presentation

 

Alexandria

Library in Cinders

 

What did really happen to the legendary library? Did Caesar destroy it in 48 B.B. or did Emperor Theodosios order it destroyed in 391 A.D. or was it the Muslim destruction in 6452 A.D.? Players as heroes are legendary visitors with their own deck; time is limited and must be used wisely to explore the library and rescue treasures In five rounds of the game, the library shrinks as rooms are burning down.

The game is prepared with a display of rooms with furniture tiles in the room; each player selects one of the “Dramatic End” cards, which are then shuffled and stacked. Each round comprises the phases Action, Burn and Cleanup. In the Action phase, the player with currently most time selects and resolves one action - Move, Draw card, Resolve card, resolve Hero Board action, Wait, Respond - and moves his marker and can also gain time; when all have reached Time 0, the Burn phase begins - rooms burn as given; heroes in such rooms resolve the Destiny Response Action of their board and are relocated to the room adjacent to the burnt one; this can happen several times to a hero in the Burn phase. In the Cleanup phase you remove fire, water and hero tokens. After five rounds, the player with most fame from Rescue cards wins and tells how the library ended, according to the drawn End Card.

A fascinating topic using very unusual mechanisms for very different characters and a very different game flow depending on the set up; the mix of positive and negative player interaction works very well, you can assist each other, but also steal from each other or set traps or use up time from another hero’s time.

 

Players: 2-4

Age: 14+

Time: 60+

Designer: Babis Giannios

Artist: Vincent Dutrait, Victor Csete

Price: ca. 40 Euro

Publisher: LudiCreations 2017

Web: www.ludicreations.com

Genre: Collect

Users: With friends

Version: en

Rules: en

In-game text: yes

 

Comments:

Highly interesting topic

Very competitive

Very different characters

Positive and negative hero interaction

Some practice games necessary

 

Compares to:

First game with this mechanism mix, games with shrinking board

 

Other editions:

Deluxe edition, LudiCreations (en)

 

Chance (pink): 1

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 1

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 1

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0