Technically, my Every Night Is Game Night: My Daily Play & Blog Challenge is over, but since I missed a few days last month I’m writing about other games I played during May. By my count this is post no. 27, so I’ll write four more and consider my quest completed. And don’t forget to tweet me with what you’re playing these days!

Alhambra is a classic game, one that took the Carcassonne model of tile-laying and incorporated set collection. I played it last night for the first time with my regular gaming group and immediately saw the game’s appeal. Player turns are easy, with one action allowed: draw a money card or buy a tile. I liked that you’d receive a bonus action if you paid the exact amount for a tile. The spatial element of matching up your tiles is an interesting twist that moves the game beyond simple set collection, too.

We played with a few expansions that seemed to add options without weighing down the game too much in terms of additional length or deeper strategy. The base game seemed just fine as a gateway game and I’ll probably buy it during Queen Games’ next fire sale on Amazon.