Alhambra: The Card Game – Cheaper by the Half-Dozen?

In one of my 2010 NY Toy Fair reports I briefly described New York: The Card Game, a rethemed version of Queen Games’ previously announced (but not yet released) Alhambra: Das Kartenspiel. Here’s that summary:

[The game] is effectively New York/Alhambra but with cards instead of tiles and no street/wall building. Players still use four currencies to buy colored property, being able to take another turn immediately when paying the exact price, but the property cards are piled in front of their owners by color rather than being arranged in some manner. The game lasts only two scoring rounds. (2-6 players, ages 8+, 45-60 minutes, $25)

Turns out that New York won’t be the only city blessed with Queen’s kartenspiel treatment. In fact, German retailer Milan Spiele lists six different versions of Der Palast von Alhambra: Das Kartenspiel, with the previously mentioned “classic” version and New York being two of the six; the other versions are Aachen, Belgien, Niederlande and Alhambra, presumably meaning the actual Alhambra in Spain.

Half of the titles are listed as July 2010 releases, and the other half are due out in September. I’ve asked Queen for details on the different versions, and will report if I hear anything. The grapevine mentions that the versions are for different markets that Queen serves, but specific plans and release dates are still being determined.

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