Alhambra Game

The communal game area is made up of the money market and the building market. The money market contains cards representing various currencies of four different colors. The building market contains four spaces, each corresponding to one of the colors of currency, with a palace structure in each of the spaces available for purchase. Each player starts the game with a random hand of currency and a starting tile representing the center of their palace.

On a player’s turn, they can choose one of three possible actions.

1. Take a currency card from the money market, or multiple cards, so long as the sum of the cards is less than five.
2. Purchase a building from the building market, by discarding an amount of currency equal to or greater than the value listed on the building. The currency card must also match currency color of the space in the market the building is occupying. This building is then placed in the alhambra according to placement rules or placed in a player’s reserve.
3. The third action is to engage in construction and reconstruction, which allows a player to remove a tile to their reserve or add a tile from their reserve. At the end of a player’s turn, the money market and building market are refilled and the turn proceeds to the next player in order.

The rules for tile placement are straightforward. Each tile side either is either open or bordered by a wall, and neighboring tiles need to correspond when placing (meaning you cannot place a wall edge next to a tile with an open edge). In addition, each tile must be placed so that you can “walk” from room to room without interruption, creating one giant space. Finally, the tiles must be oriented face-up according to the pictures on the tile, which lends some strategy as to which tiles are purchased. If you purchase a tile that cannot be placed (or one that you do not want to place), you can hold it in reserve, then use another turn’s action to place it when a spot opens up.

The game adds a reward mechanic for purchasing buildings with the exact amount. If this occurs, the player may immediately take another action. If planned out correctly, it is possible to string together multiple purchases in the same turn.

Scoring is done in two parts. First, the players compare the number of each color tile they have in their alhambra, and award points according to an increasing scale. Second, players earn a point for each segment of their longest continuous wall.  When the game ends, three rounds of scoring will have occurred, and the player with the highest score is declared the winner.