Roll through the Ages is basically a mix of Civilization and Yahtzee. As per usual, I prefer not to spend too much time on this blog explaining a game. So, if you want extensive details and/or rules, visit boardgamegeek.com. Nevertheless, I will tell you that the main idea of the game is to roll dice that have workers, goods, money, and food on them. You can use goods and workers toward adding moments and developments to your civilization. Just as in the game Civilization, the developments give your people some benefits, such as protection from famine or better money production. Also, you can put workers toward making more “cities” which are dice; so, you can get more dice to roll on future turns (You start with 3 dice.). It sounds simple, and it is, but it is very fun filling in the squares (with what you get via dice rolls) to build your peoples. Moreover, since the developments give you advantages and since the players are competing to complete the same monuments (once one person gets a monument, the others get about half the victory points than what the 1st player got for completing the monument), there is a lot of strategy to deciding what developments to build and what monuments to go after. As I have mentioned in other posts, many of my favorite games that are quite simple and yet still find a way to have a lot of underlying strategy. Roll through the Ages accomplishes that extremely well, and that is why I was so wowed by it. In fact, the games main mechanic (which is essentially Yahtzee) is so straight-forward, my first thought was that the game would only be light, filler fun. (A filler game is just a game that goes fast and can be played quickly before or between other longer board games.) However, as already indicated, I was surprised by the strategy. The game certainly moves fast, meaning it could be a great filler game between playing two longer games, but it also could easily fill a night of gaming, playing multiple games. I have only played Roll through the Ages a few times, but I am sure I will discuss it more later after more plays; then, I will be able to speak even better to its mechanics and replayability.
Alhambra I have only played once: last Thursday night. To relate it to other games, it is probably best described as a Euro, economic game with a mix of Carcassonne. You have to buy buildings to add to your Alhambra, and those buildings must fit in with your current Alhambra. That requirement to fit the piece into your Alhambra is what reminds me of Carcassonne. It is hard to explain; so, here is a video on Alhambra that will explain what I mean (and more since it is a full review). If you want to just see what I am talking about, look at about minutes 2:45 - 3:10 and 3:45 - 4:30.
I am very eager to play Alhambra some more. I really like the way there are always buildings out that you can make work for you. You just have to determine what you will save up for, what you will wait to get exact change for, what you will pass on, and what you will buy simply because it is a good opportunity. It is fun to determine what you will buy per guessing what others are going to buy and seeing what they already have. The ability to easily see what others have is probably what I consider the biggest strength after one play through. Games like Puerto Rico are too complicated for me to focus on what others have; I instead have to focus my entire attention on what I have and what I am doing to keep my strategy straight in Puerto Rico. (That is after playing it about 3 or 4 times.) Alhambra’s rules are simple enough to where I felt I could see what I had and consider what others were doing without losing track. Moreover, it is easy to see what others have by just physically looking since the Alhambra tiles are a good size, well colored (easy to tell the difference between the colors), and laid out in front of the player for all to see. It is not like Roll through the Ages: Roll through the Ages has one problem in which you are making your Xs on a small sheet in front of you; so, it is hard for others to easily see what you are working on. Alhambra doesn’t have that issue. Also, Alhambra does not have the issue that Puerto Rico has: Puerto Rico has many different elements consisting of crops that have to have wood chips on them and buildings that have to have wood chips on them. So, one not only has to keep track of what crops and buildings they have, but they have to keep track of which ones have the wood pieces on them. Finally, the buildings all do different things and are worth different points; so, you have to keep track of that as well. One cannot assess all that just by looking; you have to actually track it as the game goes along. On the other hand, Alhambra allows you to easily assess that each time instead of having to track things in your mind. Once again, it is basically an example of how simple is better than complex if you can still bring a reasonable amount of strategy to the game. Mr. Vasel wasn't as high on his first play as I was; so, I will just tell you: the strategy in Alhambra is great. Once again, I’ve only played it once; so maybe the strategy and replayability falter as you play it more, but I doubt it.
It was nice to be wowed by Roll through the Ages and Alhambra. I would expect there will be more posts about them in the future. Certainly, as I play board games somewhat frequently, some games can start to feel stale. So, it is disappointing at times when there are no games seemingly worthy of my wishlist. Thankfully, Roll through the Ages and Alhambra have stepped up and reminded me that great games are still out there. Now I have a few games for my Christmas list if I don’t get either of them sooner.
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