Alhambra
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
DumbPaladin
First Post
I wish I could tell you more, but it's been so long since I played it, and I don't own it myself. I remember finding it an interesting game with the kind of mechanics that are common in a Eurogame and not so common in games from the US.
However, I can say that it won the Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year for 2003. Really, if you look at the Spiel winners (Spiel des Jahres - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) you can't go wrong with almost any of those games; I've played the winner for this year, Dixit, and it's very accessible to any kind of player.
However, I can say that it won the Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year for 2003. Really, if you look at the Spiel winners (Spiel des Jahres - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) you can't go wrong with almost any of those games; I've played the winner for this year, Dixit, and it's very accessible to any kind of player.
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
Alhambra is a family game of tile placement.
There are six different sets of building tiles with different commonness each. In the three scoring rounds the player(s) with the most tiles/most and second most/most, second and third most score points for the building type.
You get a tile by buying it from the market, paying with cards representing money of four different denominations. For each denomination, one building tile is available giving the price. To buy a tile, you have to pay at least the demanded sum in the correct denomination. If you pay exactly the correct amount of money, you'll get to play another turn.
The other possibility during your turn is to draw either one money card of four cards lying face up on the table or to draw more than one card with the total value being no more than five.
The tile placing gets a bit more complicated by the walls. Each tile may have up to three wall sections on its outside. When you place it, an imagined visitor has to be able to reach the tile when walking from your fountain (each player's starting tile) without climbing over walls. Furthermore, with each scoring you receive points for your longest section of outside wall.
Alhambra isn't a very deep, but fun to play game. It suits children well and is remarkably resistant against differing numbers of players (2-6). Numerous expansions exist, which add small extra rules or extra possibilities to the game play. The expansions can be combined in multiple ways, allowing you to tailor Alhambra to your desires.
There are six different sets of building tiles with different commonness each. In the three scoring rounds the player(s) with the most tiles/most and second most/most, second and third most score points for the building type.
You get a tile by buying it from the market, paying with cards representing money of four different denominations. For each denomination, one building tile is available giving the price. To buy a tile, you have to pay at least the demanded sum in the correct denomination. If you pay exactly the correct amount of money, you'll get to play another turn.
The other possibility during your turn is to draw either one money card of four cards lying face up on the table or to draw more than one card with the total value being no more than five.
The tile placing gets a bit more complicated by the walls. Each tile may have up to three wall sections on its outside. When you place it, an imagined visitor has to be able to reach the tile when walking from your fountain (each player's starting tile) without climbing over walls. Furthermore, with each scoring you receive points for your longest section of outside wall.
Alhambra isn't a very deep, but fun to play game. It suits children well and is remarkably resistant against differing numbers of players (2-6). Numerous expansions exist, which add small extra rules or extra possibilities to the game play. The expansions can be combined in multiple ways, allowing you to tailor Alhambra to your desires.
I'm very fond of Alhambra myself. It's best with 3; it should be avoided with 5 or 6 - it's a very poor and frustrating game at the higher numbers of players. Much of the rhythm of the game comes from trying to pay exact change for tiles (so you get an extra turn), and it's just too frustrating to see the tile you need disappearing before you can buy it.
At 2 or 3 players, there's a significant amount of skill in the game. At 5 or 6 players, it's depressingly random.
Cheers!
At 2 or 3 players, there's a significant amount of skill in the game. At 5 or 6 players, it's depressingly random.
Cheers!
