City Building

Granada – many artisans, traders and entire families have settled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada because the Palace of Alhambra promises all people work, contracts and above all prosperity.
(From the publisher's blurb.)

Granada is new member of the Alhambra family with a more challenging character: in this standalone game the players develop the city of Granada next to Sierra Nevada, where the famous Alhambra stands, by buying building tiles to construct the city which will earn the most victory points. Building tiles now have two sides and there are new building types for which the value is set during the game.

Link to Trailer http://www.queen-games.de/index.php?id=2537----2

Play Differences from Alhambra
Alhambra advanced. Play is the same: buy a building tile, take money or remodel. If you buy a tile for the exact amount, you can take another action, same as in Alhambra. The differences: new building types, building values are dynamic, two-sided tiles, and moats instead of walls.

There are 9 building types in Granada. Unlike Alhambra, the buildings do not have a set value. Instead, building value is determined by the count of that type of building in all players' cities times a multiplier. As in Alhambra, there are 3 scoring rounds during which each building type is examined and points awarded for the player with the majority of that type of building. In the first scoring round, A, only the player with the most tiles of a particular building type scores for that building type (1 times the total count). In the second scoring round, B, the top 2 players score (2 times the total count and 1 times the total count respectively), and in the final round, the top 3 score (3x, 2x, and 1x the total count of that building type). Scoring for a "Beginners Game" is a little different.

There are no ties in Granada: points are never divided like in Alhambra. In the case of two players having the same number of tiles of a particular type in their cities, the player with the highest valued tile of that type wins, and the other player takes next place. So, in Granada, it pays to buy the more expensive buildings.

For example: When the A round-scoring card is turned up, Cindy has 2 Schools, Diana has 2, Tim has 1, Tina and Bailey each have 0, for a total of 5 Schools currently in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Diana's is a 7. So, in round A, Cindy would score 1 x 5 = 5 points.

When the B round-scoring card is turned up, the count for Schools is: Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina and Bailey 0 each for a total of 6 Schools. So, Diana scores 2 x 6 = 12 points and Cindy scores 1 x 6 = 6 points.

In the final round, the School count is Cindy 2, Diana 3, Tim 1, Tina 2, Bailey 0 for a total of 8 Schools in cities. Cindy's highest School is a 10, Tina's is a 4. So, Diana scores 3 x 8 = 24 points, Cindy score 2 x 8 = 16 points and Tina score 1 x 8 = 8 points.

Another difference in Granada is that the tiles are two-sided: on one side an even-numbered building of some type, on the other a different, odd-numbered building valued exactly one higher. The configuration of the buildings on both sides is identical in terms of moat placement or lack thereof on each side. When purchasing a building, a player can immediately place the building, as is, into her city or may flip it to the other side and place it in her supply for later placement during a remodel action.

The Building Market is initially filled with tiles even-side up. The next time the market is filled, the odd side will be placed up, then even, then odd, etc. A handy toggle feature is provided on the board near the Building Market to facilitate this.

The last difference between Alhambra and Granada, moats instead of walls, is really just a difference in artwork. As in Alhambra, during each scoring round, each player scores points for her longest continuous moat, instead of wall, surrounding her city. The rules are the same regarding tile placement: must be able to trace an unbroken path back to the city's center, moat can touch moat, etc. In games I've played, players have often commented that it seems to be harder to build with the moat tiles of Granada than with the wall tiles of Alhambra. Just one more way to make Granada an advanced version of Alhambra?

New York has the same game play as Dirk Henn's Spiel des Jahres-winning Alhambra, but with the Spanish architecture being replaced by the skyscrapers of Manhattan. As in the original game, players collect four types of currencies and use those funds to purchase tiles that they assemble into their own mini-metropolis, connecting the paved street edges on the tiles to create a coherent network of roads. The building tiles come in six colors, and players score for their holdings three times during the game, earning points for having the most of a color as well as for their longest road.

Aside from the theme change and the associated new artwork, the gameboard is now larger with spots for both face-down and face-up tiles and a scoretrack that circles the edge of the board instead of zigzagging back and forth.

Re-implements:

Alhambra

From the website:

The Story:

In "Cities" you are the architect of a city of the world. You try to build a city that is most attractive for tourists. You position attractions close together. You build parks as big as possible and place terraces close to the water. You guide tourists to their favourite spots, because only through them you can earn your points.

The Dilemma:

But... you never know exactly which tile will be drawn next. Will you wait another round for the perfect tile? Will you adjust your planning? Or have you got a brilliant idea and can you position the tile in a way that it brings points for more than tourist?
Every player builds his own city and makes his own choices. "All" you have to do is make better choices than your opponents!

The players are building a research station at the bottom of the sea, trying to find Atlantis, recover sunken treasures, and extract raw materials. The board shows the sea floor as a grid with shades indicating the levels of depth.

Each round consists of three phases :

-expanding the station : extra research stations will be added, these give advantages depending on their type, cost to build depends on the underwater landscape on which they are placed. More stations in use of the same type give better advantages. They must be occupied by a scientist before any advantage can be enjoyed.

-deploying scientists : players must pay to bring them into the game. They can be moved around to start using the research stations. Once deployed they remain at this station. When using a station built by another player there is a cost.

-exploration : Up to 3 submarines can be launched when certain requirements are met. These explore outside the base searching for scientific and financial treasures as well as trying to find remains of Atlantis. The amount of built research stations and deployment of scientists greatly aid in the performance of the submarines.
All players have special goals, consisting of sea discoveries that provide more points when recovered.

The game ends when certain tiles or all of the Atlantis tiles are found, when nobody buys/builds anything to expand the base and when not a single sea discovery was recovered.

Points are scored for recovered Atlantis chips and sea discoveries. Discoveries corresponding to the player's special goals score more points. The total of the discoveries is multiplied by the points gained from the stations. Extra points are given for left over money.

In 1536 Pedro de Mendoza founded the city of Buenos Aires along the river Rio de la Plata. After 5 years the settlers were forced to leave the city, exhausted by the difficulties and by the continuous attacks of the indigenous Querandies. The city was destroyed by the natives some weeks after.

Almost fifty years later Juan de Garay leads a new expedition and founds a new city. As before, resources are low and the natives are angry!
But not only that: now the Corsairs paid by the English Crown threaten the new Spanish settlement!

Rio de la Plata is a strategy game where players represent the chiefs of the families of Spanish settlers of Buenos Aires. They must work together to defend and develop the city, but also look to gain sufficient prestige for themselves to take the most important political offices. At the end only one will be the new Governor! Will it be you?

First game needs about 3-4 hours.
Normal game needs about 150 minutes (4 players).

Essen 2010 Release.