[This review was originally written in 2000 -- Brian]

Be careful, there are multiple games with the same name.

The version I'm reviewing is about building up duchies along the Rhein. Like most Reiner Knizia games, Rheinlander feels like an abstract game with a theme tacked on. In this case, the theme almost feels pertinent. Maybe because there is a board with a river snaking through it. I don't know.

The board is divided into 59 or so spaces. Most of the numbers actually have 3 spaces associated with them, one on each side of the river and the river itself. There are also some circular spaces where you randomly put the special chits each turn.

Each player has 4 cards, and on your turn you:

1. play a card,
2. place a knight,
3. resolve effects,
4. play a bastion (optional)
5. draw a card.

When you play a card, you can place a knight on either side of the river in a space matching the number. If both sides are full, you can place a knight on the river for that number space. If you are the archbishop (more on that later) you can take over a space from another knight, giving him the boot (presumably sending him on a crusade). You can also play any card to re-inforce a knight. Which means that your new knight is adjacent to one of your other knights, on dry land, and not adjacent to an opponent's knight.

Two or more adjacent knights form a duchy, and you get to add your duke to the board. Duchies score one point for their duke, plus points for special chits. One point for churches and castles, and 2-4 points for cities. A duke who controls a church is a bishop, and the player with the most bishops is the archbishop. Castles let the owning duke keep an extra knight in the castle.

When two (or more) duchies merge, the player with the most knights becomes the new duke (and takes over any castles, becomes a bishop, etc.). But players who lost their duchies are paid points as compensation. If a player manages to merge two of their own duchies, the smaller one pays out.

This isn't always the achievement it seems, since the player would be better off keeping two smaller duchies for the end of the game, when they score as before, but 5 points for the duke. So if you merge two duchies with a church each, you get two points during the game (1 point for the duke and 1 for the church that's absorbed) and 7 points at the end of the game (5 for the remaining duke + 2 churches). However, if you had kept them separate, you'd get 12 points (5 x2 for each duke, and 2 points for the churches). However, merging large duchies can be very valuable, since the double payment for cities can overwhelm losing a duke.

Each player also starts the game with 3 bastions, which can be played to permanently block a space, thereby preventing mergers. A player may only play one bastion a turn.

Finally, the player draws from the deck (which also has a 'reshuffle the discard pile' card).

The game ends on the turn where one player places his last knight, which triggers the final scoring, which is described above (with the addition that the archbishop at the end of the game gets 5 points).

I haven't played Rheinlander often, but I think Knizia has done a good job, although I'm not sure. The deck adds enough randomness, so players don't have too much control. The random layout of the cities/churches/castles makes each game different. On the other hand, the ability to use cards as reinforcements means that you can predict how duchies are likely to grow. The Castle and Church special powers are offset by their lower scoring than cities. The timing and usage of bastions is very important.

There are problems, of course. Like many card games, players are at the mercy of the deck. Having four nearby numbers early is a disadvantage (since you can play anything as a reinforcement). Graphically, the board gets quite crowded, and bastions look very similar to castles. (I normally play the bastion chits upside down for clarity). Scores are fairly easy to track, so kingmaking is a problem (if you have players who are willing to count up scores towards the end of the game).

Another problem -- the box is just so damn big. This keeps me from carrying it around often. This is also true of Battle Cry, but Battle Cry fills the box. If the board folded a bit more, this game would easily fit in a much smaller box. As it is, the box is double the height it needs (once I threw out the useless plastic case, storing the chits in various floss bags).

Still, I consider Rheinlander to be one of the under appreciated games from last year. It wasn't the greatest game, but I'm surprised it doesn't get mentioned as a good game more often.

[This game will be re-released soon -- Brian]