- BGG rank
- BGG #617
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Alhambra
- 2–6 players
- 45–60 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2003
- BGG rank
- BGG #8,384
- BGG rating
- 7.2
Alhambra: The Red Palace
2023
Rules assistance for Alhambra: The Red Palace
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–6 players
- 45–60 min
- 8+
- Complexity 2.2/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Alhambra: The Red Palace
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Alhambra: The Red Palace is a board game released in 2023 for 2–6 players, 45–60 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Dirk Henn and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
The Red Palace is a standalone game set in the Alhambra Universe that provides a new style of gameplay and is designed specifically for more complexity in the base game. It features: The (3D wooden) buildings and walls are now separated. Guards as a new mechanic, which make choosing and constructing buildings more exciting and introduce new powerful extra actions that might bring you closer to victory! Each player constructs their own Alhambra by taking money cards and using these to purchase buildings of different types. Which buildings you can build are displayed on the building market. Unlike the base game of Alhambra, the buildings are not printed on the tiles, but instead players draw a tile and then a chip which tells them which of the wooden buildings is placed onto the tile. In each of the three scoring rounds, players will receive points if they have the most of each building type, as well as points for their longest connected wall segment. When buying a tile, players check for guard icons on the walls, placing one guard on each icon. The guards do two things: Guards standing on your longest wall give you bonus points during scoring. They can be discarded to do powerful extra actions during your turn. The game ends when the building market can no longer be replenished from the building tile supply, and there is a final scoring, whereupon the player with the highest score wins. Note: All existing expansions for Alhambra can be added to Red Palace. For the tile based expansions, if you have the Mega Box, you need the Deluxe Edition as it has the 50mm tiles instead of the standard 45mm ones.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Queen Games
- White Goblin Games
Questions and answers
Alhambra: The Red Palace supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Alhambra: The Red Palace is 45–60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Alhambra: The Red Palace for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Alhambra: The Red Palace has a complexity rating of 2.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Alhambra: The Red Palace belongs to these categories: Medieval and City Building. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Alhambra: The Red Palace are: Dirk Henn. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Alhambra: The Red Palace as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.