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Designer: Luc Remond
Artists: Joëlle Drans and Jérémie Prugneaux (as Crocotame)
Editor: Helvetian
Year of publication: 2024
No. of players: 2-4
Ages: 10+ (I played with my 6 and 8 year olds without problems)
game time: 20 minutes.
Preface:
I received a copy of Alpina and Strato from the publisher to review. I haven’t brought Strato to the table yet, so I’ll do that separately later. Alpina is a short and sweet little game based on building a 5×5 tile grid with 3 varieties of habitats and animals. Your goal is to maximize points by collecting sets and/or placing tiles to satisfy the card scoring conditions.
From the editor:
A photographic walk through the mountains!
With your camera ready, explore the Swiss National Park and photograph animals in their natural habitat. The spotted nutcracker (emblem of the park), the chamois and the grass frog await you! Earn points in an original way, based on the landscape and interactions with your neighbors. Alpina is a strategic game with simple rules. Will you play a card to rack up more points or frustrate your opponents? Find the card that allows you to juggle both objectives and victory will be yours!
Disclaimer: The publisher provided the copy of alpine The opinions expressed in the review are entirely my own.
Disclaimer: Whenever you see a link to Amazon on our site, it’s another way to get your product there for the price normally listed, as well as a way to support Everything Board Games and everything we do here, without paying any extra . We appreciate the support!
Review:
Initial Impression/Components:
The set comes in a neat little box, about 6″x6″ and, like the components inside, are of industry standard quality. There are 56 square cards, 32 wooden meeples of 4 colors (8 per player), as well as a point counter and rules sheet.
Favorite:
I love nature themes! Since I can’t leave it at that, I enjoyed the many card conditions that can earn points and how you have to leave a hiker on a card in order to claim it and get points. Finding ways to place cards and take advantage of where cards have already been placed on the tableau is a fun challenge.
Least favorite:
The truth is that I had no complaints about the game. It’s a short little game but it plays smoothly and was fun. I had a great time with my two daughters and we enjoyed our games together.
Standards:
The rules are learned and played quickly; Ultimately, you play a card, optionally choose to place one of your hikers (permanently), and draw a card. Hikers earn points based on the card conditions listed on the card you place them on. Those conditions usually revolve around the number of a specific animal or habitat that is in a specific proximity to that card.
Areas where they achieved good results:
– Art and design
– Quality of components
– Game size/portability
– Replayable
– Quick game rules
– Use the box itself as a point tracker.
– Game duration
Areas that could have been improved:
– Could have included more cards for greater replayability. In this way, some cards would not be used in each game.
Interesting moment:
There was a time when we could play a card at the bottom of the grid, which contained a condition that had 4 of the same habitat type on top of it. The card condition scored 2 points for each card from that habitat above it. They were able to place the card, drop a hiker and earn 8 points right away.
In general:
The game lasts about 20 minutes, but offers enough excitement to justify it. Once you master the game (after 1 or 2 plays), you can even play it multiple times in a row or best 2 out of 3. I enjoyed creating patterns and trying to create the best 5×5 grid. letters that I could. An added layer of interest is that everyone builds the same 5×5 grid together, so what they’re trying to do is probably the opposite of what their opponents are trying to create.
Final thoughts:
It won’t be on my favorites list, but it was a great quick to play family game that I will definitely play again with my daughters. As an easily accessible family game, it has my approval.
See you next time, here at The Game Table.
Brad Hiscock aka Zerility
Here is a link to the game on their website:
Disclaimer: Whenever you see a link to Amazon on our site, it’s another way to get your product there for the price normally listed, as well as a way to support Everything Board Games and everything we do here, without paying any extra . We appreciate the support!
Did you get it based on our review? Please comment below to let us know!
