryd likes to try an gain an advantage by moving the zoning markers. Sometimes I let him get away with it.

BOTTOM LINE: If you come across a copy in a Garage/Tag sale, or in the dusty basement of a hardware store in St Albans, Vt., give it a try, two tries, and if you are playing with me, at least three tries. My cats, Cattie and Jaryd, give it 4/5 paws. They get such pleasure out of sitting in the box, counting the money and trying to move the roads!

Thread: Session Report

Yoder — 2003-02-26T13:44:27+00:00

We dithered for a while over what to play next. Mike proposed Serenissima, to which he had read half the rules, while Fred pulled out a game called Square Mile from 1962, the rules to which were printed on the box top. What to do, what to do? I suggested that Square Mile, though it had good bits, might really suck, but on the other hand I wasn’t sure I wanted to play a game we were all learning for the first time.

In the end I voted for Square Mile since historically we never play anything Fred brings. Mike and Thad went along and we set it up.

And it does have good bits, with plastic pieces representing roads, subdivisions, and buildings. The roads even had little bridges to go across the rivers. The game is basically about investment. The board represents the "square mile" (and believe me, the rules use this word in quotes an excessive amount) which is divided up into 16 subsections. Each of these can be developed in three phases: first you surround it with roads, then you subdivide it, then you build a building–and you can only do one of these a turn. Since each of these steps costs a little more than the last, at some point you are going to have to sell a section that is not fully developed to develop another part of the "square mile" all the way. You start with two sections and can buy more in a bidding round at the start of each player’s turn. So if someone just sold a section surrounded by roads you can buy it, subdivide it, and then sell it again if you want. Or build a building on it next turn to get the full profit.

As the game progressed Fred and Mike seemed to be in the lead, and were dueling over some of the last undeveloped property in the corners of the “square mile”. Meanwhile I snatched up a subdivided section, built on it, then bought the last undeveloped piece, ending the game. Needless to say Mike and Fred were planning a little more long term and were surprised the game ended so quickly. I counted up my money, sure that I had bested them with my clever play, when lo and behold Thad beat me out by about $20,000. He had just built two buildings the turn before and snuck in under the radar.

Square Mile ended up being a lot of fun, with a very German feel and some interesting strategy decisions. The fact that it can end so abruptly gives it an even more tactical feel, since you have to make buying decisions with an eye to how much time you have to develop things. Everybody in the group was pleasantly surprised, though we weren’t sure if it would bear repeated playing. We jokingly suggested that we should get everyone we know to rate it a 10 on BoardGameGeek, turning it into an instant classic and sought after item

Game: Square Mile

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Thread: Re: Square Mile Game Review

Thread: Square Mile Game Review

Thread: Session Report