Alhambra
Granada. Located at the foot of the sierra Nevada mountains, one of the most exciting and interesting projects of the Spanish middle ages begins; the construction of the Alhambra.
In the role of master builders the players try to hire experts from all across Europe to erect buildings for their Palace, who all insist on being paid in their native currency.
The players have to be smart about their purchases to build the most impressive Palace by the end of the game.
Alhambra won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres in 2003.
Number of players: 2 - 6
Game duration: 28 mn
Complexity: 3 / 5
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Play Alhambra and 958 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Object
Players who have the most building tiles of each kind in their Alhambra at the right time (in the three scoring rounds) are awarded points - the exact amount depending on the type of building. Players also receive points each round for the longest continuous wall built around their Alhambra.
The number of points awarded increases each scoring round. The winner is the player who has been awarded the most points by the end of the game.
Setup
- Each player is dealt starting money cards one at a time, face up, until the total is 20 or more. After this the player’s hand of currency cards are kept secret.
- The player with the fewest cards starts; if two or more players are equal, the player with the lowest amount of money starts.
4 cards dealt face up then deck divided into 5 equalish parts and 1st scoring & 2nd scoring shuffled into stacks, stacks placed so second scoring stack second from bottom and first scoring stack second from top
Turns
The player whose turn it is must perform one of the three following actions:
- Take Money
- Buy a building tile
- Redesign their Alhambra
Take money
A player can take any one of the money cards from the display, or several money cards if they do not add up to more than 5.
Buy a building tile
A player must play currency cards of the correct type, (indicated by the currency above the tile), that total at least the price of the tile. No change is given.
Important: If a player can pay the exact amount of currency, it remains their turn, and they may decide which of the three actions they want to perform next.
While it is the player’s turn, no new tiles are placed on the building market.
Building tiles which have been purchased are only built in the Alhambra only at the end of the turn.
Redesign their Alhambra
There are three ways in which a player can redesign their Alhambra:
- They may take a building tile from their reserve board and add it to their Alhambra.
- They may remove a building tile from their Alhambra and put it on their reserve board.
- They may exchange a building tile on their reserve board for one in their Alhambra. In that case, the new building tile must go in exactly the same place in the Alhambra as the one that was removed. Note that to exchange a building tile you must drag-and-drop the tile from your stock onto the Alhambra. If you try clicking on the tiles to exchange you will remove the building tile instead and end your turn!
When redesigning the Alhambra, players have to follow all building rules.
Building rules
- Adjoining sides must be the same i.e. they must either both have a wall or both not have a wall.
- Each building tile must be accessible “on foot” from the starting tile without crossing a wall and without going off the tiles.
- Each new tile must be joined to your Alhambra by at least one side (i.e. it cannot be joined just at a corner).
- It is not allowed to leave any “spaces” (i.e. an empty area surrounded on all sides by building tiles).
Scoring
There are 3 scoring rounds during the game. The first two take place when scoring cards (shuffled into the deck during setup) are drawn from the pile of money cards. The third and final scoring round takes place at the end of the game.
In each scoring round, points are awarded to whomever has the most, 2nd most or 3rd most of each kind of building (depending on scoring round). If there is a tie, the points for the tied positions get added (i.e. two players tied for second would sum the points for second and third positions) and then split between the players, always rounding down. Players also earn points for the length of the longest wall around their Alhambra. Blue 16/ 8/1 Red 17/ 9/2 Brown 18/10/3 White 19/11/4 Green 20/12/5 Purple 21/13/6
End of the game
The game ends when – at the end of a player’s turn – there are not enough building tiles left in the tile dispenser tower to refill the building market.
The remaining building tiles from the building market are given to the players who have the most money of the respective currency in their hand. If two or more players have the same amount of money then that building tile remains on the building market.
The third and final scoring round now takes place.
If two players are tied the game is a draw.
Building Tiles Distribution
- Pavilion (Blue) - 7 Tiles
- Seraglio (Red) - 7 Tiles
- Arcades (Brown) - 9 Tiles
- Chambers (White) - 9 Tiles
- Garden (Green) - 11 Tiles
- Tower (Purple) - 11 Tiles