Piazza

The Game

Piazza comes in a tiny metal box which looks like it's for sweets. It is an abstract game and a card game, for 2 to 4 players. The square cards are tiles you lay to build a plaza. These tiles come in different colours and patterns. The colours belong to players. You have your own draw deck. You take turns laying tiles. When you form a bracket, i.e. two of your tiles sandwiching other tiles, you score points. You score for your two tiles and for each tile you sandwich. The rules for laying tiles are simple. The new tile must be placed next to an existing tile, and adjacent tiles must not have the same colour or pattern. The whole plaza is limited to an 8x8 grid. The game ends after everyone has exhausted their decks. 

You have a hand size of three. You may play one or two cards on your turn. You may play two only if those two form a bracket. At the end of your turn you draw back to three cards. 

The Play

You keep planning to create good scoring opportunities for yourself, and you need to remember not to create the same for your opponents. The colour and pattern restrictions create some challenge, so your options are limited somewhat because of them. Overall you do still have many choices and can plan strategically. 

The Thoughts

Piazza is simple and easy to grasp. It is highly portable and suitable for traveling. It's an abstract game so it can feel a little dry. However it is short and doesn't overstay its welcome. It does present some challenge as you need to think from your opponent's perspective.