Alpina Game Review
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I'm a fan of small box games. In Alpina by HELVETIQ, players collaboratively build a board game set in the Swiss Alps and earn points as they go. Let me tell you about Alpina!
ALPINA GAME REVIEW
Alpina is a game for 2-4 players. Over several rounds, players place a landscape map in a 5 x 5 grid. The only rule is that you must place your map directly next to an existing map. Players can then choose to place one of their wooden tourist tokens on their map or a map directly next to their map.
Repeat until the 5 x 5 grid is filled, then tally the score.
“Wow,” you might say, “that’s easy.” And you would be right if that were all there was to the game. Because I haven’t explained why you choose one of your cards over another, and why you decide to place it in a certain place.
SCORING
When you look at each card, the first thing you'll notice is that it looks like a Polaroid, with a bird, frog, or goat at the top. Each "photo" also shows an icon in the lower left corner that indicates the type of landscape (mountain, lake, or forest). Finally, you'll notice that there are a series of icons at the bottom of the card, each representing a scoring opportunity. Some of these are simple: 1 point for each tourist token of any color on a forest card, 2 points for each lake card directly adjacent to the scoring card. Others are more complex and require more planning: 2 points for each type of landscape to the left of the card (on the same row), or 1 point for each bird orthogonally connected to that card.
And remember… you don’t have to put the tourist on the ground right away once you’ve placed your card. You can bait a specific area, hoping the other player will peck. And then, once they’ve placed their tourist, you can close the trap and place the next card with the tourist to get the scoring condition.
Alpina is smart about this.
CONCLUSIONS
There's not much to Alpina: 56 landscape cards, 32 player tokens (a scoring token and tourists), and a board that also serves as a scoreboard along the outer edge. And the moves are quick: placing one card and potentially placing a tourist. But the game is tricky and requires players to pay close attention to the development of the playing field.
The game starts with one card already laid out on the table, which may or may not be in the middle, depending on the placement of the cards. This means that in a two-player game, each player will lay out 12 cards with 8 traveler pawns. But in a four-player game, only 6 cards with 4 traveler pawns are laid out. The board closes quickly, and if you don't keep an eye on the game, you may miss the opportunity to not only lay out the right card, but also to place a traveler on the table to secure points for the end of the game.
Alpina is also fast, with games lasting an average of around 15-20 minutes. So it's the perfect way to whet your appetite for longer, more strategic games, or to end a gaming evening and unwind after a game of White Castle or Clans of Caledonia.
So, if you're looking for a game in a small box that offers strategy and visual style, then Alpina would like to talk to you.
