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Medina by Steffan Dorra Rating: 10/10 after 20+ plays

MEDINA by Steffan Dorra art Mathias Dietze publish Rio Grande/Hans im Gluck players: 2-4 duration: 45-60 mins. type: tile placement game PACE: Medium. Some turn are more obvious, other turns take a bit of think, but generally, this game is not too prone to overananlysis. Limiting total plays to 2 pieces also results in a manageable range of options on your turn. Pace is good. COMPLEXITY: MEDIUM. The game itself is very easy to learn. but to play well will take practice. There are so many ways to approach this game, and different styles of play from different players will force you to react differently. Very deep. LUCK: None. Some player chaos as you are alway subjected to whatever the player to your right leaves you, but a tight tactical and strategic game. TENSION: HIGH. The game is all about playing chicken, making clever blocking moves, stealing bonuses. Very tense indeed. Trying to decide how to effectively claim a palace, then ensure it stays in the lead is no mean feat! VICIOUS: HIGH. The different way to seal off expansion, or steal bonus tiles, or re-route the market line...yowsa! This is a tight game folks. It isn't socially vicious but it is tactically tight, so take that for what it is worth. But it can also depend on how the players choose to play. =) INTERACTION: HIGH. It is not a social interaction, but very much a strategic interaction as every move you are stepping on someone's toes -- sometimes your own toes! Every move affects everyone else. VISUALS: EXCELLENT. The box does not lie: these are gorgeous components. But it is also the board that is beautiful and I hope Mathias Dietze gets to do more art for games. Very beautiful desert city feel. THEME: MEDIUM. This is a very tight strategy game with a well-chosen setting. It doesn't feel perfectly thematical, but the there does work very well. (Especially as I describe it...) GAMER APPEAL: YES. Tight game, brings out your best. NON-GAMER APPEAL: MAYBE. The board looks so good, and the rules are easy enough to grasp that non-gamers will probably be willing to try once at least. But actually my mom, of all people, enjoys this game, and that is usually a good non-gamer indicator. 2 PLAYERS: VERY GOOD. You will need to get the official 2-player variant. It is available at www.boardgamegeek.com REPLAY: EXCELLENT. Modular board always helps. I've played 15+ times. Good with 2-4 players. Best with 2-4 players.

The ancient city of Medina has fallen into ruins and must be rebuilt. Player share in the work of rebuilding the city and restoring it to its former glory. Players place different types of wooden pieces on the board to do so. Players will build different colors of palaces, the catch being that they can't start another palace in the same color until someone claims the current one. But no one wants to claim the current one because they are not sure how it will compare with the next one. Players try and claim buildings they feel are good size and then try and expand them strategically. Players not only get 1 point per unit of each of their buildings, but bonus tiles are up for grabs in each of the colors -- largest in buildings in each color will claim it. Each color has a different bonus value leading to fiercer fights for the orange tile than, say, the grey one. But that isn't all, players also have a common market line they will try and direct towards their buildings for extra points, then there are walls, and wall bonuses too. Players will try and set up to steal away bonus tiles, and maximze their points with clever placement, claiming, and expansion. A very tight tense startegy game, and it plays in an hour or less! The simple ruleset and elegance of design make it a good game for gamers, or even for non-gamers looking for some more depth. And everyone seems to like the "beautiful wooden components" lauded on the box cover. =)

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