We had a slim group last night with John, Z and myself in attendance. Z had brought one of his games that he bought over the summer that had yet to be played, Alhambra. Z dominated us by winning two games of Alhambra and the final Carcassonne.
Alhambra is an enjoyable game that reminds me of Union Pacific. You can do one of three options on your turn, with one caveat: 1) Buy building tiles (which can be of six different types with varying costs); 2) Pick up money (which is of four different currencies); 3) Rearrange you alhambra. The caveat is that if you spend the exact amount of money required to buy a building you can select one of the three options again. There are two scoring cards that come from the money deck during the game and a final scoring at the end of the game. Each scoring round you count the number of a particular type of building each player has and score appropriately. Additionally, the building tiles have walls on them and you score points for the longest continuous stretch of wall.
During a players turn four buildings are available for purchase one for each type of currency there is. Four money cards are available of which the player may take only one card or all cards showing that total five or less. Since the buildings and money are randomly selected to replenish those available you have to be flexible with what you are willing to buy.
