I recently picked up a used copy of Metropolis and have been playing with my kids, ages 9 and 13. The game is easily learned and very accessible. Essentially, there are 8 blocks of ten spaces on the board, numbered from 10 through 89, which constitute the open land on which your city is built. The game is essentially a tile placement game, similar to Cathedral and to such games as Chinatown and Big City.

Each player is initially dealt cards representing 8 of the spaces on the board, and may select an additional space each turn. Once a player has accumulated enough adjacent spaces, he may start placing buildings. These are of various sizes, and are scored according to size and difficulty of placement, from a single space for a house, to six spaces for a mall. The intermediate sizes of buildings come in different configurations, which, like Cathedral, make them difficult to fit into the grid. Players also get extra points for siting, such as houses placed next to the park, or factories on the river, and hospitals in blocks with numerous unbuilt spaces. The game also allows players to cooperate in building and share the points for a building according to how many lots they contributed.

All in all, although the learning curve for the game is slight, there is a lot of room for strategy and bargaining, which make it interesting and fun, and give it a lot of repeat play value. I highly recommend it, and hope that Ravensburger will consider a new edition.