euphrat und tigris

Euphrat und Tigris is a German board game by Reiner Knizia. Before its publication in 1997, it was highly anticipated by German gamers hearing rumors of a "gamer's game" being designed by the respected designer.

Theme

The game is named after two rivers in the region we now call 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". The game is ostensibly set as a clash between neighboring states at the dawn of civilization. However, like many of Knizia's games, the theme feels superficial, irrelevant to abstract gameplay.

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. 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 colour. The winner is the player with the most points in their smallest category. For example:

John has 6 black, 8 red, 12 yellow and 12 blue points; thus has a score of 6.
Mary has 9 black, 10 red, 7 yellow and 15 blue points; thus has a score of 7.
Kurt has 14 black, 14 red, 5 yellow 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. Euphrat und Tigris was released in the United States of America by Mayfair Games, under the title Tigris and Euphrates. It was originally published in Germany by Hans im Glück.

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