Alhambra

I've had my eye on the Alhambra Big box for a while. Here's why:

• Up to six People can play it. 
• The original won the Spiel des Jahres, which is usually the sign of a stellar game. 
• Expansions mean that people have clamored for more, and with the Big Box, I could get them all at once. 

Still, I've hesitated to buy it. I wanted to be sure we would like it before making the investment. And also, the box won't fit into our overfull game closet. What to do? Borrow from a friend. Now, thanks to one who has a whole wall of shelves dedicated to games, we've had the chance to take Alhambra for a test run.  

So what is an Alhambra, anyway? Located in Grenada, Spain, it's a palace, fortress, and a small city combined.  The game takes you back to the middle ages when Alhambra was under construction and tradesmen came from various locations to help in its construction. All want to be paid in their own currency, of course, so varied currencies are represented by different colored cards. With your money you purchase tiles illustrated as gardens, chambers, towers, and more, and place them in front of you as you build your own Alhambra.

If you think of this game as a cross between Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne, you'll get a feel for what it's like. There's less interplay than Carcassonne because you're building your own creation and it seemed more luck-based because of the cards. It would be a great family game because it's easy to pick up and it plays six.

Now, we just need a bigger closet.

# Players . . . 2-6
Ages 8 and up
Game time . . . . . . . .45- 60 minutes

Set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes

Luck . . . . . . 5. . . . . Strategy

*Interplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Visual Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Component Quality . .. . . . . 8

*Replayability . . . . . . . . . . . 8

*See "How we Rate" for a definition.