In the game Medina three or four players together build an Arab city (hence the name) by placing nicely shaped wooden game tokens on a central game board. Consequently each game ends with a wonderful three-dimensional cityscape.
Constructing a city
The board shows a rectangular construction area, consisting of 11 by 16 squares. Around the area there is room to build parts of a city wall, with a watchtower on each of the four corners. At the start, all players possess exactly the same tokens, such as buildings (in four neutral colours), walls, extensions and ‘customers’. The player keeps them invisible to the others behind a panel. Visible to everyone are each player’s four roof tiles in his own colour.
Simple rules
In its essence, the game revolves around constructing palaces with the building tokens. Each turn consists of placing two game pieces on the board, according to a limited set of simple rules. For instance: a city wall element can only be build if it’s connected to a palace.
Strategy
The strategic importance of when placing which tile is high. Players can claim a palace at any time by placing a roof tile of their own colour on top. But since a palace cannot be expanded anymore (save with the extensions) after the roof has been placed, a player theoretically should wait as long as possible so the palaces can gain more points. Of course there you have the risk of another player taking the building before you. Only after a palace (each in one of the four neutral colours) is finished, the construction of a new palace in its colour can be started.
Score calculations
The score is calculated at the end, which is after all players have claimed four palaces each. The points are determined by the size of the palaces, their extensions and customers, the city walls and the towers. Bonus points are available to the largest palace in each neutral colour and the last palace connected to a tower. An interesting rule is that each colour has another system of score calculation.
Made in Germany
The German creator of the game is named Stefan Dorra, a man with considerable reputation in this industry. Publisher Hans im Glück issued Medina in 2001. The rules are simple, so the game is playable from the age of 10 or so. A long session of Medina can last up to two hours. It was awarded the second place in the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 2001, one of the many German game industry honours.