Bioshock Infinite’s Columbia bears a striking resemblance to this board game
Airborne auctioning.
Compete in auctions on a floating city in the clouds in the upcoming board game, Skyrise.
Featuring a turn-of-the-century style board designed to represent an airborne city, Skyrise’s initial premise bears a striking resemblance to that of the 2013 video game Bioshock Infinite.
Set on a secret floating city at the beginning of the 20th century, Bioshock Infinite sees players exploring a city hidden within the clouds called Colombia, which was invented by the great minds of the age. In Skyrise, players also find themselves on a floating city created by genius scientists and architects, one in which those same creators are looking to expand upon their designs with even more structures.
A game for two to four players, Skyrise has its competitors becoming rival architects and visionaries with the aim of acquiring and building new constructions across the city. Every round has players bidding to create new buildings, with there being a limited supply of materials for players to use. Buildings will be constructed as bids are being placed on them, with only the winning bid being eventually built.
Whenever a player successfully completes a building, they will be able to collect a disc that represents the neighbourhood they built in. Each disc represents the favour of one of the factions present within the city – the philosophers, naturalists, artists and inventors – with every favour a player gains increasing the prestige value of any other structures they build within that neighbourhood. Sometimes a player will gain a patron disc, which grants them a secret amount of prestige – providing them with a hidden method of acquiring more points.
As the auction game progresses, players will be able to start building more impressive structures, including a visionary wonder that’s unique to the players’ chosen characters. Whenever a player builds their visionary wonder, they will automatically win that auction. A visionary wonder also gains its player a scoring ability that they’ll be able to utilise throughout the rest of the game. Players can also pursue specific objectives, such as having the tallest building on an island, with some objectives remaining secret until the end. Whichever player has the most points by the end of the game is named the winner.
Skyrise was co-created by Gavan Brown – a co-designer of Brass: Birmingham - Sébastien Pauchon, the designer behind two-player game Jaipur and a co-designer of Jamaica, and Adam Wyse, the designer behind Masque of the Red Death.
Roxley is the company responsible for releasing the upcoming Skyrise, with the studio being best known for releasing the abstract game Santorini – wherein players build their own Greek temples – and Brass: Birmingham and Brass: Lancashire.
The Kickstarter campaign for Skyrise is live until July 1st, with a pledge of CA$63 (£41/$48) getting backers a copy of the core game in June 2023.