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Ada's Library

Ada's Library

2003·Zach Greenvoss, Amanda Greenvoss

2 players
20 min
Light weight: Learn it in minutes

From BoardGameGeek

Your goal in Ada's Library - first published as Phoenix - is to arrange all of the books in your personal display in an order that matches the books in the "master display". The game includes larger "master" book cards in a six colors, as well as smaller books in these six colors. To set up, each player draws ten books from the bag, then places them in a row in front of themselves in the order drawn. Shuffle the six master cards, then lay them out in a row, e.g., red, light blue, gray, brown, yellow, dark blue. Shuffle the deck of action cards, with each player getting a hand of five cards. On a turn, either discard a card from your hand (ignoring its effect) or play a card from your hand. Cards will: Swap the position of two books in your display, with the number of spaces between these books being specified. Move a book in your display a specified number of spaces either left or right, but never past the end of your display. Move a book to either end of your display. Swap the books on the ends of your display. Swap a book of your choice with the book in the opponent's display directly opposite. Move a book in the master display 1 or 2 spaces to the left or right. Draw a replacement card to end your turn. As soon as the ten books in your display match the order of the books in the master display - regardless of whether all the colors are present - you win. Ada's Library differs from Phoenix in two ways. First, it includes only four books of each color whereas Phoenix had five pawns of each color. Second, in Phoenix, a complete game lasted three rounds, and players scored points at the end of each round based on whether they went out, had a pawn of each color, and had 3-5 pawns of a color in a row on their display. Whoever had the most points after three rounds won.

Ada's Library

Watch first

Review

Ada's Library Review: Arrange Those Books8:25

Ada's Library Review: Arrange Those Books

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Watch it played

Ada's Library | UKGE 2025 | How To Play + Playthrough14:12

Ada's Library | UKGE 2025 | How To Play + Playthrough

Jucchee

Jucchee

Which Ada's Library video should I watch?

Ada's Library has 4 videos from 4 creators: 1 review, 1 playthrough and 2 unboxings. They date from 2023 to September 2026.

For an opinion before you buy, start with "Ada's Library Review: Arrange Those Books" by The Dice Tower. To see it played, watch "Ada's Library | UKGE 2025 | How To Play + Playthrough" by Jucchee.

If you like it, try Pondscape, Big Sur, Abducktion or Go, which share several of its mechanics. It appears in convention videos from UK Games Expo 2025.

All videos

Ada's Library Review: Arrange Those BooksReview8:25

Ada's Library Review: Arrange Those Books

The Dice Tower

The Dice Tower

Unboxing Ada’s Library, a 2-player #boardgame where you race to organize books!Unboxing1:00

Unboxing Ada’s Library, a 2-player #boardgame where you race to organize books!

Undiscovered Games

Undiscovered Games

Tiny Box, Wooden Books: Ada’s Library Unboxing #boardgames #shorts #unboxingUnboxing0:17

Tiny Box, Wooden Books: Ada’s Library Unboxing #boardgames #shorts #unboxing

KaCo Plays Board Games

KaCo Plays Board Games

Ada's Library | UKGE 2025 | How To Play + PlaythroughPlaythrough14:12

Ada's Library | UKGE 2025 | How To Play + Playthrough

Jucchee

Jucchee

Creators who cover this

All channels
Jucchee
Jucchee
1 video of this game
KaCo Plays Board Games
KaCo Plays Board Games
1 video of this game
The Dice Tower
The Dice Tower
1 video of this game
Undiscovered Games
Undiscovered Games
1 video of this game

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About Ada's Library

From BoardGameGeek:

Your goal in Ada's Library - first published as Phoenix - is to arrange all of the books in your personal display in an order that matches the books in the "master display". The game includes larger "master" book cards in a six colors, as well as smaller books in these six colors. To set up, each player draws ten books from the bag, then places them in a row in front of themselves in the order drawn. Shuffle the six master cards, then lay them out in a row, e.g., red, light blue, gray, brown, yellow, dark blue. Shuffle the deck of action cards, with each player getting a hand of five cards. On a turn, either discard a card from your hand (ignoring its effect) or play a card from your hand. Cards will: Swap the position of two books in your display, with the number of spaces between these books being specified. Move a book in your display a specified number of spaces either left or right, but never past the end of your display. Move a book to either end of your display. Swap the books on the ends of your display. Swap a book of your choice with the book in the opponent's display directly opposite. Move a book in the master display 1 or 2 spaces to the left or right. Draw a replacement card to end your turn. As soon as the ten books in your display match the order of the books in the master display - regardless of whether all the colors are present - you win. Ada's Library differs from Phoenix in two ways. First, it includes only four books of each color whereas Phoenix had five pawns of each color. Second, in Phoenix, a complete game lasted three rounds, and players scored points at the end of each round based on whether they went out, had a pawn of each color, and had 3-5 pawns of a color in a row on their display. Whoever had the most points after three rounds won.

Designers

Zach Greenvoss, Amanda Greenvoss

Artists

Wanjin Gill, Cyril Saint Blancat

Publisher

Eurogames

Categories

Abstract StrategyCard Game

Mechanics

Hand ManagementPattern BuildingPattern Recognition
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