Die Hängenden Gärten / The Hanging Gardens
Author: Din Li
Publisher: Hans im Glück / Rio Grande Games
Year: 2008
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If we could cash each role in a game that is offered to us as an interim manager, we would be stinking rich by now. Because our help is needed again, this time as garden architect of the king. As it goes in every tale, there is no mention of the sort of king that rules the country - is he a despot, or even a cruel tyrant? But just like sports and politics that are so exquisitely separated, we exclusively mind our business with the construction of the garden, and hope to walk free in a possible trial, with the help of our lawyer who, in a flaming and emotional argument, refers to our illustrious example Speer who also mind his own constructing business…
After each completed lot, point tiles are collected that have various categories; collect the complete series and the score gets higher. When the stack of building cards is depleted, the game ends. What the player with the highest score is awarded, is not mentioned, but I would suggest: free legal aid?
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The main board actually only is the bearer of a set of cards and cardboard tiles; it is here that the four face up building cards are laid out, as well as three sets of two point tiles. Players start the game with their own building card that depicts six empty squares. They also dispose of five little wooden temples - who talks about secularism here - with which they can mark a lot as completed. When a site is scored this way, it entitles the right to a point tile.
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Before this, the various building cards must be fit over each other. In a turn a player chooses one of the face up building cards, and places it in such a way over his already placed card or cards, that each and all of the garden buildings on the card are supported by an underlying square, preferably empty, but it also may be placed over garden buildings. When a player has made a series of at least three buildings of the same colour - who pays attention to the tiny drawings anyway - he may score this series by placing a temple on any of the squares of that series.
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As a provisional token of royal acknowledgement he may choose something from the offered biscuit tin: a point tile, but he is not quite free in his choice. Because when the player has scored a series of three, he may choose from the first two tiles; a series of four enlarges his choice to four tiles, and a series of five unlocks the whole set of six tiles. If a player has a series of six, he even may take two tiles, the first one taken blind from the stack.
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These point tiles have a printed number series, for example 0-5-10-25. this means that the first collected tile earns a player zero points. But when a player, during a subsequent score, acquires an additional tile in the same series, the score increases to five points, eventually growing to the maximum score of 25 points. Now it might be clear why a players would want to build a larger series: to earn the matching point tile that lies in the four or five column.
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Temples may not be overbuilt, and thus form an obstacle when enlarging sites. When a sixth series is scored, a temple of the smallest series is removed and transferred to the latest scored series. Series can only be scored once, but the series can be neatly divided, the templeless series now being the possible start of a new series.
There are five special point tiles that can boost up a players score per tile, or per completed series.
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Players who do not like confrontational games will feel at ease in the hanging gardens, as each player has his own lot to try to make the best of it with the chosen building card. It is enough already that he is hindered by the restrictions on the building card, especially if he is not the first to choose from the window, but, as second or following player has less or no choice. Miraculously there are building cards with a series of three similar lots; these are ready to be build scores! So you certainly will not let another player take this card if you can take it yourself!
