Alhambra

Overview:
Alhambra is a light to medium building game for 2-6 players. Each player is competing to build the most impressive Alhambra, with points scored on 3 occasions in the game and the winner being the player with the most points at the end.

Components:
The game comes in the medium sized box from Queen Games. My version is the international version which comes with rule booklets in 4 different languages. There is a board for the score track and individual player boards which summarise the scoring as well as providing a space for reserve tiles. The tiles themselves are a similar size and shape to those in Carcassonne and so are very sturdy. The game also comes with a cloth bag for putting the tiles in during the game which is very helpful. There are also cards which are used for the money in the game and to indicate when the scoring occurs, and they are a good size and quality. Finally there is a board used to show the tiles up for sale each turn and 2 wooden player markers in 6 different colours, one for the scoring track and one to be kept by the player as a reminder as to who is which colour.

Rules:
As mentioned the rules come in 4 different languages and they are fairly straightforward with good illustrations and examples. After a couple of games I have only needed to refer to the rules to find out what happens in a 2 player game.

Gameplay:
The players each start with one central fountain tile which is placed in front of them. Money is dealt out in turn to the players and this is done face up until the player has a total of 20 or more in currency. After that the money is kept hidden. The start player is the player who received the fewest cards in their starting hand of money.

Four tiles are pulled from the bag and placed onto the ‘sale board’. The two scoring cards are put into the deck of money cards approximately one third and two thirds of the way through respectively. Five money cards are then drawn and placed face up to be available for taking by players.

Play then begins with the first player and moves clockwise with each player having 3 options:

1) Buy tiles. Using the money in hand a player may buy a tile from the sale board. Each tile costs a different colour of money and has a cost written on the tile itself. A player may pay more than the cost if they like and indeed this is often necessary. Change is not given in this instance. If a player pays the exact amount for a tile then they may immediately take another action (which can be any of the 3 actions). The tiles bought are not replaced until the end of the player’s turn, but are then drawn from the bag so that the next player has four tiles on the sale board again.

2) Take money. A player may take one or more cards from the five money cards that are face up. If more than one card is taken then the total value of all of the cards taken may not exceed five. Thus a player may take a single card of any value (up to 9) or may for example take a ‘2’ and a ‘3’, or a ‘1’ and two ‘2’s or any other combination as long as the total doesn’t exceed 5. The colour of the money doesn’t matter at this stage. After a player has taken money the face up cards are replenished back up to 5.

3) Players may renovate their Alhambra by either:

a) Removing one tile from their Alhambra to their reserve space
b) Add one tile from their reserve space to their Alhambra
c) Exchange one tile from their reserve and one in their Alhambra as long as the new tile is placed in exactly the same place as the original one came from

When a player has bought one or more tiles in their turn they then need to build them in their Alhambra. Each tile has between 0 and 4 outer walls around the outside of the tile. Each tile must be built so that it has a clear path back to the central fountain tile and so that outer wall edges do not get placed up against tiles with no outer wall edge on that side. If a player bought more than one tile they get to build them in whatever order they wish. If a player does not want to or cannot build a tile then it is placed on their reserve space.

Play continues until, when trying to replenish the money cards, one of the scoring cards appears. Play then pauses and a scoring round occurs immediately. Players then count how many of each of the six different types of building they currently have built in their Alhambra (tiles on the reserve space do NOT count). In the international version the buildings don’t have names and so are just known by their colours (blue, red, brown, white, green and purple). I believe the buildings have names like Pavilion, Tower and Garden in other versions of the game which is certainly nicer than asking who has the most blue tiles but never mind!

In the first scoring round the players who have the most in each of the different building types will score points, with ties meaning the points are split between all tied players. In the second scoring round points are awarded for whoever has the most buildings in each type and for whoever has the second most of each type. If two players tie for first they add the points for 1st and 2nd place and then split them between them.

Play continues until such a time as a player buys one or more tiles and there aren’t enough left in the bag to replace them. One final scoring round occurs where points are given out for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each building type. Points are also scored by each player for their longest section of outer wall. The winner is the player with the most points.

Review of gameplay:
The game employs a few different mechanics, such as card drafting and tile placement but is quite simple once player’s get used to the way they have to build their tiles so that there is always a route back to the fountain and so that the outer walls don’t lie up against a regular tile edge.

The game can sometimes move on fairly quickly once people know what they are doing but there isn’t always a lot of planning that can be done in preparation for your turn as it is almost inevitable that the exact tile you were going to buy or the exact money card(s) you were about to take will be snapped up by the player before you.

It is hard to judge when the scoring cards are coming out and so occasionally you may be stuck with tiles on your reserve space that you haven’t had a chance to build. In general it is advisable to buy tiles that you can build but sometimes it is worth it to buy ones that you cannot build just yet, purely to deny someone else, or so that you can build it in the future.

It is also advisable to try to pay the exact money for tiles but do not be afraid to pay over the odds if it is a tile that you really need.

I think this game is best with 3 or 4 players as the 2 player game involves using a 3rd dummy player anyway, and with 5 or 6 it can get a bit long and chaotic as there is definitely no chance to plan your turn. The downtime in a 5 or 6 player game is too much for a game of this depth in my opinion.

Overall:
I think Alhambra is a good gateway or next step game, particularly for players who are used to the tile building aspect of a game like Carcassonne. It adds the extra element of having to handle the money and buying the tiles you need but doesn’t really add a huge amount more to the complexity. As mentioned though, I would stick with 3 or 4 players if possible.

Scores:

Components: 7/10
Rules: 8/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Fun: 6/10
Overall: 6/10