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REVIEW
Rajas of the Ganges
Kali’s Got Her Hands Full
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The cover brings back memories of “Eight Arms to Hold You.” This was the original title of the second Beatles movie, in which disciples of the fictitious goddess Kaili hunted for a sacrificial ring on Ringo’s finger. The inspiration for this figure was Kali, a goddess in Indian mythology depicted with up to ten arms and hands. Kali also plays a role in this game, as a two-dimensional statue spreading out her hands ready to hold dice. So, we’re talking about a dice game here, but a special kind.
board because the
workers do not just
cut the wood but also
build roads, buildings, and markets. A worker at the quarry costs money – the sooner you place him there, the lower the costs. But that’s only half the job; now you have the right to place a province tile in your province, but this comes at a price as well, in the form of dice. This gets me back to the nice basic idea
of this game and to the goddess Kali.
Each player has his own goddess. At the beginning she is equipped with four dice in different colors. The dice colors correspond to those on the province tiles, along with a value. If you want to have such a tile, you have to “pay” a die of the same color with at least the value shown on the tile. Unfortunately, many prices are higher than 6, so a single die is not enough. You need a fresh supply and the game board provides plenty of opportunities.
But let’s stay in your province for the time being. The province tiles show roads, buildings, or market places. Buildings yield fame points; markets,
money. Whereas fame is a one-time benefit that you can receive only when
you are erecting a
The game board resembles a look- and-find picture. It shows huts, market stalls, magnificent build-
ings, a quarry, and a huge palace, all with action spaces. The Ganges river, also teeming with action spaces, meanders through the landscape. The inhabitants are scurrying around, pursuing their jobs or taking a bath in the river. This is not
just nice to look at - you’ll need to study it carefully to discover all the possibilities provided. The board is studded with spaces where players can place workers. If you take the trouble to count them, you’ll find
intersect, the end of the game is trig- gered. But there’s a long way to go to get there.
I Payment by diece
of the same color
To begin with, players have to sort and
prepare a lot of components. By the end of set-up, the board is seeded with yield tiles, bonus markers, 48 dice in four colors, and reserve workers waiting to be recruited. To the side are 64 province tiles divided into 12 stacks, ready to be put on your personal province board during the game.
Initially, each province board has one lonely residence in the midst of green for- ests. Forests alone don’t yield anything, so you set out to develop your prov- ince. In order to have trees cut, you send workers to the quarry on the main
more than 60!
so a worker placement game. The person- nel’s task is to generate fame and money, both recorded on tracks around the edge of the board. The markers start in the
same corner, but they move on the tracks in opposite directions: fame is recorded clockwise; money, count- er-clockwise. When both markers
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