Architects of the West Kingdom, by Garphill Games, is the first game in a new trilogy following the North Sea saga (which included Shipwrights of the North Sea, Raiders of the North Sea and Explorers of the North Sea). This time, the setting moves to 850AD at the end of the Carolingian Empire, in France, where players take the role of royal architects and vie with each other to construct buildings in their town and contribute to the prestigious cathedral.
There are numerous strategies to employ, and players can choose to lead a virtuous existence or take a nefarious path, delving into the black market and robbing the tax stand.
Like Raiders of the North Sea, Architects of the West Kingdom is a worker placement game where you will put your workers on the board to activate benefits and collect resources. To make things interesting, game designers Shem Phillips and S.J. Macdonald have incorporated a number of exciting new mechanics. Most of the locations on the board can accommodate an unlimited amount of workers and each time you add another worker to a location the number of resources you can collect increases.
Players start the game with a full complement of 20 workers and leave them on the locations when they place them. Workers are not returned to you after use – you can visit the town hall to capture groups of opposing workers and then sell them to the guardhouse for a profit or choose to round-up your own workers for use later in the game.
The virtue track is another intriguing element to this game – you can lead an honest existence and enjoy contributing to the cathedral or you can decide to get monetary discounts (by paying less tax) and frequent the black market to get cheap building materials but it may lead to the accrual of debts. However, your virtue will only be judged at the end of the game so there may be time to change your ways.
While comfortably playing two to five players, Architects of the West Kingdom also comes with a deck of AI (Artificial Intelligence) cards so you can play the game solo against the AI or with a friend and the AI in a three-way battle for dominance.
Architects of the West Kingdom is a thoroughly enjoyable game with easy-to-learn rules but with numerous paths to victory and a high level of strategy. It is perfect for experienced gamers and new players alike. Visit the West Kingdom – you might want to stay!
Player Count: 1-5
Time: 60-80 Minutes
Age: 12+
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