RA board game

by Douglas

(Yamagata, Japan)

Game:
RA board game
Game manufacturer:
Rio Grande Games
Number of players:
2-5
Ages:
12 and up

Quick verdict

I have to admit that I haven’t played the dice version of RA, only this board game version. This is a very simple game of tile collecting which offers decent strategy.

The game and gameplay

Having certain numbers of certain tiles gives you points in the form of VP tokens (that look like stone tablets). The game is played over three epochs and each epoch is scored when it finishes (after 8 RA tiles have been pulled from the bag).

In the middle of the RA board game is an auction track. Cards are pulled out of a bag and placed on the track. There are eight places on the track. Whenever a RA tile is pulled (or when all 8 places have been filled) an auction takes place.At the start of the game everyone gets an equal total of numbered suns made up of different numbers. The sun valued 1 is placed in the middle of the board.

During an auction, RA board game players in turn show a numbered sun and the highest sun wins the tiles. The sun that won gets replaced with the previous winning sun in the centre of the board which can only be used in the next epoch.

Players can also invoke RA instead of taking a tile from the bag to enforce an early auction (an extremely sneaky but clever thing to do during a game!). Young kids enjoy invoking RA especially if they get the tone just low enough!!

RA board game centers on getting the right mix of Nile, civilization, pharaoh and monument tiles. There’s plus points and minus points, but the overall impression is a design which makes for a thoroughly good simple strategic game, taking the best part of an hour to play.