[Welcome to the EL game series. These posts are all short introductions to games you can play in the EL. Because learning to play games in English can take a long time, some posts will explain how to play simple versions of games. Other posts tell you why you should use games to practice English. You can also use the tags to find other posts you might be interested in.]
（ELゲーム連載へようこそ。このコラムはELで遊べるボードゲームやカードゲームを紹介する。本来のやり方通りにやってしまうと、遊ぶまでの時間が大変かかるかもしれないので、ある投稿では簡単な遊びの工夫が紹介される。ほかの投稿ではなぜゲームで英語を勉強するのがよいかが説明される。投稿のタグを使ってほかに興味ありそうなポストを見つけられる。）
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“Between Two Cities” is like a puzzle game in which players try to make the best city by combining parks, restaurants, shops, factories, offices, and houses. What makes the game interesting is that instead of building one city, players build half a city with one partner, and half a city with another partner.
The basics:
Round 1:
- Each player takes 7 small tiles, chooses two to keep (one for the city on their left and one for the city on their right). Then, they pass the remaining tiles to the player on their left.
- Tiles must all face the same direction and must connect to other tiles in the city.
- Players discuss how to build their cities and place their tiles. At the end of the game, each city will have 16 tiles; 4 rows by 4 columns.
- Players look at the new tiles they received, choose two more, and pass the remaining ones to the left. They repeat the discussion and build the city.
- Repeat the choose/talk/build process until only one tile remains. That tile is not used.
Round 2:
- Players take 3 large tiles and choose just one to add to the city on their left. The remaining two tiles are not used.
Round 3:
- Repeat Round 1 with 7 small tiles, completing the two cities.
Scoring:
- Every kind of tile scores differently (look in the rulebook for details). For example, Houses earn points if they are in a line; the city with the most Factories gets extra points, cities with a variety of Restaurants get extra points, etc.
- Players’ final scores are decided by the lower of the two cities they built.
For English Learners: This is a good game for conversation. Players have to discuss with their partners about how to build their cities.
Final Thoughts: This is a pretty simple game. The first time you play, don’t worry about getting a high score; instead, play as quickly as you can. Then, after you score, you can try again with new partners.
