Alpino

In Alpino, you draft and place domino-style tiles, competing to make the most spacious habitat for each of the alpine animals. They will inhabit only the largest habitat made for them among all the players, and if you manage to make that habitat, then you score all of the accumulated points for that animal type at game's end. In more detail, in each round players draft and place a tile, and while you want to group animals together, you must match the tiles by color/territory when placing them to link your growing habitats together. The tile that remains unchosen each round increases the value of one of the depicted animals, with the round's last player deciding which creature gets the bump. At the start of play, you receive a secret tile that lets you know two of the animal types you might want to focus on while building habitats. In the last round of the game, you place your secret tile, ideally surprising everyone by boosting your habitats ahead of everyone else's.

Players: 1–4 best 2
Playing time: 20–25 min
Age: 8+
Complexity: 1.5 / 5