Alhambra
  • spiel-de-jahres

Alhambra

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Alhambra is a tile-laying, set collection game designed by Dirk Henn. Published by Queen Games, it’s also a past winner of the much-admired Spiel des Jahres Award (Family Game of the Year). IUp to 2-6 players all compete to build their own version of the famous Spanish Alhambra palace. You’ll be looking to acquire different currency, so you can then pay architects (in their pref…
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Awards

Rating

  • Artwork
  • Complexity
  • Replayability
  • Player Interaction
  • Component Quality

You Might Like

  • Colourful components.
  • Strategic element.
  • Works well for playing in twos as well larger groups.

Might Not Like

  • Complicated scoring.
  • Takes a while to get the hang of
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Description

Alhambra is a tile-laying, set collection game designed by Dirk Henn. Published by Queen Games, it’s also a past winner of the much-admired Spiel des Jahres Award (Family Game of the Year). IUp to 2-6 players all compete to build their own version of the famous Spanish Alhambra palace. You’ll be looking to acquire different currency, so you can then pay architects (in their preferred, local currency) to construct building tiles in your Alhambra. Once placed, these tiles can get you points during three scoring phases, with the possible rewards growing every time. Once the tiles have all been drawn from the bag, the game ends, the third and final phase of scoring occurs and most points wins. On your turn, you can do one of the three following actions. You can take currency cards from a face-up spread (there are four different currencies, and the cards range from 1-9 in value)or you can draw one, blind. Or, you can use currency card(s) already in your hand to acquire a building tile. There are always four tiles drawn onto the ‘market place’ board and placed next to the four architects (and therefore, the currency type). Building tiles come in six types (some score more points than others), and they have a cost on them. Most of the tiles will have black walls around some of their edges, which is also a great opportunity to score points, but also a placement restriction of sorts. If you pay you don’t get any change, but you then get to place the building into your Alhambra palace. Walls have to connect to walls and not block open spaces, tiles cannot be rotated, and they have to be placed as such so that a person could walk to it from within your Alhambra. Lastly, you could remove a tile from your Alhambra to your limited reserve area, or place a tile from your reserve back into your Alhambra, into a more desirable position (this will be due to to the walls preventing a tile from being played). Warning – tiles in your reserve do not count during the scoring phases! If, however, you pay the exact amount shown for the building tile, you get another turn. So, in theory, you could buy up to four tiles in one turn! (Or, more likely, perhaps buy one or two, and then take more currency from the flop.) During the first scoring rounds, the player with the most building tiles of each particular type scores points (towers being the most valuable, but often the most expensive to buy). In the second scoring round, the same occurs but points are worth more, and also the second-most buildings of that type also scores points. The third/final scoring phase also rewards the third-most. Also, each phase, every player scores their longest continuous wall that surrounds their Alhambra. Alhambra is a wonderful gateway game that combines the tile-laying satisfaction that comes with Carcassonne and the simple-to-learn set-collection, multiple options of Ticket To Ride. Player Count: 2-6 Time: 45-60 Minutes Age: 8+

 

This Arabian-themed game is the most recent update of the 1992 mafia board game Al Capone. Originally released in German, the English language version of Alhambra was put together by Uberplay before they went the way of the dodo. Thankfully, creator Dirk Henn has continued to release extensions and as of 2013 there are six extensions available, but here we’ll focus on the original, a game that marries strategy and planning and will particularly appeal to those with a flair for design and an interest in aesthetically colourful games.

One for the Architects

Master builders use currency in the form of numbered cards with different colours to build their own Alhambra. Rather like 7 Wonders, there is no central board but a building marker with four building tiles on display, each square requiring a different colour currency: Blue, green, orange or yellow.

As players purchase tiles, further tiles are produced from a bag to replace them. The object of the game is to buy as many of the building tiles as possible, using them to build an Alhambra. The different tiles score different points, with extra points earned by the length of the Alhambra.

Your Move, Master Builder

During their move players can do one of four things: Pick up a card, buy a tile, place a reserved tile or redesign their Alhambra. Each player receives money at the start of the game and they can pick up a certain amount of money during a go, depending on which cards turn up.

There are two limitations to an average move: How much currency is required for the tile needed, and the amount of wall on the tile available. Some of the tiles have black lines around the edges, these indicate they are to be the wall of the Alhambra. But once you’ve placed your tile, you can’t move it somewhere else, so it’s all too easy to box yourself in with too many walls, or walls extending in the wrong direction.

The Lion Fountain tile also must remain accessible, with no holes in the Alhambra or walls blocking the way to it. That’s where reserving tiles comes in. If you have enough currency to buy a tile but have nowhere suitable to place it on the Alhambra, you can buy the tile and place it in the holding area for future use. It pays not to do this too often, since to place a tile you’ve reserved requires an entire move. You can also replace a tile in the Alhambra with another, but again this will take time because removing one tile and placing another is two moves.

There are ways to increase your productivity. The money cards have different amounts on hem, between one and nine, and if you can pay the exact amount of a tile’s price you then get another move, with no limit on bonus moves. Most players tend to pay more than the asking price, and you are limited by the cards available at the time of your go, but I cannot stress how useful those extra moves can be.

The most complicated part of the game is the scoring. There are three scoring rounds, the timing dictated by scoring cards hidden in the money card pile. Players receive points depending on who has the most of any one colour. So, if one player has three purple tiles in their Alhambra, and the others have less tiles of that colour, that player gets the points for purple. But the points increase with each subsequent scoring round, so having a balance of colours matters more as the game goes on.

This is where having those walled tiles comes in, because players receive extra points for every connected walled tile (emphasis on the connected, it helps to bridge those gaps).

Closing Thoughts on Alhambra

Alhambra is a game that requires judgement and skill in timing. It’s not just about gathering money but knowing when to buy a tile and when to wait for a better one to turn up. Designing your Alhambra is also fun, knowing where to place the tiles so you can acquire the most points from your wall. Visually it is very appealing, as the different coloured tiles combine to make each individual Alhambra a thing of beauty, and if you manage to build a long extending wall it’s extremely satisfying.

This one requires patience as the more you play, the better you get at making those decisions. I personally find the scoring system a little frustrating, as it’s all too easy to be caught out with too few of certain colours, and unless you score consistently well on every round it’s easy to be left behind by other players.

The scoring board itself is also rather confusing, with a layout of numbers up to 100 going in odd directions. But if you don’t mind playing a few practice rounds, this is a rewarding game that benefits from repeated playing.

Zatu Score

Rating

  • Artwork
  • Complexity
  • Replayability
  • Player Interaction
  • Component Quality

You might like

  • Colourful components.
  • Strategic element.
  • Works well for playing in twos as well larger groups.

Might not like

  • Complicated scoring.
  • Takes a while to get the hang of