Alhambra was released in 2003 by Queen Games and was designed by Dirk Henn. It's a tile laying/set collection game, and one of the most often mentioned gateway games. I discovered the game shortly after getting into board games. A very sweet middle aged woman who worked at a local gaming store recommended it. She said she played it nearly every week with her husband and another couple. She especially recommended the Big Box.
Alhambra sat on my wish list for a while before I followed up on her suggestion. I played it a few times, and didn't really see what the big deal was. I had tunnel vision at the time towards bigger and "better" games. Alhambra even almost got traded away numerous times. But I kept it, and decided to revisit it from time to time. I'm actually glad I did, and here is my review.
