Architects of the West Kingdom 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 underhanded 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.
—description from the publisher
This is a really fun worker placement game that plays well at all player counts since turns are quite fast. With experienced players, games can easily end in around an hour, which does sometime feel a bit too quick as the game seems to end just as you managed to get your engine running.
Still, we are having a blast and there are opportunities for many varied winning tactics. We found that scores were generally close, ranging between 25 and 35 points, with rare games having a player go all the way to 40.
I'm glad to have this game in my collection and I'm already itching to try out the expansions for it.
I think Architects might be, for us, the weakest of the West Kingdom trilogy. Our biggest complaint is that the game ends far too fast. Building, the point of the game and the end game trigger, happens often enough that if you are playing with experienced players the game ends very quickly. Often so fast you don't have time to really dig into it. So good for new players, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a deep experience.
As noted in the title, the game is not too complex and can play quick enough. Very fluid, even at .maximum player count. Gorgeous comic type illustratiins.. A rare quality in worker placements : player interraction other than j
"Take that" cards. I recommend.
Great solo game, you can't sit back or the Ai will take you workers from you and throw them in jail. The game is easy to jump into. Directions are easy to follow, icons on the board are straight forward on the actions you can take. This game would be easy to teach.
I love the way the worker placement system works. You can build up and a lot resources, but you are making yourself a target to be arrested by another player. It is take that system that is so much fun.
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.
I use it for Century Spice Road, the character cards of LOTR - Journeys, and for the planet cards for Astro Knights. No cards have autocombusted so far... fingers crossed!
