Game Overview

Game Name: Architects of the West Kingdom
Publication Year: 2018
Designers: S J Macdonald & Shem Phillips
Artist: Mihajlo Dimitrievski
Publisher: Garphill Games
Solo Mode: Included in Works of Wonder

Contributing to the cathedral is only one of many avenues to victory points. Managing workers is interesting, for better actions lead to more powerful turns… And also a good chance workers will look suspicious! With a few expansions, gameplay opens up even more with fun, layered strategies.

Filling the Guildhall

The end game trigger revolves around the guildhall, which has space for a certain number of workers. Usually, they don’t start to move over until later in the game. Why is that?

I always feel like I have way too many workers at the start of play. Towards the end, though, they dwindle! That’s because those in the guildhall never return to the main supply.

Notice, too, that the expansions open up new ways to stack workers for other bonuses. That’s where mine always go!

This is a great mechanic that provides a visual of the progress, and knowing when the game will end is crucial.

The King’s Storehouse

Apprentices offer unique benefits, and there are many to choose from! Recruitment costs aren’t cheap, though, and there is a limit. So it’s very much about optimizing.

I tried having a balanced strategy to boost a number of actions in the past, but this play? Ada was all about simply hanging out at the king’s storehouse! Very valuable.

This was probably one of my better decisions in general, and focusing on a single action definitely helped out!

Ah, but was it enough to take on my new nemesis? Lady Renfry, the solo opponent, was still pretty dangerous.

Just Over the Wall

The aristocrat solo opponent receives a discount on wonders, which is a very powerful ability. Perhaps she was one of the most difficult foes to go up against at first!

Yet Ada focused on racing to complete a few wonders of her own. I could tell things weren’t go so well near the end… I feared that Lady Renfry was going to be victorious again!

I actually did the initial scoring and it looked like I lost by a single victory point. But wait! Time for a re-count…

Genius over here forgot about the wall I built specifically for a tiny boost. That was all Ada needed to defeat Lady Renfry!

Onward with Arnulf

Although I was pretty proud of my outing and victory over a nemesis, I was way too excited about the game. To mix things up, a new character and solo opponent entered town.

Arnulf was interesting with his ability to count the princess as an additional worker. This meant he focused on contributing to the wonders a lot more than Ada did.

I enjoyed his unique mix of apprentices, too, who were pretty excellent whenever the black market reset!

Also, since Arnulf wasn’t very virtuous, I had a chance to try out the black market spaces at last. Lots of clever choices!

Wonderful Arnulf

Since it was beneficial to send workers to the location of the princess a lot, it was no surprise to see Arnulf build some of the most valuable wonders. Very cool to get the bonuses!

However, I had more of a laugh when I looked at his other buildings. Does anyone think that dungeon isn’t in the basement of that somewhat questionable manor? Ha ha!

It was awesome to see all of the different strategies come together as I evaluated the best options each round.

Nothing was particularly obvious, yet I felt like I could pick out what to do during my turns without too much effort.

Quieting the Enforcer

Arnulf went up against a different solo opponent. His bonus gave him more of a boost for capturing and dropping off workers at the guardhouse. There was one problem…

That was an ability I could often interrupt by using the guardhouse and keeping a healthy supply of coins.

Unlike my aristocrat nemesis, this enforcer wasn’t much of a challenge. Indeed, the final scores were wildly different, whereas Ada had to fight for a very narrow victory.

This was to be a hint of one of my only main issues with the solo mode. Namely, that it can be too easy to win.

Bertha and Taxes

Another unique matchup was in order, and this time, it was Bertha! It seemed like she took a page out of the enforcer’s playbook with her unique ability with the guardhouse.

Naturally, she rounded up as many suspicious workers as she could! However, Bertha had a little trick with the tax stand, which was how she kept her workers available.

Another awesome combination only possible with the apprentices! I loved seeing the variety present with them all.

I had a nice time carefully managing Bertha’s virtue, for she needed that black market and almost locked herself out!

Vineyard Pairs

It was way too tempting not to focus on scoring the vineyard when it was clear Bertha would end up with a trio of wonders. Nothing else, thanks: This was her focus!

Flipping over a fair number of debts helped her out a lot, too. It might seem like the wonders are repetitive, but being able to construct them is never guaranteed.

Again, though, I felt like I won too easily and by a pretty large margin. I still had a great time, though! Just… Too easy.

I’m sure there are simple ways to increase the difficulty of the solo opponent, which I may need to try out in the future.

Session Overview

Play Number: 6-8
Main Expansion 1: Age of Artisans
Main Expansion 2: Works of Wonder
Solo Mode: Included in Works of Wonder
Outcome: 65-62, 82-52, 78-62 (3 Wins)

Even the illusionist couldn’t slow me down! Actually, I used this to my advantage to trigger black market resets more often. This is an excellent and very interesting sort of solo puzzle that I’m excited about sort of mastering… That’s not a common occurrence! Just need to look at adding more tension. Or maybe always playing against Lady Renfry. Ha!

Affordability

Price & Value

9

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

9

Originality

Design & Theme

8

Quality

Components & Rules

8