Tigris and Euphrates
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| Tigris and Euphrates | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Reiner Knizia |
| Publisher | Hans im Glück |
| Players | 2–4 |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 90 minutes |
| Rules complexity | Medium |
| Strategy depth | High |
| Random chance | Low |
| Skills required | Strategic thought |
| BoardGameGeek entry (more...) | |
Tigris and Euphrates is a German strategy board game designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 1997 by Hans im Glück in German (as Euphrat und Tigris). Before its publication, it was highly anticipated by German gamers hearing rumors of a "gamer's game" being designed by the respected designer. Tigris and Euphrates won first prize in the 1998 Deutscher Spiele Preis. A card game version was released in 2005.
The game is set as a clash between neighboring states at the dawn of civilization. The game is named after the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in the region now called the Middle-East. The rivers together formed natural borders for an area which harboured several grand ancient civilizations, including Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. The Greeks called this area Mesopotamia, which literally means "between the rivers".
[edit] Gameplay
The game can be played by 2, 3 or 4 people. The play offers both tactical and strategic objectives. As with many games, the short term objectives gain prominence when more players participate, as players have less chance to follow up on previous moves. Luck plays a role, as players draw tiles from a bag, but it is seldom decisive. Players may selectively discard and redraw their tiles at the cost of one "action point", of which each has two per turn. This allows a player to correct poor tile draw at a cost. Moreover, the tile draw is rarely a significant source of luck because skillful players can adapt their strategies to virtually any tile draw. The game does not use dice.
The board is a map of the two rivers, marked with a square grid. There are four types of tiles with corresponding leaders: temples and priests (red), farms and farmers (blue), markets and merchants (green) and settlements and kings (black). The game starts with ten isolated temple tiles already placed on the board. Players play tiles and leaders onto the board, creating and expanding regions and kingdoms. Monuments are built on the board when four tiles of the same color are played into a square pattern.
Two leaders of the same type can not coexist in the same kingdom. Internal conflicts are caused when a player adds a second leader of a type to a kingdom. External conflicts are caused when players play tiles to merge two existing kingdoms.
During the game, players collect points in each of the four colors as a result of playing tiles, resolving conflicts and controlling monuments. After the final round each player sorts his or her points by color, including any "treasures" which they have acquired, which count as any colour the player wishes. The winner is the player with the most points in their smallest category.
For example:
- John has 6 black, 8 red, 12 green and 12 blue points; thus has a score of 6.
- Mary has 9 black, 10 red, 7 green and 15 blue points; thus has a score of 7.
- Kurt has 14 black, 14 red, 5 green and 20 blue points; thus has a score of 5.
This is one of the novel mechanisms of the game. Players must balance their scoring and avoid overspecializing.
