Alhambra is basically a tile placement game where players build the medieval Arabian Alhambra palace. The builder with the most success wins, naturally. Success, on the other hand, is measured by points, which are obtained by building majorities of different building types. Alhambra combines stacking tiles, collecting majorities and a rather original purchase mechanism.

Tiles are therefore collected. They have to be built into a coherent whole, which is mostly easy. However, the tiles have walls that have to match. This limits the build a bit; in addition, building a long outer wall for your palace gives you extra points.

No less than four different currencies are used in the game. You can get money simply by collecting: you can withdraw either one or more bills from the table, if their combined value is small enough. Withdrawing money improves the chances of success, but promotes the flow of the game, because the cards that create points are hidden in the money stack. You don't get points by withdrawing money, so you are doing yourself a disservice.

Money is used to buy tiles: four different tiles are available at any given time, one for each currency. There is no change in the Alhambra. If you pay too much, you pay too much, and you don't get your money back. That's why it's also worth withdrawing small change! If you pay with even money, you get a great bonus: an extra turn. If you buy a second time with even money, you get an additional turn - in one round you can clear the table if you happen to have enough money in your pocket.

The game therefore requires subtle tactics. The more players there are in the game, the more tactics are emphasized as the chaos rises. The game works best with 2-4 players. The game works with five and six, but there is a long time between turns and the amount of chaos may be too much for some. With smaller numbers of players, strategies are emphasized - there is enough to think about in the game.

Alhambra is not a particularly difficult game and is also great for those who are less into games. It dares to be offered to a wide variety of audiences to try. The game won the Spiel des Jahres in 2003, and it doesn't disappoint.

Contents:
60 game tiles
game board
scoreboard
6 dots
110 cards
6 spare boards
tile tower
instruction manual in Finnish, Swedish and English

• Number of players: 2-6
• Game duration: 45-60 min
• Age recommendation 8+ years