Taj Mahal (game)

Taj Mahal Taj Mahal
Game data
author	Pure Knizia
graphic	Franz Vohwinkel
publishing company	Alea / Ravensburger (2000), Rio Grande Games (2000, 2006) Abacusspiele (2006), Ystari Games (2006), QWG Games (2006)
Publishing year	2000, 2006
Art	Board game
Teammates	3-5
Duration	approx. 60-100 minutes
Age	from 12 years
Awards
German Games Prize 2000: 1st place Essener Feder 2000 Game of the Year 2000: Shortlist Gamers' Choice Award 2001: Multiplayer Strategy Finalist Dutch Game Prize 2007: nominated

Tadsch Mahal (also Taj Mahal ) is an author's game by Reiner Knizia , which was published in 2000 by Ravensburger's daughter Alea as Tadsch Mahal and in the same year received the German Games Prize and the Essen spring for the best rules of the game.

Franz Vohwinkel created the graphics for the game and the instructions. The regular game can be played with 3 to 5 players. In 2006 Knizia published rules for 2 players, for which a third player is simulated by a dummy player.

The playing time varies, officially 60 or 100 minutes are given. The game is recommended for ages 12 and up.

A prototype of the game could be seen at the 1999 international match days in Essen. It takes place in the 18th century, when the Mughal empire loses power and the players as maharajas can expand their influence on the provinces.

Further editions

Rio Grande Games licensed the game and released the game in English as the Taj Mahal in 2000 . In 2006, a new edition in four languages ​​(English, German, French, Dutch) of the parlor game was published as Taj Mahal at Rio Grande Games, which was also illustrated by Franz Vohwinkel. In Germany this edition is distributed by Abacusspiele , in Austria by Piatnik , in Switzerland by Carletto , in France by Ystari Games and in the Netherlands by QWG Games .

Awards and nominations

In addition to the German Games Prize and the Essener Feder, Tadsch Mahal was also included in the selection list for Game of the Year in the same year , and in 2001 it was one of the finalists of the Gamers' Choice Award in the field of multi-player strategy. The new edition was one of the nominees for the Dutch Game Award in 2007 .

In the last issue of the Internet Top 100 Games List from October 2008, Taj Mahal was ranked 18th. BoardGameGeek ranked the game 89th on September 30th, 2011.

materials

The game materials are rather extensive and contain several tiles or tokens that also differ in their shape.

• 1 game board
• 1 ring (crown)
• 100 palaces
• 12 province tiles
• 16 bonus tiles (including 1 Taj Mahal )
• 100 cards (84 color cards in 4 colors, 12 colorless and 4 special cards)
• 2 indicator stones
• 5 scoring stones
• 24 influence counters (4 different types)

Game flow

The aim of the game is to have as much influence (in the form of influence points ) as possible after visiting 12 provinces in north-west India . The provinces are visited one after the other and correspond to game rounds, which are, however, divided again.

Subdivision of the game board

Inside the game board shows 11 provinces with 4 cities each, in the twelfth province there is, in addition to these 4 cities, the city of Agra (which is also where the real Taj Mahal is located). There are streets between the cities, 16 cities are marked with the color purple as fortresses. At the edge of the board is the so-called scoring bar, on which the players can mark their influence points with their scoring stones. At the top right is the Grand Mughal's court.

construction

The twelfth province tile is placed in the province with 5 cities, the others are randomly distributed among the others. The provinces are now visited from 1 to 12 in the order of the tiles. The bonus tiles are distributed among the fortresses so that the Taj Mahal bonus tile is on the space of the city of Agra and the other bonus tiles are randomly distributed. The indicator pieces show the current province and the current starting player. The ring (as a crown) and 4 different influence markers are placed in the court of the Great Mughal. The remaining influence markers and the special cards are placed face up next to the playing field, the remaining cards are shuffled. On them are the symbols of the influence tokens, which stand for the control of a certain area, or the Great Mughal, or an elephant. Now each player receives 6 face down cards.

Course of the game

Depending on the number of players, 5, 7 or 9 cards are revealed at the beginning of the provincial visit. Now the players can either play cards face up in several rounds or withdraw, which means that he cannot continue playing in this province.

Play cards

If you play a card, all other cards played by the player in this province must be of the same color, and a white card or a special card can also be placed.

Special cards

Depending on the card, the four special cards have the following effects when they are played: They either correspond to a white Mughal or elephant card, give 2 influence points or allow a different color to be played on the turn in which the special card is played.

retreat

If a player withdraws, he may build a palace in a free city if he has more of a symbol type on the discarded cards than all other players and receives the respective influence markers. For a fortress he receives the respective bonus tile. In the case of the Great Mughal symbols, an additional palace can be placed that is independent of other palaces (marked with the ring), in the case of the elephant symbol he receives the current province tile. Except for the special cards, all open cards are discarded. In addition, he receives two of the open cards (the last player only one) and influence points depending on his tiles and palaces. If a player withdraws in the first round, he receives another card from the stack. Then, if necessary, stone positions are updated (starting player stone to the left), tokens are refilled and the ring is put back, and then the next province is visited. For 2 identical influence tokens you receive the corresponding special card, even if a player already has it.

Tiles and distribution of influence points

The bonus tiles give the player either 2 influence points (the Taj Mahal 4), another card or as many influence points as he already has tiles that have the same commodity symbol as the tile drawn.

Then the province tiles are evaluated; here, too, additional tiles with the same commodity symbols as on the tile give influence points.

If the player has at least one palace in a province, he receives one influence point; also for every other province with its own palace, if this is connected to the current province by a road. However, there must always be their own palaces in the cities on the street.

the end of the game

If all provinces have been visited, additional influence points are distributed for the cards in hand. Each white card or special card gives a bonus point, as does each card of the color of which the player has the most cards. The player with the most influence points wins.

Reviews

Taj Mahal was mostly positively received in the reviews. It is often referred to as a typical Knizia game, which is a good combination of card and board games . Since players often quickly suffer from a shortage of cards, it is recommended not to concentrate too much on one province, but rather to score a few points everywhere. The color scheme is criticized, however, as it is less suitable for people with color vision defects and darker places.

Web links

• Taj Mahal near Alea
• Taj Mahal at Abacusspiele , with German instructions
• Taj Mahal in the Luding games database
• Taj Mahal in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Prize winners ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at German games price 
2. ↑ Rules of the game for 2 players ( memento of the original from February 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 47 kB) at convivium 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Taj Mahal at spieleteufel.de
4. ↑ Bottom of the game box at BoardGameGeek
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rules of the game (German) (PDF) at Abacusspiele
6. ↑ ^{a b} Game list ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 160 kB) by Reiner Knizia at convivium 
7. ↑ Taj Mahal at spiele-check.de
8. ↑ Internet Top 100 Games List Edition Number 340 from October 16, 2008 (English)
9. ↑ Taj Mahal in the BoardGameGeek game database , accessed on September 30, 2011
10. ↑ Review of Taj Mahal  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on spielonaut.de  
11. ↑ Game description, review and variants of Taj Mahal on hall9000.de