Ra (board game)
Encyclopedia
Ra is a board game
for two to five players designed by Reiner Knizia
and themed around Ra
, the sun-god of Heliopolis
in ancient Egyptian
culture.
Originally published in Germany
, it was republished in an English language
translation by Rio Grande Games
. Subsequent English language editions have been published by Überplay
and again by Rio Grande Games
. The last of these increased the number of players from the original 3-5 to 2-5, but otherwise all editions have used the same rules. Ra won the 2000 International Gamers Award
, placed 2nd in the 1999 Deutscher Spiele Preis
, and is one of the top 30 user-rated games at BoardGameGeek
Players are faced with a constant balance between "what should be done eventually" and "what can actually be done now", which is a hallmark of many of Knizia's games, and of German-style board games in general.
. In an interview with Funagain Games
, Knizia explains how he created the game : "Ra actually has a good story behind it; it was the first game I did after my retirement. Two or three weeks after my retirement I said, 'Okay, now let's get started.' That's the time, when I do a big game, that the world around me stops. I concentrate on this game and nothing else. And since I had more time, this concentration became even more extreme. For four to six weeks I did nothing but work on this game. "
Almost immediately the game was picked up for distribution and English translation by Rio Grande Games
. Rio Grande owner Jay Tummelson explains how he chose Ra for distribution so early in its life: "Games I like are likely to be liked by others. With Ra, I saw it at Essen last year and decided I would like to do it in English. I approached Alea and offered to do it. We negotiated and I did it. I try to get involved earlier in the process…. I am working with some companies on games they are considering for next year, but have not decided on final theme or look."
999 Games published a Dutch
edition of Ra in the Netherlands
in 2000. Besides these three officially published language translations, fans of the game have translated the rules into Hungarian
, Italian
, Spanish
, and French
. All of these translations, along with reviews, photos, and discussions about the game can be found on BoardGameGeek
.com, a board game database and fan community.
Ra quickly sold out, and was out of print for several years. In October 2005 Überplay
reprinted the English version. The Überplay edition has minor differences from earlier editions: slightly larger tiles, a slightly larger board, a cloth sack to pull the tiles from, a smaller box (thanks to the board being quad-fold), a scoring summary printed on the board, and marks on tiles to indicate which are kept at the end of a round. In 2005 Knizia, working with Michael Menzel, also designed a new game called Razzia, which is the basic game of Ra with a mafia
theme.
A third edition of Ra was published by Rio Grande Games
in 2009. This increased the range of the number of players to 2-5 from the 3-5 of earlier editions.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
for two to five players designed by Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD in mathematics, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank...
and themed around Ra
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
, the sun-god of Heliopolis
Heliopolis (ancient)
Heliopolis was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, the capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome that was located five miles east of the Nile to the north of the apex of the Nile Delta...
in ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
culture.
Originally published in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, it was republished in an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation by Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
. Subsequent English language editions have been published by Überplay
Überplay
Überplay Entertainment was a board game publishing company located in St. George, Utah. As of April 2008, it had ceased operations. The company held three separate brands: Überplay provided family-oriented "Euro-style" board games; Inspiration Games developed games aimed at religious markets;...
and again by Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
. The last of these increased the number of players from the original 3-5 to 2-5, but otherwise all editions have used the same rules. Ra won the 2000 International Gamers Award
International Gamers Award
The International Gamers Awards is an award for strategy board games and historical simulation games.- Past winners :2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000- 2010 :- 2009 :- 2008 :- 2007 :- 2006 :- 2005 :- 2004 :...
, placed 2nd in the 1999 Deutscher Spiele Preis
Deutscher Spiele Preis
The Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...
, and is one of the top 30 user-rated games at BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
Gameplay
Ra is an auction game, where the players are all competing for the same resources. The game is played in three rounds, called Epochs, reflecting the history of ancient Egypt. Players use their sun tokens to bid against each other on auctions for tiles. At the end of an epoch, points will be scored for the number and types of tiles a player managed to win. The price of the tiles is determined by the players bidding for them, and values can shift rapidly.Players are faced with a constant balance between "what should be done eventually" and "what can actually be done now", which is a hallmark of many of Knizia's games, and of German-style board games in general.
History
Ra was published in 1999 by Alea in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In an interview with Funagain Games
Funagain Games
Funagain Games is a board game, card game and table game retailer that generally stocks more than 5,000 different games from all over the world. It maintains a physical shop and warehouse in Ashland, Oregon, but is best known for its online business, www.funagain.com, which has more than 200,000...
, Knizia explains how he created the game : "Ra actually has a good story behind it; it was the first game I did after my retirement. Two or three weeks after my retirement I said, 'Okay, now let's get started.' That's the time, when I do a big game, that the world around me stops. I concentrate on this game and nothing else. And since I had more time, this concentration became even more extreme. For four to six weeks I did nothing but work on this game. "
Almost immediately the game was picked up for distribution and English translation by Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
. Rio Grande owner Jay Tummelson explains how he chose Ra for distribution so early in its life: "Games I like are likely to be liked by others. With Ra, I saw it at Essen last year and decided I would like to do it in English. I approached Alea and offered to do it. We negotiated and I did it. I try to get involved earlier in the process…. I am working with some companies on games they are considering for next year, but have not decided on final theme or look."
999 Games published a Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
edition of Ra in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 2000. Besides these three officially published language translations, fans of the game have translated the rules into Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. All of these translations, along with reviews, photos, and discussions about the game can be found on BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
.com, a board game database and fan community.
Ra quickly sold out, and was out of print for several years. In October 2005 Überplay
Überplay
Überplay Entertainment was a board game publishing company located in St. George, Utah. As of April 2008, it had ceased operations. The company held three separate brands: Überplay provided family-oriented "Euro-style" board games; Inspiration Games developed games aimed at religious markets;...
reprinted the English version. The Überplay edition has minor differences from earlier editions: slightly larger tiles, a slightly larger board, a cloth sack to pull the tiles from, a smaller box (thanks to the board being quad-fold), a scoring summary printed on the board, and marks on tiles to indicate which are kept at the end of a round. In 2005 Knizia, working with Michael Menzel, also designed a new game called Razzia, which is the basic game of Ra with a mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
theme.
A third edition of Ra was published by Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
in 2009. This increased the range of the number of players to 2-5 from the 3-5 of earlier editions.