Alpujarras

• Designer: Steve Finn
• Publisher: Doctor Finn’s Games
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 14+
• Time: 30 min/player
• Player with review copy provided by Flat River Games

During the great Arab Agricultural Revolution, hardworking farmers transformed the landscape of the Alpujarra into a world of bounty. With their innovative irrigation and terracing techniques, they brought water to the hillsides to create fertile farmlands. In this game, take on the role of a fruit farmer, diligently working to grow your crops and deliver them to the hillside villages. Life here is not easy, but with tenacity and dedication, you can live a rewarding life close to this wonderful land and all its beauty.

Alpujarras is a turn-based game in which players move their mules around an action track outside the game board. The player who is furthest behind takes the turn and moves their mule to an action space to perform an action.

To set up, the board is placed on the table and surrounded by alternating market and harvest track sections.  Each player places their mule on the start space of this track.  Delivery tokens are placed in each village and fruit fields get 3 fruit pieces each to start the game.  A bonus token is placed green side up in each village. The goal cards and delivery cards are dealt out.  The market card is placed on the table and the five types of fruits are randomized on it.  

In this game, the mule which is furthest back takes the next turn.  The game continues until all the mules have reached the end space of the track.  The player with the most money wins the game.

On a turn, the active player moves their mule to any legal space forward on the track.  Market and harvest spaces can hold multiple mules, otherwise there is a limit of one mule per space.  Take the action(s) seen on the space you end your movement on. For “regular” spaces:

• Add a farmer – place a farmer into a farmland (color might be specified by action space) and then take any fruit from a fruit space in that land.  Max of 5 of any type of fruit
• Move a farmer – move a farmer from any land (not village) into any other land (not village).  Take any fruit from a fruit space in that land.  Max of 5 of any type of fruit
• Irrigate – take a water token and expand any water channel. Take any available crop token and place it in any newly connected field. Take one fruit of that type for yourself and place two on the new spot.  There may be bonus Noria or Dirhem granted on the water space that you cover
• Take a Noria – take a noria (blue gear looking thing) – you can use these to add farmers, move farmers, gain fruit or dirhams.
• Take fruit – take matching fruit from the supply
• Take Dirhems – collect the money as shown
• Complete a Goal – you may complete exactly one goal as long as you meet the criteria on the goal card. Put a farmer onto an unoccupied space on the card and take the reward above the space.

If you land on a market space (with a brown cart icon), place your mule in any free spot and perform the standard action shown there and then take the market action.  You can deliver fruits here to get a delivery token and/or a delivery card.  There are only 5 market spaces on the entire track, so you only have 5 chances to deliver fruit in the game.  To get a token, move one of your farmers from the farmland to its village, and return fruit to the supply that matches one of the available delivery tokens.  If the green bonus token is still there, take that bonus, and flip the token to the red side.  If the red token is visible, take the bonus and then discard the tile.  Check the market card to see if you get a money bonus.  You can also gain a delivery card if you discard fruits matching one of the visible cards. Take the card for endgame scoring.

If you land on a harvest space (with a green sickle action), place your mule in any available spot. You perform the basic action shown in your space and then take the harvest action – take one fruit from each area where you have the most farmers; you will get the type of fruit found next to the sickle icon in the board area.

Continue playing until all players have placed their mule in a game end space on the final space on the track.  On your final turn, you can take a market action, complete a goal, possibly collect money.  Then you can sell and remaining fruit/noria for 1 dirhem per 3 things.  Finally, players take the money shown on their delivery cards and on their delivery tokens.  The player with the most money wins.

My thoughts on the game

I have generally liked games with a turn order based on track position, so I was looking forward to trying this one out.  For me, the key to these sorts of games is to force the players into tough decisions – is it worthwhile taking a leap ahead to get a particularly juicy action?  Or do I stay as close as possible to my current location to maximize the number of actions I get?

