A Pleasant Tabletop Visit to Cape May to Build Up a Town

Build up a beautiful seaside town with shops and Victorian houses destined to become prominent landmarks in Cape May.
Time to slowly start tackling some more of my unplayed solo games! I picked up Cape May almost 2 years ago, but I’m setting aside any guilt over waiting so long to play. Just means it claimed a very cozy shelf nook. Ha! I was impressed by the components and the idea of building up the town with little cottages and sprawling mansions. To the shore!
Game Overview
Game Name: Cape May
Publication Year: 2021
Designer: Eric Mosso
Artist: Michael Menzel
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The goal is to build across residential and commercial lots, gaining bonuses and majorities. Moving through the streets is quite strategic, as is seeing birds flying along the coast. Leaving a mark on the very beginnings of the town is challenging, especially with the historical events!
First Play
December 23, 2024
Complexity
3
Latest Play
December 24, 2024
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
75
Game Area
40" x 30"
Low Score
58
From the Shore
This map is divided into 4 different types of terrain, from the inland gravel lots to the appealing beach lots.
It didn’t take too long for me to understand the rules, and the solo opponent would block my progress with some of their own buildings. Not complex, but a bit challenging!
Random events came from the local newspaper deck. These cards were all based on history, yet affected the current round in ways that were helpful… Or a nuisance!
Such lovely artwork brought this town to life, and I was excited to start building up my cottages and shops.
Colorful and Helpful
My player board included all the information I could possibly need, along with a handy track to remember how many actions were taken during a round. Very useful!
I liked the clear information and costs regarding the buildings and upgrades. It was simple to find what I needed, along with any possible increase in my income.
Movement cards functioned well, too! I had my place in the town, and had to carefully think through my moves.
The component quality was excellent, too, and I just loved seeing everything all lined up as I prepared to dig in!
Business Upgrades
A big part of the town centers around cottages and Victorian mansions, yet shops are useful to boost income at the end of each season. Even better: Businesses!
Paying to upgrade a shop not only replaces a cardboard token with a fancy miniature, but also rewards the card matching the terrain type. Planning ahead is important.
I loved this decision space, especially since shops weren’t the main way to move ahead for a victory.
Just the right amount of thought! And for good measure, I had plenty of coins in a thematic bowl fit for the seaside.
Delightful Miniatures
Such a fantastic scene! As the town took shape, the residences that would be worth victory points were quite clear. And the landmarks looked neat with little fences!
I struggled to see the cardboard tokens for the initial cottages and shops, though, so I added in some standees to make these easier to spot. Voila! Much better for me.
There were interesting decisions to make regarding where to build, as the sandy beach wasn’t always the best.
The solo opponent thwarted some of my efforts and took away prime building locations, yet I pulled ahead!
Getting to the Heart of the Number of Plays
As I continue to mix up my time between old favorites and unplayed solo games, I’ve been thinking a little more about how many plays I might expect to get out of each experience. And in a nutshell, I think that it’s less about the number and more about how long it takes to reach an end point, whatever that may be. In some cases, there simply isn’t an end!
Once I figure out a winning strategy that works almost every time, that’s often an end point: I found the solution. Whether that took me 2 or 200 plays doesn’t necessarily reflect on how good the game is, though. Maybe it just took less time to reach that point, but the game itself could still be a very enjoyable sort of experience.
This one is a good example of that. I played it 4 times, and that was it. I feel like I know how to win, and there isn’t a challenge left in working through the puzzle. Does that mean I dislike it? Not at all! You’ll notice some very positive remarks I have about it, but the ultimate rating tells me it’s a solo game I’ve gotten everything I can out of. That’s good!
I think I have more issues with campaign games that require 10-20 plays to see the whole story, even if the gameplay aspect becomes repetitive. Could there have been more to this one to keep it more variable? Maybe, yet I think that may have prolonged the number of times I played by sacrificing the fun and enjoyable aspects. Less plays is not a bad thing!
A Bumpy Foundation
Not all of my miniatures fit into the landmark bases exactly, and I was left with a few spots where the houses looked like they were in serious need of an inspector!
But this is an element I want to highlight as a feature. This gave a little character to the play area, and nothing was so far gone as to be too hard to connect up.
I used the yellow player pieces, and was pretty sure the solo opponent dug a tunnel in the backyard to cause this.
Ha ha! I know the floating cottages and shops looked a little odd, yet the standees helped me see them from afar.
