In the 6th century BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, wanted to honor his young wife, Amytis of Media, with magnificent gardens featuring a multitude of beautifully scented flowers, so he called on the most eminent architects in his kingdom to test their ingenuity and realize his vision of creating what would become one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
In Babylon, you take on the role of an eminent architect. Dig the quarry for the best materials, and use them wisely to build your gardens. At the end of the game, the player who unveils the most impressive design before the king will be declared the winner and crowned the greatest architect in the kingdom. Although Babylon is accessible to the whole family, it is also very popular with heavy gamers, due to a large number of optimization possibilities.
The game box, representing the quarry from which you will draw your construction materials, is placed in the center of the table. On your turn, take a Terrace tile of your choice from the quarry and receive, depending on its location, a variable number of pillars. Use these pillars to place your tile on your personal board and, if you can, beautify your garden with different decorative elements. Build your terraces to go from floor to floor and decorate them as much as possible. At the end of the game, each decorative element will give you victory points depending on the floor where it is located.
—description from the publisher
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- you are somebody's reason to smile
- we are so close to 30,000 Garden members
- thank you all so much for watching and for your support
- I am leaving for Japan and I cannot wait to document it
References (from this video)
- lush greenery on the front
- unique spatial drafting mechanic
- no solo mode
- gardening and building connections
- 3D garden construction / drafting
- mechanics-driven with thematic visuals
- Crafting the Cosmos
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- drafting — players draft and place to stack and connect garden elements
- drafting / spatial placement — players draft and place to stack and connect garden elements
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Spirits of the Forest. Absolutely gorgeous box cover. I am just obsessed.
- I can't stop staring at it.
- Mysterium's box cover is gorgeous.
- I love the box art for Portals—the circle and portal motif just draws you in.
- Flamecraft is just so, so pretty.
References (from this video)
- impressive presence and components
- ambitious production
- very large footprint
- heavy weight may deter some players
- court intrigue and grandiose display
- ancient Babylon with grand production
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- heavy-weight Euro / area control — Bulky box with large components encourages deep strategy and heavy decision-making.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's almost Christmas time
- Monkey Palace is off the chain
- Babylon is wild
- Wednesday is our new game day
- We are going to play the hamster roll
References (from this video)
- Visually gorgeous and beautiful
- Deceptively crunchy gameplay
- Satisfying building and tower creation
- Unique multi-level stacking mechanics
- Engaging visual puzzle
- Fiddly with small pieces
- Can be fragile if pieces bumped
- Two-player game takes longer due to more rounds
- ancient Babylon
- garden construction
- city building
- Terraforming Mars
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- life is too short to worry about games that don't work very well
- all of these games are really really cool in various ways
- Rich and deep and complex
- phenomenal
- no surprise that Designer artist Ryan Locket