How to play Alhambra

Based on the famed Alhambra of Moorish architecture, Alhambra is a game about building out walls to encompass palace, garden and more. Get the right currency to add pieces to your Alhambra and make sure you've got room to add.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Alhambra board game
• 1 to 4 Opponents

1. Each player receives a reserve board and starting Alhambra tile (the one with the fountain). The rest of the tiles should be in the bag. Shuffle the currency cards and deal them out until each player has a total value of at least 20. Then, shuffle the remaining currency cards, divide them into 5 piles, and drop the round-end scoring cards into the 2nd and 4th piles. Pile the piles up in order into one large pile, and you're ready to begin.
2. Fill up the tile board by drawing a random tile from the bag and placing it on the first (numerically) open space on the tile board. Repeat this until all four spaces are filled. Then refill the currency board by flipping over the top card of the currency deck until four currency cards are showing (or until you hit a scoring card).
3. The active player has three options. He may choose to draw currency cards, which consists of taking either any one face-up currency card, or any combination of face-up cards whose values total five or less. He may purchase a tile from the tile-board, using the correct color of currency (No change is given, although a player who pays exactly may take another free action). Or he may move one tile from anywhere in his Alhambra or reserve board to anywhere in his Alhambra or reserve board.
4. A player who purchases at least one tile must place it at the end of the turn. If the player has no legal place to play on her Alhambra, or chooses not to add it to her Alhambra, she must place it on her reserve board. Tiles must have an unobstructed path from their center to the center of your Alhambra. You are also not allowed to surround a tile-less space on four sides.
5. When a player's turn is complete, simply return to Step 2. When a scoring card is turned up, players score 1 point for each segment in their longest wall, as well as points for tile-type majorities as accounted on the card. Note that players do not score points for tiles in their reserve pools; only tiles built into the Alhambra may be scored.
6. When there are not enough tiles left to fill all four spaces on the board, the remaining tiles are auctioned off to the highest bidder in each currency, one more scoring round occurs, and whoever has the most points wins.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not start playing at the edge of a table; leave yourself plenty of space to play.