Building Upward in Meenakshi Temple with Action Selection
Add statues and slabs to construct a vertical structure based on the real Hindu temple in India with Meenakshi Temple.
Building structures in board games often takes on an abstract feeling, typically with cards laid out on the table or other ways to simulate the height. In Meenakshi Temple, however, this construction takes place in a vertical format that stacks higher and higher over the course of gameplay! I was intrigued by this concept, and looked forward to building upward!
Game Overview
Game Name: Meenakshi Temple
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Pavel Atamanchuk
Artists: Olga Morozova & Irina Pechenkina
Publisher: Shvili.Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
The goal is to utilize actions to build a temple up to 7 levels tall. Blessings and upgrades provide additional ways to score, although the focus is on adding statues to various slabs in order to keep building higher and higher. No dexterity here, though: Everything is very stable, thankfully!
First Play
March 25, 2025
Complexity
3
Latest Play
March 26, 2025
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
25 Minutes
High Score
166
Game Area
24" x 24"
Low Score
117
Central Features
Interestingly, the individual building all takes place on a single card off to the side. The large central board holds all of the other components in a reasonably useful way.
Additional slabs can be picked up from the market, although it can be tricky to see where the letter is at first glance. Extras can count towards additional end game scoring.
Blessings are earned for having statues on the current level, and upgrades offer unique ways to benefit from actions.
The central area is the action selection section near the bottom, which I’ll talk about in more detail shortly. Neat!
Double Secret Deluxe?
I’m not entirely sure how I was roped into getting the deluxe version… This was a game my husband really wanted! But we ended up with both plastic and wooden statues.
Immediately, I knew the plastic ones were right out. The bottoms didn’t look exactly flat, and a quick test resulted in this leaning tower. Rather disappointing, unfortunately.
The wooden ones were much sturdier, yet I was tasked with applying these intricate stickers. Yikes. Immediate pass.
Even a little sticker overhang could be disastrous. These statues need to be as smooth as possible for stacking.
Plain and Pretty
Although my wooden statues looked pretty boring without the stickers, they were extremely functional. And quite colorful! It was nice to use my UberTrayz for something.
The number of remaining statues is a big part of the game end condition, so this worked out nicely as I discarded any just outside of the wells. Simple to use and track!
But at this point, I was a little lost on the theme… The deities didn’t have any details, nor a pronunciation guide.
I know that’s a personal preference, but whenever I encounter unknown words, I try to say them correctly.
Chaining Abilities
Naturally, I chose the player board with Ganesha. Not only does the portrait feature an elephant, but this is also who my husband is named after. Hence, why we got the game!
I liked the general flow of gathering statues and choosing actions. Additionally, upgrades could either add storage or provide special bonuses that could chain together nicely.
There were some neat moments, and I liked how the solo mode was all about taking away options and time.
At its core, I saw a pretty neat system! Yet I wasn’t prepared for the tension associated with building my structure…
What Purpose Does a Real Life Theme Serve?
A lot of my favorite solo games have themes that I connect with in some way, although some of these might simply revolve around generic fantasy adventures with a few quirks. Or even just some lovely bit of nature! Yet I will sometimes branch out into other themes that are more historical or cultural in nature, tying into something from the real world very closely.
That’s when I enjoy learning more about that theme, especially if it’s something I’m unfamiliar with. That’s a good time to offer some information that sets the tone for what I’m playing. Why is that character depicted that way? Who was the most important part of this battle, but played a small role? How can I immerse myself in this theme to appreciate it more?
Granted, this works to a varying degree of success, and I don’t expect a game to be my main source of knowledge about a subject. Yet I was struck by how little was included here. There was nothing about the deities, and their abilities appeared to be randomized around the core mechanics. I’m not positive if all of the deities are inside the real Meenakshi Temple.
I suppose the good news is that the lack of information has made me ask more questions and look into the real history some more, which is much more extensive than what the rulebook notes. Turned into a learning experience after all!
Literally Building
That’s right! Cards form the layers of levels, as the statues are placed to earn victory points and provide a foundation for the next level. This can go up to 7 levels high. Whoa!
I will say that this is quite sturdy, even when only filling in the required spaces on each level. But my mind didn’t believe me… I was stressed out each time I added a statue.
I did a test after I was done, and even a fair amount of jostling and movement didn’t topple this over. Sturdy!
Yet this didn’t quite feel that interesting to me, and I realized I had to remember if a layer met a goal or not as I played.
Clever Action Choices
My favorite part of the game were the actions! These were on the backs of the slabs and randomized which ones offered up bonuses each round. And I could plan ahead!
Thinking through these to choose just 2 per round was pretty excellent. The other stack gave me a chance to see what would happen in the next round to prepare for.
Awesome! This was the highlight of play because it gave me a chance to strategize and put together combinations.
Optimizing these choices felt quite interesting most of the time, and I would have loved to see just this mechanic.
Taller Than All
In my second play, I had a better idea of the ways to score and did a lot better. In fact, I reached the tallest level!
But this meant I didn’t fill in the slabs as much, often only using the minimum requirements. These ensure there is some stability to the structure so nothing tumbles over.
Unfortunately, the cards are not the highest quality and mine all have a pretty pronounced curve. Sleeving isn’t really possible, as I can see the statues sliding around a lot.
It had its moments, but I guess I played too much Jenga as a child and couldn’t get past the stacking stress. Ha ha!
Limited Upgrades
Not that I have any grounds to question how many times this might be fun, but the solo mode involves scoring tiers and there are a pretty small number of upgrade cards.
It was enjoyable in some senses, yet this is another one that I don’t expect to play again. Definitely some neat ideas!
The lack of cultural information sort of hurt it, too. I wanted to learn more about these deities, and the blurb on the back of the rulebook didn’t really feel like a teaching moment.
If I learned anything, though, it’s that games that feature vertical building are probably not a good fit for me at all.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 & 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 117 & 166 (1 Win & 1 Loss)
The back of the rulebook lists a cultural consulting website that leads to an online store for video game supplies. I had to actually check to see if “4550 meters in height” was correct… Was this the tallest structure on the planet and I just never knew of this architectural feat?! That would make it almost 3 miles tall. No. That’s a major typo that should read 45-50 meters in height. Disappointing to have this sort of basic information presented so incorrectly.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
6
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- Action choices are very interesting with tradeoffs and the ability to plan ahead for an optimized upcoming round.
- Building levels is actually quite sturdy without any risk of toppling the structure, except with a good deal of effort.
- Figuring out how to utilize abilities and upgrades is quite fun, especially since the upgrade action isn’t always ideal.
- Learning how to play is fairly straightforward with rules that make sense and are covered on reference cards.
- Managing the solo mode is quite simple, and mostly involves removing statues to speed up the end of the game.
- Finding the right balance between collecting statues and building is very strategic and often changes per level.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Despite the sturdiness of the cards and statues, there is some tension around building and not toppling anything over.
- There isn’t a lot of variety in gameplay, and the solo mode is very much focused on gaining the most victory points.
- Neither the plastic nor wooden statues feel like the best option, and the component quality seems underwhelming.
- Not a lot of work feels like it went into integrating the theme, and the historical information is very sparse.
Victory Conditions
Score 160+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Build the maximum number of levels.
Score at least 160 points.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Meenakshi Temple? Do you enjoy any solo games that feature actual building with components? I suppose this was a good lesson in what I don’t enjoy, although I still think the action selection mechanic was awesome! There were a few fun moments here, yet with so many games out there, this one didn’t exactly work for me. Moving on… And up. Ha!
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