The Cape May Story
These random events were neat to discover, especially the little historical notes at the bottom. Everything felt tied to the history of the real Cape May, which was awesome!
I liked how each one typically changed up my plans just a little bit. Fires forced me to build elsewhere, or accept the added cost to build in those regions. So much character!
My plan was to move through the different solo opponent difficulty levels, trying out unique strategies as I went.
However, as much as I enjoyed the game, I felt like I had most of it solved pretty early on and knew how to win.
In the Shadows
Naturally, I lost just as soon as I thought I had mastered it! This was my only loss, though, and came about because I miscalculated and couldn’t complete one of my goals.
That 6-point swing was all it took for my defeat, and I could see that I had a good sense of what to do to win.
I enjoyed a lot of the gameplay, but felt like there wasn’t too much variety after seeing everything over a handful of plays. That’s sometimes how a game pans out for me.
Yet I had a very pleasant time! Maybe I reached the end a little sooner than I expected, but it was worth the effort.
Unexpected Birds
Thematically, it made sense to see birds along the shore. I could see the reason to add another way to score. It even seemed neat to plan my movement to reach bird spaces.
But in the end, the idea of collecting bird tokens felt a little too disjointed. It took me out of the construction mindset a few times, and I rarely picked up more than 3-5 tokens.
This artwork was surprisingly beautiful, though! It was only a shame that these were mostly hidden away.
Maybe I should have just imagined my character taking a moment away from building to stop and watch the birds!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Tourist, Citizen, and Pioneer Difficulty Levels
Outcome: 68-43, 58-61, 75-50, 62-55 (3 Wins & 1 Loss)
I had some very nice outings! It worked out nicely when I managed to beat the solo opponent to claiming a majority in some of the inland terrains. I actually thought I had lost, only to realize I forgot to count a stray cottage in the gravel area. Victory! I had a nice time exploring this one and can say it was a very worthwhile experience, even if I don’t plan on playing again. Mastered the strategies!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
5
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- All of the artwork is beautiful and presents the feel of an old-fashioned seaside town with plenty of details.
- Building up the town feels like it actually happens with the addition of the different miniatures on the lots.
- Deciding where to build or upgrade is an interesting decision space, especially against the random solo opponent.
- Business upgrade rewards can be very neat to plan around, either for ongoing abilities or victory points.
- There is a very pleasant atmosphere to the appearance and gameplay, as there is always something to do.
- Gameplay moves along at a nice pace with minimal downtime for the solo opponent and a focus on player turns.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There are a lot of components, and the split between cardboard tiles and miniatures can feel a little strange.
- Figuring out the path to victory is fun, yet it isn’t too difficult to figure out the optimal strategy to always use.
- Solo opponent difficulty levels aren’t all that different and scoring depends on more than just extra card draws.
- The board feels a little too large, especially with the income track starting in the far upper right corner.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against the tourist solo opponent.
Win at least 1 game against the citizen solo opponent.
Win at least 1 game against the pioneer solo opponent.
Continue the Conversation
What is your experience with Cape May? Have you built up the town in a memorable way or worked through some of the toughest events? I may not plan to play this one solo again, yet I want to highlight that I enjoyed it! This is a nice set of mechanics that is fun to figure out, even if it may not last forever. Loved getting the chance to play at long last!
I use to love this solo until my partner started playing it with me and now I mostly play it two player.
For solo I enjoy how quickly it plays. I could usually smash out two plays in about an hour.
From my experience 3-5 bird tokens is great. Whenever I’ve leant to hard into them I’ve been punished. I think they exist as a little incentive to break up your movement strategically.
I love your standee idea! I completely agree the cardboard tokens are hard to see on the board.
I also love the card based movement in the game. It feels strategic without being too restrictive. The amount of times I’ve wished I’d planned my movement just a little more carefully feel good. That’s often my incentive for trying to improve.
Thanks for the lovely review.
I had a chance to play against my husband, and I loved it! Somehow, I managed to collect bird tokens in a way that worked out for me, especially with a sand business upgrade that gave me victory points for duplicates. Very helpful!
We didn’t use the standee bases, and I had a lot of trouble seeing the cottages and shops. Definitely will be using those every time in the future! Although I don’t think this one quite works for me as a solo experience, it’s sticking around as a pleasant sort of 2-player game for the time being. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you continue to enjoy playing it, too!