Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Welcome to the black magic market. In Arcane Alley, each player is a merchant wizard, competing to sell items for gold while minimizing the infamy gained from their leftover unsold items during a round’s inspection.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Welcome to the black magic market. In Arcane Alley, each player is a merchant wizard, competing to sell items for gold while minimizing the infamy gained from their leftover unsold items during a round’s inspection. Each player starts with a full storehouse of nine items. On your turn, you’ll try to make sets (three identical items in a row) in your storehouse, which awards you gold for the sale and removes those infamous items from your storehouse so you won’t get caught with them in the upcoming inspection. You’ll continue selling until a player triggers the inspection and ends the round. Then, each player gains infamy for any items remaining in their storehouse. If those items gain you too much infamy, you’ll fail the inspection and be forced to spend your precious gold on fines. To win the game, be the player with the most gold after three inspections. -description from designer