We’ve recently looked at two other games that use a similar mechanic: Namiji and Jokkmokk, and this one feels similar at the start but gets more interesting later in the game.  In the early parts of the game, there honestly isn’t much incentive at all to moving further ahead.  Most of the choices are similar in nature, and you’re trying to build up your fruit engine, so most of the action choices help.  However, once you approach the first market, things can heat up a bit.  Now, timing becomes a bit more interesting, as you might want to get to a market first to make a delivery and shut out your opponents who are collecting similar fruits. You also get to claim the first move out of the market space, and this can be advantageous at times.  Also, earlier players will claim the rewards for early deliveries. Of course, if everyone jumps to the market early, the last player then gets to take ALL the remaining actions.

It is important to know that you only get 5 chances to sell fruits, so trying to do so at each possible stop is a key strategy.   Given the number of steps it takes to accomplish this – you’ll be planning a bit to make it happen. You need to collect the appropriate fruit(s), you’ll need to have a farmer in the right region, and you have to get to the Market space on the track while the token is still available. 

There is similar time pressure at the Harvest spaces – this time, based on the board state (where you have a majority of farmers), there may be times when it is definitely worth it to skip some actions and jump ahead to then take advantage of a huge haul of fruits.  The goal cards can be fulfilled by all players, so this doesn’t provide any incentive – other than making it to the Harvest space when you are able to fulfill a goal.  You do need to remember that you can complete each goal only once, and you can only do one goal per Harvest space – so if you max out those points, you’ll have to make sure you can meet a different goal at each Harvest.

Finally, the last space on the track gives you incentive to jump ahead. You still have a Market action to take advantage of – but also, the earlier you get to the end, the better rate you’ll get for your leftover fruits.

And, while you’re worrying about all these things, don’t forget to collect and then use your Noria!  They can give you timely extra actions which you can use to maximize your actions.  It may allow you to make a surprise Market sale or help you meet a goal at the last moment.  The flexibility you have in using Noria make them an enticing option on an action space, and at times might make it worth moving ahead an extra space or two to take one.

The game is rated for 30/min per player, and that ends up with a game that is long at 3p, and way too long at 4p (at least for me).  A 2p game adds a bit of time as there is a die placed on the action track to simulate a third player and block random spaces on the track; though this doesn’t take nearly as much time as a player who has to think about all their possible options.  Despite the longer length, my first games of Alpujarras have been interesting enough to make me want to play it again – though almost certainly at 3 players at most.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

THOUGHTS AFTER ONE SOLO PLAYTHROUGH (M. EDWARDS)

I bought this game because I have a soft spot for Dr. Finn and how earnest his campaigns always feel. His solo track record is spotty at best – he loves designing for 2 players – but perhaps his relationship with Edo has made him more amenable to solo designs. Regardless, when this campaign went live with two other multiplayer games, I scooped up Alpujarras and crossed my fingers.

The game is too long and, paradoxically, also too short at solo. Let me explain. 

Alpujarras felt interminable because of all the bookkeeping I had to do all by myself, e.g. what Dale said in his penultimate paragraph. I always associate Dr. Finn with lighter games, but for some reason, all the moving parts of this game were hard for me to grok. Perhaps it’s because that darned AI was breathing down my neck and snapping up all the good crops and I couldn’t focus on my own gaming? Or perhaps the board is super busy with all the norias and fruit and pictures and…ugh! It’s making my brain seize just thinking about it! Definitely too long. 

And yet, Apujarras was also too short (and punishing) because rolling the dice for the AI’s moves means it’s a literal crap shoot and the darned thing kept blocking all the choice spaces. It gave me little time to build my engine; I always felt like I was playing catch-up, and I do LOATHE a tower defense-esque mechanic.

All this to say that this is a very personal, very visceral, very solo player reaction to the game and should be taken thusly. No slings and arrows intended toward Dr. Finn and his work; this one just isn’t for me. (But you know I’m gonna hang on to it anyway because I’m a sucker for fruit games.) 

Jonathan F.: Alpujarras is a 3p game in my mind, as I agree with Dale that 4p is too long. I liked the way the channel system opens up new spots. The game does start slowly, but picks up speed as players don’t hang back and go for the most small moves. Towards the end, there are things you need and it does not matter how far forward you have to go to get them. As such, the game has a clear arc and swift acceleration to the end, but you do need to think about how your action will set up the next player and it is that defensive thinking that slowed us down.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. 
• Neutral. Dale Y (2-3p), Steph H, Jonathan F.
• Not for me…M. Edwards, Dale Y (4p)