#49: Ra (Mark's Top 50 - 2020)

Ra

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 158
• rating: 7.47

Print Status

• out of print? (I think)

Why It's On The List

• I'm not sure why Ra jumps on & off my top games list... it's a splendid auction game that scales well from 3-5 players and is filled with tension and constant reevaluation of values.

Tips & Tricks:

• Timing is everything. Seriously.
• My first play of Ra was 90 minutes - which was miserable and turned me off the game for a good year or so. When I finally got to play it at normal speed (30-45 minutes), it jumped considerably in my estimation.
• There are times (particularly in the final epoch) where winning an auction simply to trade up for a better sun is a good idea. These do not happen as often as I see people making these kinds of trades.
• There are two spin-off games from the Ra family:
• Ra: The Dice Game (which I enjoy and wish I owned a copy of...)
• Priests of Ra (which I do not - it just uses the same base engine & monkeys with the scoring)

Extras

• Here's what I wrote about Ra for The One Hundred.
• This is the first of four (4!) Reiner Knizia designs on the list.