Tabanussi: Builders of Ur is another one of Board & Dice's series of games beginning with 'T', that include classics such as Tzolk'in, Tawantinsuyu, Teotihuacan, Tekhenu and Tiletum.
It is a collaboration between the Italian designer Daniele Tascini and David Spada, with art by Zbigniew Umgelter and Aleksander Zawada. Despite being part of the 'T' series games, it provides a very different gaming experience from other titles in the series, with more direct interaction between players.
In Tabannusi the 1-4 players take on the role of Mesopotamian architects that travel with their assistants between five different districts. In three of the districts, considered common, we can start projects, construct buildings on previously laid projects or embellish with magnificent suspended gardens. We can also build houses in the Port district or claim a ship. These generally represent trade, with ships providing interesting abilities and/or bonuses. We can also build houses in the Zigurat district that will help boost scoring.
This is a dice drafting game with a very interesting action selection mechanism, in which when we start our turn, we need to draft a die. The number of pips determines which district our next action is going to be in and the die then becomes a resource.
Tabannusi has a busy board and there's a lot going on. There's also lot of direct player interaction, including during some actions. For example, when constructing a building in a common district you can use other players' projects, albeit that they gain a benefit when you do this. The multi-step building process and the interactive elements involved do add a layer of complexity to the game: when actions requiring multiple steps, it can be all too easy to miss one, so players need to be attentive.
Each district starts with a number of dice in a barge relative to the number of players. As you navigate the different districts to draft dice and perform actions, these get reduced. When a player picks the last one, it triggers that district's scoring. Understanding how scoring is triggered is crucial because there are only four scoring phases before final scoring in which every district is scored one more time. This makes timing very important, not only to maximise scoring opportunities but also because when a district is scored all players lose the resources of the colour associated with that district. They do get rewarded and this can work towards a player’s strategy, but it can hurt your long-term objectives if you're caught by surprise.
Players each have their own individual board that hold the houses they can build throughout the game, with several bonuses as these get cleared. There is also a holding area of crate tiles players can acquire during the game. These are used as resources and flipped but can also be unflipped throughout the game for re-use.
Tabanussi is a solid entry to the series. It can be daunting to teach, and it can initially feel overwhelming, but if players are willing to put the time into repeat plays, it can prove very satisfying.
(Review by Rui Marques)