Alhambra game review

Alhambra

General Information:
Manufacturer: Uberplay Entertainment (US) /
Queen Games (Europe)
Author: Dirk Henn
Design: Christof Tisch
Number of Players: 2-6
Age: 8 years plus
Time: 45-60 mins.
Year: 2003

Awards:
Spiel des Jahres 2003: Spiel des Jahres
Deutscher Spiele Preis 2003: 3. Platz
Deutscher Spiele Preis 2003: Essener Feder

ENGLISH MAIN PAGE

Deutsche Spielerezension

Game Components:
6 starting tiles - 54 building tiles - 1 building market - 1 scoring board - 12 counters -
108 money cards - 2 scoring cards - 6 tile reserve boards - 1 bag - 1 rulebook

Famous mastercraftsmen from all over the world have come to Spain to build one of the most famous buildings of the world: The Spanish palace of Alhambra. The players are the master builders who want to demonstrate their skills and so they employ all the mastercraftsmen. With craftsmen from all over the world their is just one small problem: They all want to be paid in their own currency......

Before the game begins each player gets a starting tile and a tile reserve board and places both in from of him/her. Each player chooses a colour and gets two counters in that colour and places one on the starting tile and the other on the scoring board. The building market is but in the middle of the table. The building tiles are put in the bag and one player takes - at random - 4 building tiles and places them on the building market, starting with the 1. Each player now gets his/her starting money: Shuffle all the money cards and deal cards to each player. When a player has got cards worth 20 or more "points" in any currency he/she does not get any more cards. After each player has got his/her cards take the 4 cards from the top of the remaining money cards and place them - face-up - next to the draw pile. Then divide the draw pile into 5 roughly equal piles. Put the first scoring card in the 2nd pile and the 2nd scoring card in the fourth pile. Then re-order all the piles into one single draw pile. The player with the fewest cards begins to build his/her "Alhambra".

The game is played in clockwise order. Each player makes his/her turn before the next player goes on. In his/her turn each player can choose one of the three options below:

The player takes money. He/She takes one of the four face-up money cards next to the draw pile. If the total is not more than 5 a player may even take more than one card. The player then has to replace the cards just taken with cards from the draw pile. If the draw pile runs out of cards re-shuffle the discard pile.

The player buys a building tile. He/She chooses one building tile and takes it from the building market. He/She then has to pay the amount of money (on the tile) in the currency indicated by the coin next to each square on the building market. The players do not get any change but if they pay exactly the sum required they get an extra turn. That extra turn can be performed after the current turn. The player may now position the tile into his/her Alhambra or transfer it onto his/her tile reserve board. If the player decides to build the tile directly the restrictions below apply:

The alignment of each newly built-in tile must be equal to that of the starting tile.
All of the sides of each newly built-in tile adjoinig to any other tile must be the same. E.g. a wall must be adjacent to a wall and so on.
The newly built-in tile must be reachable by "foot" (from the starting tile). That means that the marker must be able to get to the tile without having to cross any walls or leaving any tile.
The newly built-in tile must not leave any empty areas within the Alhambra.
The newly built-in tile must adjoin to the Alhambra with at least one side.

The player decides to redesign his/her Alhambra: He/She than may take one building tile from his/her tile reserve board and builds it into his/her Alhambra; he/she may remove one tile from the Alhambra and put it onto his/her reserve board; he/she may exchange one of his/her reserve tiles for a tile from the Alhambra. All the building rules apply.

Important: If a player has paid the exact amount he/she may now perform his/her extra turn. He/She can choose any of the three options above. That may lead to the perfomance of another turn. After all building tiles from the building board have been sold the player is definitely about to perform his/her last turn. Replace the tiles on the building board only when a player has finished his/her turn.

Scoring: The first scoring rounds take place when the scoring cards are drawn from the money card draw pile. According to the first scoring card the player who owns the most buildings of the 6 different types gets points according to the scoring card. When the second scoring is drawn the player with the most and the player with the second-most get the points. The third scoring takes place at the end of the game. Then the player with the most, the second-most and the third-most buildings of each type get the points. In the case of a tie players share the points. Tiles on the reserve board do not count. After each scoring all players get points for their longest uninterrupted wall. For each segment the player gets 1 point. Players do not get any points for internal walls.

The game ends when there are not enough tiles left to replace the tiles on the building market after any player has finished his/her turn. The players who have got the most currency in all of the four categories now get the remaining tiles from the building market. In the case of a tie no player gets the building tile. The players may add those tiles to their Alhambra. The players now score points for the third time (see "Scoring"). The player with the most points is the winner of the game.

The rulebook contains special rules for two players.

(Troudi 05.08.05)

Further Information:
- Homepage of Queen Games
- Homepage of Uberplay Entertainment

Troudi says 8 out of 10 points:
"Alhambra" is a very good game. The rules are easy to explain and understand, the design is nice and the game mechanism is very interesting. Often it's quite difficult to decide whether to buy any building tiles or to keep your money and get some more money cards. Then you'll may be able to buy a tile in the next turn and pay the exact amount to the bank - if no other player does so before. Paying excatly certainly is a good thing but isn't any other player - who goes first - interested in the same tile? That's exactly what each player has to decide upon in the game. Only interaction is amiss in the whole game concept. Each player builds his/her own Alhambra. Try out the game with only two players: The rules makes use of a fictional third player (called Dirk) and the game becomes more tactical. All in all: "Alhambra" is a very good game and suitable for all groups of age and game interest. Even players who do not like long rules and explanations will be able to enjoy the game. "Alhambra" was a very good choice as a "Game of the Year". There are several expansions for the game and even more are forthcoming. "Alhambra" shouldn't be missing in any collection of games. One further achievement of the game is the quite low price: In Europe you'll get it for app. 20 Euros, the US-price is app. 35 Dollars.

Questions about Alhambra? Contact us!

ENGLISH MAIN PAGE

Looking for more game reviews in german??