Alhambra (board game)

This article is about the board game. For more uses of the word Alhambra, see Alhambra (disambiguation).

Alhambra is a tile-based German-style board game designed by Dirk Henn and published Überplay and Queen Games in 2003. The game is an Arabian-themed update of the 1998 stock trading board game Stimmt So! , which in turn was an update of the 1992 mafia influence board game Al Capone .

In 2003, Alhambra won the Spiel des Jahres award, placed 2nd in the 2003 Deutscher Spiele Preis and won the Essen Feather.

Gameplay

The game consists of a deck of currency cards of various values in four currencies (suits) and a bag of building tiles of various prices, as well as a number of boards (a currency market, a building market, a reserve board for each player and a scoring track). Six of the building tiles are Alhambra tiles; these are taken out of the bag and one is given to each player. Each player is then dealt currency cards until the total value of cards in their hand is greater than or equal to twenty. The currency cards are shuffled into five piles, and the two special scoring cards are inserted into the second and fourth piles. The five piles are then placed in order to form the currency deck. Four currency cards are drawn and placed on the currency market, and four building tiles are drawn and placed on the four spaces of the building market. The set of tiles connected to a player's Alhambra tile is called their Alhambra.

Players then take turns, during which they may perform one of the following actions:

• Draw currency cards - either one card of any value or multiple cards totalling five or less.
• Buy building tiles - by discarding currency cards totalling the value of the tile or greater. Each space on the building market has a currency type next to it; all cards discarded must be of that suit. If the value of cards discarded exactly equals the price of the tile, the player gets another go. Cards must be placed in the reserve board or attached to their Alhambra.
• Move a building tile - either from their reserve board to their Alhambra, from their Alhambra to their reserve board, or from one position in their Alhambra to another.

Currency cards and Building tiles are then added to any spaces on the Currency market or the Building market.

Some tiles have walls along one or more edges. When players add tiles to their Alhambra, it must be possible to draw a line from the centre of the tile to the fountain at the centre of the Alhambra tile, remaining within tiles and without crossing any walls.

When the scoring cards are drawn from the Currency deck, or when the deck is exausted, scoring occurs. The player with the most of a given building card type scores points according to that type; in case of a tie, points are split between players. Less common building types are worth more points, and building types are worth more points in later scoring rounds. In the final scoring round, the player with the most of a given currency type takes the tile of that currency type and may add it to their Alhambra before scoring, and the player with the longest wall segment scores one point for each segment.

Expansions

Henn has created a number of expansions, each of which adds four "modules" to the game.

Die Gunst des Wesirs (2004)

"Favour of the Vizier" allows players to play out of turn. "The building huts" introduces new tiles which score only if other tiles of the same color are built next to them. "The exchange office" allows players to mix currencies when buying building tiles. The fourth module adds cards to the currency deck which give a bonus if a specific building is in the palyer's Alhambra.

Die Tore der Stadt (2004)

"Diamonds" adds a wildcard currency type to the deck. "City Gates" allows tiles to be added to the Alhambra which would not otherwise have fit. "Camps" adds buildings outside the city walls which score for lines of tiles. "Characters" adds cards which are auctioned when they are drawn and which give players extra powers in the game.

Die Stunde der Diebe (2005)

"The flying dealer" adds inhabitants to the building tiles. "The walls" helps players build their city walls. "The change" simplifies paying for a building. "Hour of the Thieves" is the final module in this expansion.

Spinnoffs

Die Gärten der Alhambra

An updated version of Henn's 1993 board game Carat. Players place trees to encircle Alhambra buildings.

External links

• Überplay's home page for the game
• Board Game Geek reviews and pictures of the game