Disclaimer: I purchased the game myself, and the opinions expressed in the review are completely my own.
Overview:
The game is set at the end of the Carolingian Empire, circa 850 AD. As royal architects, players compete to impress their King and maintain their noble status by constructing various landmarks throughout his newly appointed domain. Players need to collect raw materials, hire apprentices, and keep a watchful eye on their workforce. These are treacherous times, and rival architects will stop at nothing to slow your progress. Will you remain virtuous, or be found in the company of thieves and black marketeers?
The aim of Architects of the West Kingdom is to be the player with the most victory points (VP) at game's end. Points are gained by constructing various buildings and advancing work on the Archbishop's cathedral. Throughout the game, players need to make a lot of moral decisions. However, only at game's end will their virtue be judged. A few underhand deals here and there might not seem like much, but fall too far and you will be punished. The game ends once a set number of constructions have been completed.
Rules & Setup:
Set up takes around 10 minutes (depending on how may expansions you decide to include), as there are a few decks of cards to sort as well as several pots of resource pieces and player components, but as all these are either in bags or compartments in the insert then a lot of the hassle is taken out of set-up, as long as you put the game away properly after the previous play of course.
The rules as with all of the Garphill Games I own are extremely well written, clear and concise and have plenty of pictures and illustrations to aid in you learning the game.
There are also plenty of descriptions of what the cards and their benefits etc. give you either instantly, ongoing during the game, or as part of final scoring.
Theme & Gameplay
The game has you playing as an Architect and you are not only building new buildings in the town, but also aiding the build of the new cathedral for the Archbishop.
You do this by placing your meeples onto spaces on the board where you can do several actions, which include ;-
- Gather resources – Wood / Stone / Gold / Brick
- Collect new building plans
- Steal Tax Monies from the Tax Stand
- Hire Apprentices
- Arrest other players workers to sell to the Prison
- Release your own captured workers from the Prison & other players boards
- Work on the Cathedral
- Buy from the Black Market
You have 20 workers at the beginning of the game, and these are recycled as you either recall them yourself or they are captured by one or more other players to be sold to the prison.
If you build a building or aid in the build of the Cathedral then you place a worker on one of the Guildhall spaces and these stay there for the remainder of the game and cannot be recalled or captured.
Once a certain number of these spaces have been claimed (depends on player count) this triggers the end of the game, and then final scoring takes place.
Scoring includes points for the buildings you have built yourself, points for how much you have aided in the Cathedral build, some resources will give you extra points, and you may lose points if you have too many workers in Prison at the time of scoring or if you have debt cards unpaid.
The player with the most points wins, with tie breaks if 2 or more players end up on the same points.
The solo game is played against a card driven opponent and has been very well thought out, and is a great way to play the game as well as to learn the game before teaching to others.
Artwork and Components:
Again, as with all Garphill Games the artwork is very thematic and has that animated look which I think fits in really well with their games.
The components are of very good quality, with metal coins available to replace the cardboard ones in the retail version, and nice game box inserts.
The Good:
Architects is an extremely streamlined game to play, with turns moving at a fast pace, as whilst you are doing your own ‘thing’ you still need to be aware that your opponents are watching what you are doing and where your workers are going as they may well capture them as a nice source of free income, but you can also do a similar move to recall these workers before they get nicked.
The artwork and the game quality as a whole is easily worth the cost.
The Other:
Personally, for me there aren’t any negatives to the is game, as every time I / we have played it it’s been a really good experience, and one where everyone has said they would definitely play again
Final Thoughts:
For me, Architects is my second favourite Garphill game behind Raiders of the North Sea and I’m always happy to get off the shelf for another game.
If you like fast paced worker placement games with lots of fun moments then you really should try Architects, and perhaps build it into your own collection.
