A Valuable Blueprint Lesson in Stonespine Architects
Choose various rooms to fill with monsters, traps, and treasure in a dungeon of twisting passages with Stonespine Architects.
To the dungeon! Stonespine Architects is a solo game all about building against another mastermind, Jael. I played it a few times, and with an expansion due to arrive next year, it was time to assess whether my architectural skills were still up to speed or if I might be doomed. Ha! My only regret during this outing was the omission of some Labyrinth miniatures!
Game Overview
Game Name: Stonespine Architects
Publication Year: 2024
Designer: Jordy Adan
Artists: Damien Mammoliti, Lucas Ribeiro, & Diego Sá
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over 4 rounds, a dungeon is built with a set of rooms. Goals and a blueprint provide bonuses, while gold and connected paths offer enticing options. Hidden passages might even be added amidst all the monsters and traps. Adventurers certainly should beware when entering these dungeons!
First Play
April 21, 2024
Complexity
2
Latest Play
October 14, 2026
Expansions
1
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
30 Minutes
High Score
115
Game Area
34" x 18"
Low Score
93
Blueprint Assistance
Part of setup involves picking up a random blueprint. Mine came with a surprise… A Calico Critter assistant! Matching up this pattern as much as possible was the goal.
It isn’t a problem to deviate, yet the final victory points range from 5 to 20. As this bright young rabbit wanted me to understand, this was like my blueprint for success.
Very helpful! Being able to balance short-term gold with long-term goals is vital to advancing and scoring well.
The rules came back to me pretty quickly. This isn’t all too complex, and offers a fun way to play a dungeon architect.
Building the Dungeon
I moved up the difficulty level since my initial plays resulted in fairly easy victories. Winning is as much about choosing how to expand a dungeon as blocking the solo opponent.
Here it was: My twisty labyrinth of a dungeon! The entrance was marked at the top, and the exit was in the bottom right.
Getting all of the passages to connect is a challenge, mostly since that’s often more of a secondary goal. Earning gold to spend in the market is very important to collect more.
It was a nice enough experience, and I earned a surprising victory thanks to some great decisions with the cards!
Battling Jael
The solo opponent is Jael, whom I sometimes call Jareth for obvious reasons. Ha ha! A card sets a gold value and market priorities for the round, along with the card types he gains.
All of this is important in assessing what Jael might pick up. There are some cards that are not worth anything to him, yet he earns additional goals in later rounds. Unpredictable!
I often enjoy having a face to go along with a solo opponent so I can comedically yell at someone when it all goes wrong.
Did I make bad choices? Of course not: It was all Jael’s fault! Ha ha! Indeed, my first victory looked like a rare event.
Oozing and Sliming
More traditional monsters, like goblins and gnolls, lurk in the corners of many rooms. But I particularly enjoyed this neon mix of oozes and slimes all over the place. Watch out!
The idea behind these dungeons is to trap or otherwise thwart heroic adventurers. One can just imagine the sort of unpleasant experience I created with this floor plan!
However, gameplay did start to feel a bit repetitive. There was a lot of variety overall, but I wasn’t building to a finale.
That’s likely where the upcoming expansion is going to be of great assistance! Definitely looking forward to it.
A Familiar Repeat from the Original Roll Player
I was reminded of Roll Player with this session, which is probably a fair comparison since it’s from the same publisher! The base game is very fun, yet it feels like the end point sort of fizzles out, rather than feeling like a finale. It’s like taking the time to build up something, only to stop with the final piece. Characters need to fight, and so do… Dungeons, I guess? Ha!
Roll Player: Monsters & Minions changed everything for me. I didn’t just build a character and count up my victory points, but I got to send that character off to battle! Such a great time, and a game I often say I don’t play enough. I’m hoping that’s what Stonespine Architects: Invasion will bring to this experience, allowing the labyrinth to come alive against heroes.
Cute Slime Variants
All those purple slimes attracted the attention of some Calico Critters who were all decked out for Halloween. They fit right into this dungeon… A cuteness trap? Yep. Ha ha!
The only thing I struggled with at times was following the path between rooms. Hidden passage tokens were my favorite, just because they made this so very clear.
I might need to borrow some tokens from Wizard’s Academy, as those help distinguish connected paths well!
However, I enjoyed my time and certainly had the best traps laid out in my dungeon. Who could resist Calico Critters?!
Aligning with the Goal
Had Dripping Hollow been the goal for this play, I easily would have had the most slimes! Alas, I seemed to always have a different sort of monster in the greatest supply.
The goal is a neat mechanic, though, for it’s not necessary to go overboard. I simply needed the most in a lot of cases, which meant I only had to have one more than Jael.
There were some plays where I prevented him from picking up a single matching monster. No points for you!
Alas, despite some excellent planning, my other plays didn’t result in excellent dungeons. There’s always next time!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3-6
Expansion: Shrines and Fountains Mini-Expansion
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Legendary Difficulty Level
Outcome: 102-70, 93-111, 94-109, 100-134 (1 Win & 3 Losses)
Maybe I needed more oozes or traps to make this dungeon work! There were plenty of neat aspects to puzzle through, although it wasn’t overwhelming to make choices. This progressed easily enough, and I only wished my dungeon could do something in the end. That should make the arrival of the expansion exciting, though. Can’t wait for it!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
8
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- Playing through each round has a clear sequence with enough decisions to make each set of cards interesting.
- Multiple sources of victory points mean that there are ways to adjust a strategy when a shift is necessary to score well.
- The solo opponent, Jael, requires a small amount of overhead and adds a neat layer to evaluating all of the decisions.
- Buying from the market to add to a dungeon is a neat phase that can help achieve goals not found on the cards.
- Although the overall experience is fairly similar, there is a lot of variety in the dungeon cards that adds some fun.
- Most elements are clear enough and it can be entertaining to imagine adventurers struggling through a dungeon.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Gameplay ends without a dungeon doing anything more than being built, which can feel a bit anti-climactic.
- It can be a little tricky to follow a path through the rooms to find out whether they connect to the entrance and exit.
- Reputation stars, particularly the negative ones, seem to blend into the background of rooms a little too much.
- Overlapping the dungeon cards makes sense, but ends up hiding the room names that add personality and flavor.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Earn the maximum victory points from the blueprint card.
Connect all 16 rooms to the entrance and exit.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the legendary difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Stonespine Architects? Have you created a particularly awesome dungeon or labyrinth? I liked these plays, yet expect to hold off on any more sessions until the expansion arrives next year. Definitely looks promising for giving me a lot more to do and the chance to see my traps work against some foolish adventurers! They always are. Ha!
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