Alhambra

Components

For 2–6 players aged 8 and up, playing 45–60 minutes. Across three scoring rounds, points go to whoever holds the most of each building type and to the longest wall around your Alhambra. The player with the most points wins.

Setup

1. 1Each player takes a starting tile, placing it in front of them, puts their scoring pawn on space 0 of the scoring track, and places their marker on the starting tile.
2. 2Put all 54 building tiles in the bag, draw 4 at random, and display them in order on spaces 1–4 of the building market. Each space has a fixed currency.
3. 3Set the 2 scoring cards aside, shuffle the rest of the money cards, and deal cards face up one at a time to each player until their total reaches 20 or more (currency doesn't matter). Do the same for the next player.
4. 4Whoever received the fewest cards starts. Ties go to the lowest total money, then to the youngest player.
5. 5Reveal 4 more money cards next to the building market. Split the remaining cards into 5 roughly equal piles, insert the 1st scoring card into the 2nd pile and the 2nd scoring card into the 4th pile, then restack and place face down.

Your turn — pick one of three

1. 1Take money — take one face-up money card, or several that together total no more than 5.
2. 2Buy a building tile — pay at least the printed price in the currency assigned to that space. No change is given.
3. 3Redesign your Alhambra — move a tile from your reserve board into your Alhambra, move one from your Alhambra to your reserve board, or swap one for the other (a swapped-in tile must go in exactly the same spot).

Your turn ends only once you can no longer pay exactly. Add the tiles you bought to your Alhambra, in any order, or place them on your reserve board. Then refill the building market and money cards back to 4 each. While it's still your turn, nothing is refilled.

Placement rules — walls and access

Building tiles cannot go anywhere you like. All five rules below must be followed.

• Every tile must face the same way as your starting tile (roofs all point the same direction).
• Adjoining sides must match — both walled or both open. A walled side cannot touch an open side.
• A new tile must join your Alhambra along at least one full side. Touching only at a corner is not allowed.
• You must be able to reach the new tile on foot from the starting tile without crossing a wall or leaving the tiles.
• You must never create an enclosed empty space completely surrounded by tiles.

Scoring — three rounds

The 1st and 2nd scoring rounds happen when the two scoring cards are drawn; the 3rd and final round happens at the end of the game. Each round awards points for holding the most of each building type and for the longest wall around your Alhambra.

Wall points are 1 point per walled side along your Alhambra's outer edge. Two tiles whose walls face each other on the inside don't count, and only the single longest unbroken run on the outside is scored.

End of the game

The game ends when, after a player's turn, there aren't enough building tiles left in the bag to refill the market back to 4. Any tiles remaining in the market go to whoever holds the most of that space's currency (by amount of money, not tile price; a tie leaves the tile on the market). These tiles can still be placed according to the placement rules.

The 3rd and final scoring round then happens. Whoever leads on the scoring track wins; a tie is a draw.

Tips

• An exact payment is itself a bonus action, so track your hand's totals ahead of time to chain several tile purchases in one turn.
• Right before a scoring round, focus your buying on a building type you already lead in. Later rounds pay out more per rank, so decide early which type you'll stockpile for the end.
• Internal walls never score, so design your Alhambra so walled sides keep facing outward.
• Holding tiles on your reserve board and redesigning at the right moment lets you fix up your wall shape before a scoring round.

Player-count variant and expansions

3–6 players use the standard rules with no changes.

⚠️ Unverified: several small expansions (The Vizier's Favor, The City Gates, The Thief's Turn, The Treasure Chamber, The Power of Sultan) and a 2009 Big Box exist, per cross-checked Wikipedia and Namuwiki entries, but the checked official rulebook covers only the base game, so expansion rules are not included here.

Frequently asked questions

History and awards

Designed by German designer Dirk Henn and published by Queen Games in 2003, the game won that year's Spiel des Jahres and was also a finalist or runner-up for several other awards, including 2nd place in the Deutscher Spiele Preis, the Swiss Gamers Award, and the Essen Feather.

In Korea, YES24 and 11st listings show the German edition was imported by Korea Boardgames (country of manufacture: Germany) at some point, but as of October 2026 Korea Boardgames' own storefront search returns no results for 'Alhambra', suggesting no localized Korean-language edition ever existed. The building tiles carry their German names as printed.

Several small expansions (The Vizier's Favor, The City Gates, The Thief's Turn, The Treasure Chamber, The Power of Sultan) followed, along with a combined Big Box (cross-checked via Wikipedia and Namuwiki). Exact release years for each expansion and any Korean release were not confirmed.