Game Tips for Alhambra

8

Ray Gans {Avid Gamer}

Aug 20th, 2011| Tip

45 of 47 gamers found this helpful

“Buy the Big Box”

While the base game is fun, adding the expansions gives you a lot of variety and more challenges. Each expansion include 4 separate game enhancements and you can pick and choose which ones to you want to use on a game by game basis. Some of the expansions have enhancements you’ll find to be “must haves” and you’ll want use them in every game you play.

So… if you haven’t bought Alhambra yet, spend the cash and get the Big Box that bundles Alhambra with all 5 expansions. You’ll be glad you did.

8

Millhouse {Avid Gamer}

Feb 1st, 2013| Strategy

24 of 25 gamers found this helpful

“Dont Spread Yourself Too Thin”

This is a game where you will want to diversify, but only in a limited fashion at a ratio to the number of players. As you build up your palace, keep it to two or three different city types. If you spread yourself too thin you won’t be able to score points till the last scoring round, putting you in a position where you have to play catch up. I try to focus on two of the different city types, putting myself in the lead for those categories, and build those up, ignoring the rest.

I think its also important to know what you are going for and do your best to stake your claim on the type. Do what you can through purchases and propaganda to influence others to stay away from your color of tiles.

7

SP {Avid Gamer}

Jul 23rd, 2014| Strategy

31 of 33 gamers found this helpful

“Pay attention to your walls”

You need to be mindful of where you are putting your walls so as not to block future opportunities for great tiles.

This may mean that you’ll score lower on your walls in the first scoring phase as, for example, you try keep an appropriate corner or top space for pieces you know will come up later in the game. However, once you drop in those tiles you’ve been waiting for you will have a great wall and be ready to jump ahead on the scoreboard.

9

Bit and Bot Massacre {Avid Gamer}

Jul 17th, 2012| Rule

34 of 37 gamers found this helpful

“When playing two players, just forget about the dummy”

When my wife and I play two player games, we prefer to to just skip using the dummy player. Frankly, I don’t find that it changes all that much in the game, and it is just one less thing to worry about while playing. The trade off is you don’t have to deal with the dummy stealing a type of building you were collecting, but with a larger Alhambra you need to pay closer attention to where you are placing you buildings so you don’t end up with three turns of so of redistribution.

Give it a try and see what you think!

6

Topdecker {Avid Gamer}

Oct 3rd, 2014| Tip

51 of 56 gamers found this helpful

“Know your tile allocation”

You need to be aware of how many total tiles there are. It is likely that you will reach a point in a game where you are the uncontested leader and knowing the tile density will help you decide when to completely stop purchasing particular tiles types.

Tiles by color (name) – or value lowest to highest:

7 Blue (Pavillion)
7 Red (Seraglio)
9 Tan (Arcades)
9 White (Chambers)
11 Green (Garden)
11 Purple (Tower)

Avoid ties if you can or create them to weaken an opponent.

8

amym {Avid Gamer}

Mar 14th, 2015| Strategy

9 of 9 gamers found this helpful

“Play tiles as you buy them”

Try to place your tiles in your city as soon as you buy them, rather than placing them in your reserve. Sometimes you need or want to place a tile in reserve, which is fine, but be careful not to end up with a huge pile in your reserve. I’ve seen people place 5-6 tiles in their reserve and then panic closer to the end when they realize they have to try to get them all out before the game ends.

You also don’t count tiles in your reserve during scoring, so you could miss out on a lot of points if they’re all sitting in there!

4

Steve A. {Avid Gamer}

Apr 23rd, 2015| Tip

9 of 9 gamers found this helpful

“Scoring for Agricola”

One of the great things about Euro games are that there are many ways to victory. Also, it makes scoring them a little more tedious. That being said, I use an app called Scoregeek. Its free online http://www.rebrandsoftware.com/ScoreGeekApp/ or you can get it on the ios and Android. What scoregeek does is keep track of your score (you still have to input it), but it makes scoring things easier. For example, you tell it how many green tiles you have, if you had the most, second most etc., how long your wall was, and it’ll score it for you. Then it will upload your score to BGG if you would like. It also keeps track of things like your best score, longest game, etc. I love it. Just for the record, I don’t have any affiliation with the company, but I love the app and use it for Alhambra and all my games.

5

Ktusing {Casual Gamer}

Apr 18th, 2013| Strategy

29 of 32 gamers found this helpful

“Basic Strategy + Attention to Opponents = Success!”

Alhambra is one of my favorite games (boy I have a lot of those!) I personally employ a very basice strategy that seems to work in my favor more often than not. Here it is:

•Work to pay exact cost for Buildings – Free Turns are Great

•Choosing several small currencies over one large one

•Be aware of what currency denominations you need for exact costs

•Place building tiles with an awareness of building walls

•Be competitive in multiple colors

•Pay attention to the choices your opponents make

Again, this is a basic start on Alhambra strategy that must be adapted based on what your opponents do. Remember you see exactly what choices they are making – keep track as much as possible with their moves. Being aware of their choices will help you to make the right choices yourself.

10

Andy {Avid Gamer}

Aug 19th, 2011| Tip

41 of 46 gamers found this helpful

“Beware of mixing colors (money vs. buildings)”

For first time (and even experienced players), one thing to be on the lookout for is not confusing the color of the building with the color of money needed to buy it.

There are a few buildings that share a color with the money (blue, green, and brownish). Every game I’ve played in, there has been at least one instance where a player (including myself) confuses the building color with the type of money needed to purchase it (for instance, a blue building is in the yellow money slot, but since it’s blue, you try to buy it with blue money) While not a big deal, it can delay your game a turn or two if you were collecting a certain color of money incorrectly.

I try to keep the money in my hand ordered the same way it shows up on the bid board (upper left corner on left, upper right corner second, and so on). This way, when I look to see if I can afford a tile, I look at a region of my hand, not at a color, to avoid making this mistake.

8

Anders Nordstrom {Avid Gamer}

Aug 23rd, 2011| Strategy

33 of 38 gamers found this helpful

“Don't fight over high class buildings”

People easily stare themselves blind on what buildings are highest ranking, but if there’s no competition of some less fancy colors those are better investments. Ending up second best in a high class building type is worse than winning a lower class. Not to mention that the high class buildings cost more money and therefore drain your resources.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t go for the fancy colours, only that sometimes there are better options that will get you more points.

6

Topdecker {Avid Gamer}

Sep 29th, 2014| Tip

14 of 24 gamers found this helpful

“Practice makes perfect”

Alhambra is available as an app in the Google play store. It is also available for iOS. It could be a great way to improve your play or learn the game.

I don’t recommend getting it unless you have a phablet (Galaxy Note sized) or a tablet – the game is playable on a Galaxy 3, but that is due to having a stylus. The reason? Well, the text is very small and the menus are difficult to manipulate because they are scaled and are tiny.

Alhambra - Tips & Strategies

Tips & Strategies (11)

Add your own Tip, Strategy, or House Rule

Recent News