Last Updated on March 17, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Sprawlopolis is a cooperative card game that challenges players to build the most efficient city by strategically placing cards to create neighborhoods while balancing various objectives. The game is quick, engaging, and offers a lot of replay value, as the card placement and objectives change every time you play. Perfect for fans of puzzle games and urban planning, it’s a great choice for 1–4 players, ages 14 and up, and can be played in 20–30 minutes.

How to Play Sprawlopolis

Components

Sprawlopolis Cards (18 cards): Each card represents a city block with a specific type of building (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) and a number indicating its value.
Objective Cards (3 cards): These cards will set the scoring conditions for the game and determine how well you need to place your city blocks.

Setup

Shuffle the deck of Sprawlopolis cards and deal three objective cards. These cards determine how you’ll score at the end of the game. You will play by the rules set on these cards.
- Example of Objective Cards:
  - Green Spaces: Gain points for how many parks (green spaces) are connected.
  - Residential Zones: Gain points for having large, continuous residential areas.
  - Commercial Efficiency: Score points for having a large, continuous area of commercial buildings.
Place the First Card: Choose a player to start and place one of the Sprawlopolis cards face-up. This is the first card in your city. This card starts the city grid and can be any of the 18 cards.
Set the Play Area: Create a grid or any available space where you will lay out your cards. The city will expand as players play the cards.

Game Phases

Each player takes turns placing cards one at a time. Players will follow these steps each round:

Draw a Card: At the beginning of your turn, draw one card from the deck. The card you draw must be placed adjacent to at least one previously placed card in a way that the city continues to grow.
Place the Card: Place the drawn card next to any other card in play. Cards must align their edges (the side showing roads must align with roads, and the building types should connect where possible). There are no rotations of the cards—you must place the card exactly as you draw it.
Objective Scoring: The placement of cards will impact the outcome of your objectives. Each objective card has a condition that you need to meet, such as:
- Largest Residential Area: You’ll want to connect as many residential zones as possible in a large contiguous area.
- Green Spaces: Try to connect the green space cards to maximize their value.
- Commercial Zones: Creating long, uninterrupted commercial areas will help you earn more points based on the objectives.
End of the Round: Once all the cards have been placed, evaluate how well your city meets the objectives based on the conditions laid out by the objective cards. The game ends when all cards are placed.

Scoring

Scoring is based on how well you meet the objectives of the game, which vary each time. Here are some general tips on scoring:

Green Spaces Objective: Count how many green space cards are connected, and score points based on the largest cluster.
Residential Objective: Large clusters of connected residential zones score more points than scattered individual buildings.
Commercial Objective: A long line of commercial cards creates more points when connected.

You can add more difficulty to the game by adding additional objective cards or changing the rules. Once you’ve completed the game, tally your score and try to beat your best score in subsequent rounds!

Endgame

Once all cards have been placed, score your city based on the three objective cards. Since Sprawlopolis is cooperative, you will be aiming for the highest score possible, with each objective card offering different ways to score.

Strategy Tips

Plan Ahead: Always think a few steps ahead. While placing cards, consider how each one will impact the overall layout of your city and how it will work with your objectives.
Focus on Objectives: Your primary goal is to meet the conditions on the objective cards. Be sure to balance the city’s growth with the requirements of the objectives.
Maximize Space Efficiency: Try to connect blocks to form large, contiguous areas. Random placements will make it harder to achieve high scores.
Cooperation Is Key: Since Sprawlopolis is cooperative, communicate with your team to make sure you’re all focused on the same objectives. Discussing strategies can help maximize your score.

Winning the Game

You win Sprawlopolis by scoring as high as possible based on the objectives. There’s no specific target score to win—it’s about achieving the highest possible result given the random layout and your strategic decisions. Each round can be replayed to beat the previous score, offering plenty of replay value.

Sprawlopolis is a great quick-playing strategy game that encourages collaboration and thinking ahead. With its simple mechanics and challenging objectives, it’s easy to pick up, but difficult to master.