Balam (2006)

Overview

The boards represents various sites of a thick forest of Yucatan, in 8th century, on which the players, who play as competing kings, are building cities.

The goods produced in these cities by Maya people must permanently be distributed between taxes - which allow growth - and sacrifices - which allows to increase power.

At the end of the game, the most prestigious king becomes the first emperor of Yucatan.

Game components :

33 Site tiles (the tiles, once juxtaposed, constitute the game board) 1 board score track tile 72 Katun cards (Katun is a 20 years-long period. While players are drawing the cards, Katuns will follow one another, sometimes positive, and sometimes catastrophic.) 4 individual King cards (They allow to store the pyramids and the goods of the king and they remind rules) 52 large pyramids in 4 colors (indicating which player owns the site) 64 small pyramids matching the large pyramids (indicating which player has the commercial control of the site) 99 building tiles double sided, of 4 types (8 different buildings : villages/garrisons, palace/temples, market/storage, grounds of pelote/observatories) 82 good tokens of 6 types (30 yellow corn, 10 brown cocoa, 8 blue shell, 8 green jade, 16 black obsidian, 10 red prisoner) ("village" buildings produce goods and wars bring back prisoners) 4 6-sided dice (used to solve conflicts).