Every day until Christmas we will be pointing you in the direction of a London Christmas gift that (with a bit of luck) you won’t already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we’ll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings…
Join in a race to become mayor that doesn't involve Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone. City of London the board game pits players against each other in a competition to rise up through the Square Mile's administrative ranks and eventually take seat in the Lord Mayor's coach.
'Eventually' is the key word. This is a game of Risk-like maneuvering, fiendish trivia, and tortuous turnings. First you must compete in elections to gain ward seats, moving from Freeman to Councilman to Liveryman to Alderman. Following your giddy rise to power, you must travel round the board from Old Bailey to Guildhall to become a Sheriff. Newly instated, you then face a battle with other Sheriffs to attain the Lord Mayorship.
A final stage (which we've never reached due to over-consumption of whisky during the prolonged build-up) would see you journey back to Mansion House to take your rightful place in the ermine robes of office. If that just isn't enough power-play for you, the 12-page rule book gives suggestions for making the game longer or harder.
Completion of this complex board game should come with a Master's Degree in City politics, and you'll certainly gain a much deeper understanding of the arcane mechanisms of governance in that most ancient of quarters.
It's the perfect Boxing Day diversion. Great fun, so long as you don't have a hangover and enjoy an attention span that can stretch to hours.
City of London The Board Game is available online, at London Transport Museum shop, or at various games shops around town.
