Alhambra
This game is a re-working of the stock market game "Stimmt So!". Now with an arabian theme this game was awarded the coveted Game of The Year award in 2003.
The premise is simple, collect money in the four currencys until you can afford to pay the best artisans from a country to expand your palace by building a tower or garden etc. simple.
In the box we find an auction square, lots of palace tiles and a deck of cards. Lets look a little closer at these cards, for they are a great game mechanic. These cards are in four different colours to represent the currencies of the four nations and numbered 1 to 9. This is the money in the game...if you cant buy an extension to your palace this turn then you choose one of the four face up money cards on the table. (or two cards as long as they add up to no more than 5) Upon reading the rules one strategy becomes immediately apparent, try to save enough money so that you can pay the artisans exactly the right amount so that the greedy so and so's will build you something else in the hope of a tip. :)
Yet it is only upon playing the game that the subtleties really come to live. Simple things like the palace walls that slowly grow around your palace. These are on the edges of 0, 1, 2 or 3 sides of the tiles you buy and as you place them together they form a border around your palace that scores your points in the three scoring rounds. However in the later stages of the game it is all to easy to find that you have built such a nice palace that you can no longer expand it without losing points from the wall. Careful planning is needed when placing your place tiles therefore. Especially since you cannot rearrange the tiles with out doing it one tile per turn! The simplest rearrangements can cost you anything up to 8 turns or more! Giving your opponents a huge advantage - ouch!
There are many more subtleties but if you want to know them, PLAY THE GAME! This game won Game of the Year in 2003 and i must say that it is a wise choice. Great fun for all the family with enough strategy to apease the most ardent game fans. Taking up little room and being played out in around an hour makes this game ideal for holidays and cold rainy days too.
SUMMARY:
Great fun that, like so many of the best games, is easy to learn and hard to master. Fully deserving of Game of the Year 2003 and an absolute must for collectors and families alike.
Review by Tom
A word on the Expansions
Viziers Favor
1) "Die Gunst des Wesirs" which allows players to play a round out of turn. The penalty for that is of course skipping a regular turn.
2) "Die Bauhütte" introduces a number of new tiles that only count in the scoring when other tiles of the same color are built next to them. Bauhütte tiles are free, but their number is limited to three per player.
3) "Wechselstube", players can buy building tiles by mixing different currencies.
4) A set of bonus cards that are placed in the money pile. Each of the tiles shows a particular building. If that building is part of your Alhambra, then the bonus card will count as another building of that category.
City Gates
1) Gates. These show up in the form of cards you can draw instead of money. A gate enables you to place a city tile in such a way that it may be entirely isolated by walls.
2) Camps. Tiles that may be placed on the outside of the city, which will score bonus points for city tiles in a line.
3) Personality cards. These get auctioned off and give players special one time abilities of varying sorts.
4) Jewels. Wild card currency that can be used to buy any tile, but cannot be combined with other currencies.
Thief's Turn
1) Change - The "change" coins are put in the cloth bag. Whenever a player purchases a building he will receive 1 coin of change (worth 1) for each 2 units he overpays.
2) The thief - At the start of the game, each player receives thieves.A player uses the thief to steal a single money card out of his turn.
3) Walls - The 8 wall cards are shuffled in,Whenever a wall card is drawn, it is placed beside the playing area, and a player may use a regular turn to take a wall card, and then use it immediately.
4) The flying Traders - The flying trader card is played at the start of the game on one of the sides of your starting tile. The player receives 1 man of each color, and chooses 3 of them to place on his tile.
Treasure Chamber
1) The Treasure Chamber - Filled to the brim with treasure that must be brought to safety. The treasure chests are worth points for being brought to buildings that match their color.
2) The Architect Cards - These have a double function. They allow an additional remodeling of your Alhambra, but can also be used as money cards.
3) The Bazaars - These add a new building type to the game. When built to their best use, they can bring up to 24 extra victory points. The points are gained by having buildings of matching colors built next to them.
4) The Attackers - The palace is being attacked. Lookouts keep a close watch for the attackers to try and figure out with direction the attack is coming from. This allows the player to build protective walls in that direction. Otherwise, they will lose points during the final scoring.
