MEDINA

OBJECTIVE OF MEDINA: The objective of Medina is to be the player with the most points when the game comes to an end.  

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Gameboard, 4 Palace Tiles, 4 Tower Tiles, 6 Tea Tiles, 80 Buildings, 16 rooftops, 31 Merchants, 12 Stables, 4 Towers, 36 Walls, 4 Player Screens, 1 Well, 1 Score block, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Area Control Board Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 10 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF MEDINA 

After years of poverty and destruction, it has come the time to rebuild the medina. Players, acting as architects and engineers, will work to rebuild the extravagant towers and palaces that used to exist. This game is tense and competitive, and it is great for hours of fun! 

SETUP 

To begin setup, place the board in the middle of the playing area, within reach of all players. The size with the smaller game area is used for a two-player game, and the other side is used for all other games. The white towers are placed on the corners of the city wall, with the tower tiles placed beside them. The well can be randomly placed in the city as long as it is at least a space from the wall.  

Three merchants are placed on the number one tower tile, two on number two, one on number three, and one randomly inside the city. The palace tiles are placed in a row at the top of the board. The tea tiles are placed on the top left corner of the board in a face up stack. 

 Each player will then collect a screen and a number of wooden components depending on the number of players. They will keep these components behind their screens, hidden from other players. A starting player is randomly chosen, and the game is ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

The first player will begin the game, and once they have completed their turn, the next player will go, rotating clockwise around the group. During their turn, a player will place two of their wooden pieces on an unoccupied space. When they are finished, the next player will take their turn.  

Each piece has different rules regarding its placement. Buildings are used to construct palaces, and numerous players may work on the same one together. It does not belong to a player until they take possession of it by placing a rooftop on top of the palace. This also declares that no more buildings are able to be added to the palace.  

Stables are used to expand palaces, and they can be added to any of them, but they must be built adjacent to a building. They can be added regardless of who owns the palace. Merchants act as markets, and they may only be placed adjacent to other merchants. Walls are built around the city, and they act as protection.  

Whichever player possesses a purple palace will collect tea tiles. They can skip the placement of a game piece during the player’s turn. The first player to own a purple palace will get three tea tiles, the second will get two, and the third will get one. The Well limits placement of game pieces, as the only thing that can be placed beside it are merchants.  

When a player is the first to acquire a palace of a certain color, they will collect a palace tile for that color, allowing them to score more points. These can be stolen if another player builds a larger palace of that color. Players collect tower cards when they take possession of a palace that is adjacent to a wall connecting a tower. This allows them to score additional points too. 

END OF GAME 

The game comes to an end when all players have used all of their components, and they have none remaining. Scoring will then take place. Each player will tally their points, writing it in the score block. For each building, stable, wall, or merchant, the players will win one point. For each tower or palace tile, the player may win up to four points. Finally, for every building or stable that is divided by one space, the player will win four points.  

Once the points are tallied, the winner is decided. The winner is the player who has accumulated the most points.   

Ellie Phillips
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