Hellas, 480 BC. It’s the rise of classic Greek civilization. After the overwhelming victory of Xerxes’ army at Thermopylae, the Greeks return to their country and continue the hard work at the islands. The building and development of large cities is the next step into a new era.
Found settlements on a Greek island and let them grow into large cities. Build statues in honor of the Gods or finish one of the various temples on the island. All this work needs a lot of marble, which can be found in the many quarries. Houses next to a quarry can mine marble, but some quarries produce more marble than others.
Each round in Hellas players choose an action in the display. When choosing to build a house, palace or square on the island, all others can perform that action, too. Deciding to mine marble (to get more money) will also help other players because they'll earn money too through their houses next to mines. Building pillars in temples or raising a statue are the only type of actions you'll perform by yourself, but at the end of the game all players might score points because of your work.
Strategically build your settlements on the island to gain the most profit from quarries. Timing is crucial: most of your chosen actions can also be immediately performed by all other players. Think ahead to outsmart your opponents and score the most points with your cities.
- beautiful artwork and top-notch production
- smooth gameplay and atmospheric theme
- described as among Stefandor's best works with strong replayability
- player count is limited (2-4), which can constrain interaction for larger groups
- city-building on a hex grid with godly influence
- ancient Greek civilization on a Greek island
- mythic, faction-based development and religious homage
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Drafting — players select actions from a display to build their city.
- hex grid — play area uses hexagonal tiles for city placement and expansion.
- turn order and resource management — players bid for actions and manage marble resources.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Rhinelander is a fantastic abstract strategy game that I truly enjoy playing.
- The artwork is simply superb with stunning visuals that really capture the atmosphere of the game's theme.
- Enguard is an awesome two-player game from Rhino Kinetsia.
- Castle Razor is an abstract strategy game with tile placement and stacking and balancing mechanics.