# of Players: 1-4
Play Time: 90-120 minutes. With 4 first-time players, longer.
Designers: SJ Macdonald and Shem Phillips
Artist: Sam Phillips
Publisher: Garphill Games
Age: 13+
Complexity: Med-High – 7/10 but reduced once you learn the 3 banner colors.
See our Q&A with Shem Phillips the Designer
Back It On Kickstarter.
In Ezra and Nehemiah, you are helping to rebuild Jerusalem. The walls are damaged and in need of repair. The Temple needs to be rebuilt and the fire of the altar burning. The people are in need of spiritual growth. It is up to you to rebuild Jerusalem!
The 3 areas of rebuilding are represented by 3 banner colors, Red, Blue, and Gray… To help remember them, I think of Red for the fire of the Altar, Blue for Spiritual water, and Gray for the walls. You may also call upon Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah to help your cause.
When learning, focus on the 3 banner colors. How you play character cards on your personal board will determine how many colored banners you have to use as actions for that turn. The more colored banners you have, the more you can do.
The board is full of options so before you get confused.. see that the board is separated into 3 main sections corresponding to the 3 banner colors. The outside of the board is made up of the walls (you will need Gray banners to work on them). The inner board is broken roughly into two diagonals. The left diagonal is the Temple and the Altar (You need Red Banners for them). The Right Diagonal is the Spiritual Teaching (You need Blue banners for them).
I would call Ezra and Nehemiah a medium to complex game, but if you start with those 3 basics, it can help you from feeling overwhelmed.
Get through your first game, make a couple of nice moves, and you will begin to see this game has a very high replayability factor. You even have a player board that will change each time.
