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Overview: The Lego City Alarm game pits good guys against bad guys on a micro-scale board. As the robbers, players try to collect enough money to win the game. As police, they work to capture the robbers and put them in jail.
Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20 minutes
Ages: 6 and up
Retail: $19.99
Game play: Players - police officers and robbers - move around the board based on "move bricks." When a robber lands next to a building, players roll a special Lego die that dictates that they'll get either two pieces of money, one piece of money and set off an "alarm," or put the helicopter into play. When the helicopter is placed on top of a building, the robbers can't steal from that location. When it's the police's turn to move, they can capture a robber by landing on exactly the same space as a robber piece. The robbers win by collecting all ten pieces of money. The police win by capturing all four robbers.
Our thoughts: Of course, I love the croissant piece that comes with the game, but second to that what I like most about this game is that the board can be set up in varying layouts. Also, pieces can move in any direction, so strategy and critical thinking comes into play. My 16 year old son and I have played the game a few times, and he played again with a peer. Even though the game's target audience is probably a bit younger, we did enjoy it.
Lego City Alarm offers enough twists to keep the game interesting, even for an adult who's sitting down to play with the younger set. Once you've mastered the basics, Lego suggests a few alternative ways to play, opening up even more possibilities. The "move bricks" are really the only thing I didn't like about the game. Having seven pieces (numbers 1-6 plus a bus station piece) to contend with at each turn was a bit cumbersome, plus it wasn't as random as tossing dice.
In the end, we liked this game more than the Lego Pirate Plank game we have on our shelves and would recommend it to families with younger children who love Lego.
Want to see the game in action? Lego has a – video that introduces players to the game that's worth a look!
Lego provided us with its City Alarm game for review purposes.
