Image Courtesy of r2mitesThis review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. If you appreciate the time taken to write and the depth of analysis, please consider thumbing the bottom as it tells me I've helped you in some way. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type - Euro Game
Play Time: 40-60 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Mechanics - Set Collection, Hand Management, Auction/Bidding
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Can be learned in under 10 minutes)
Components - Very Good
Release - 2005
Designer -Reiner Knizia- (Lost Cities, Tigris & Euphrates, Pickomino, Samurai, Amun-Re, Through the Desert, Lord of the Rings, Modern Art, FITS, Ra…and the list goes on!)
Overview
It's Florence in the 15ht century. The city is in the midst of an artistic, cultural and financial boom. The time is ripe for development and the cities architects and master builders pit themselves against one another to create structures to stand the text of time!
This is another game by the omnipresent <PERSON> and in this one he doesn't hold back on the mathematics. So does that lend the game a cutting edge or is this one of the more hum-drum releases by the good doctor?
That's what this review serves to find out. It's also a game in the revered medium-box Alea Series, coming in at #2 after Louis XIV.
From a thematic perspective it is about as dry as they come so I don't recommend eating this game...because it will be like sandpaper on the way out.
So grab that trowel and join me up here on the scaffolding. It's time to go a building...Knizia style.
The Components
The components within Palazzo are about on the same level as the game itself...good but not great.
Material Supply and Quarries – Rather than offer a board, the action within Palazzo occurs on 5 tiles. The larger central tile serves as the Marketplace, whilst the 4 smaller tiles depict quarries.
All 5 locations serve to hold Building Tiles as they come into play. 470
The tiles themselves are decently thick and the artwork is serviceable without lasting long in the memory.
A harsher critic may even call the artwork dull and boring, which I can't argue with too greatly.
Image Courtesy of Alice87
Money Cards – Driving what players can do are the money cards. In all there are 3 different currency types as well as another income form called Certificates.
The currency types are differentiated by their background colour and each currency features values ranging from 3-7. The Certificates are always of value 2 but these cards act as wilds and can be added to other currencies. More on that soon.
The cards themselves are of the same size as those used in , that smaller format. The cardstock offers a shiny finish.
The other component to mention here is a larger Certificate 3 Tile. This is also a form of income and is awarded to a player when they call an auction.
Image Courtesy of Alice87
Building Tiles – The tiles that make up the palaces that can be built are rectangular in nature and relatively small, meaning that the game doesn't need a huge footprint to play on.
The building tiles come in 3 materials - marble, brick and sandstone. These materials are clearly differentiated by colour and style. Each building tile offers up a number of windows and a level number, which denotes what floor it represents.
The other feature worth noting is that the backs of the tiles have a - I, II or III on them. These values are used in the set-up to create 3 stacks.
Overall the Building Tiles are nice to look at but as the central element to the game they are not breathtaking in any way, shape or form.
Image Courtesy of Alice87
Rider Tiles and Master Builder - Five of the stack III tiles are special in that they feature no buildings at all and instead feature a colourful scene.
More precisely, each tile features one element of a scene and when put together, they form a mural of sorts. These tiles are randomly mixed into the final III stack of tiles and are used to trigger the end of the game.
The Master Builder is represented by a wooden token and if my memory serves me correctly, this is identical to the Doge in also, with the exception that here the piece is brown. 84