Getting Stuck to Charterstone and a Unique Solo Campaign

Build up a budding village with new buildings and lots of surprises throughout the story-based campaign of Charterstone.
Years ago, my husband began to play Charterstone with his brother. Although he had a Recharge Pack all set and ready to go for me, there were still vague hopes that the original campaign might happen again. At last, I had a chance to grab the game and play through a full solo campaign for myself! Shrouded in mystery, I eagerly dove into this world.
Spoiler Alert
The first part of this post includes fairly generic information about what to expect, and doesn’t reveal too much. I mark the area where I start to talk about gameplay and story spoilers a little further down in the post. If you want some general information, you’re welcome to stop at that point! This campaign is a lot of fun not knowing what’s coming.
Game Overview
Game Name: Charterstone
Publication Year: 2017
Designer: Jamey Stegmaier
Artists: Lina Cossette and David Forest
Publisher: Stonemaier Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over the course of 12 plays, the story advances and the village takes shape with all sorts of different buildings. New elements are added over time, too, changing the decisions and adding lots to discover! Despite the endless stickers, there is a wonderful and unique experience here.
First Play
August 18, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 19, 2023
Expansions
1
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
12
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
76
Game Area
44" x 24"
Low Score
19
Getting Started
Expanding the map is a major part of gameplay, yet it begins with a simple set of buildings. However, these will prove to be some of the most important at many points.
I’ve found that I do poorly if I start a campaign and stop. The hope to continue sporadically just never happens!
So in this case, I played a couple of times in the evening, then dove in to complete 10 plays on a Saturday. It was a glorious day of fun and some frustration, as I’ll explain.
Up front, I’ll say that I both loved and strongly disliked parts of the campaign… So where does that net it? Onward!
Pierre the Gardener
Setup involves choosing a character and color to use for the entire campaign. Pierre was the name of this happy gardener, who had a nice plot north of the Commons.
This is a game that involves stickers. And stickers. And even more stickers! Stickers are pulled from cards to add rules, expand the story, and build on the map itself.
Many buildings show a crate icon in the upper right. With another action, this crate is opened to reveal new cards.
Although gameplay is generally the same, there are all sorts of ways this game will play out differently each time.
Crates and More Crates
A large card index stores numbered cards that are unlocked with these crates, or potentially through other elements of play. So many cards to unlock and find!
These might be more buildings, new rules, additional cards, or a number of other surprises to discover.
At the end of the campaign, I still had a ton of locked crates. Gameplay would have been very different with another assortment… As I said, plenty of possibilities!
I was rewarded the most if Pierre opened these crates, yet the solo opponents could unlock them to expand play.
Fiona of the Forest
There are a total of 6 playable characters with their own colors and regions. For a solo campaign, it’s possible to operate the other 5 characters as solo opponents.
However, the rulebooks recommends capping this at 2 solo opponents. Other rules are in place so the other regions aren’t neglected, which is quite helpful!
Looking back, I think it would have been a lot to manage more than 2 solo opponents. Doable, but a lot of work.
Fiona was one of the solo opponents I played against. Quite a difficult character who got lucky a lot!
Friendly Albert
My other adversary was Albert, although I could never get past the idea that he was more friend than foe. Indeed, he had a rough time and didn’t get as lucky as Fiona.
The solo opponents were easy to run with a simple deck of cards, though, and I enjoyed keeping up with their stories!
Gameplay is very much about utilizing buildings to turn resources into victory points, yet there is a lot more.
I feverishly tore away at stickers and felt like a monster with all of the components I had to recycle. And in the end… I recycled almost the entire game. My goodness!
Spoiler Alert
Here it is: The real start of the spoilers! If you don’t want to know about any of the specifics, this is where I recommend stopping. I go into more detail about gameplay and some story-based surprises. Truly, if you’re thinking of playing the campaign, I politely recommend you stop right here. Read on only if you’ve played or don’t mind major spoilers.
Dead Weight Issues
I didn’t feel like gameplay really took off until around my 6th or 7th play. The start of the campaign wasn’t a slog, but it felt like the ramp up took a little too long.
My performance was also pretty terrible as I reliably lost each time, almost laughably so near the very start!
A story event happened that called out the dead weight, and it was definitely me. Surprisingly, Pierre turned into a specter, which was actually a catch-up mechanic.
I still needed to find a way to find a body again, and luckily, the sorceress came out at the right time later on!
Don’t Play with Fire
The presence of a tea light candle puzzled me for some time, as I wondered why it was included. Was this to help with stickers or the incessant scratch-off cards?
Nope: There is a part of the story that calls for the candle to be safely lit and monitored for when it goes out.
Suffice to say I simply used an arbitrary timer. I get the story tie-in, but fire near my games is absolutely not going to happen! At least I could work around it.
Besides, Fiona actually triggered another condition. Turns out it’s not integral to the story. I mean… Real fire?! Nope!
Tracking the Story
It was nice to track the story, although I wished there were far less stickers. Even tiles for the buildings would have been so much more interesting and reusable.
Some stickers didn’t cooperate, and as someone who likes to see things perfectly aligned, I was perturbed when the edges shifted just a bit as I gently put these in place.
As for the story itself, it seemed like it was going in a clear direction, but I ended up with the worst outcome. The end.
There was also a part where I had to input my score and email address… I just assumed I did worse than average.
A Beautiful Village
Despite the issues I encountered, I found the end of the campaign to be a lot of fun. Look at this thriving village!
Every building was different in terms of appearances. Functionally, many were similar, but remember that not all of them were unlocked. These represent maybe half.
My own area was very important to build up, and I had a blast doing so! It was mainly based on the cards that came out and what I unlocked, which still offered lots of choices.
Butlers, robots, and transforming peril or resources into victory points were the themes of my little neighborhood!
Considering the Physical vs. Digital Edition
After I picked out the wooden components and hung onto the magnetic index box to store another card game, I recycled the rest of the contents. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling, even though I wanted to play through the campaign again. The final board might be labeled as something that may be played again, but the fun lies in unlocking crates.
Since I wanted to play through the campaign again, I went in search of something I rarely touch… A digital edition of a board game. The horror! Ha ha! Honestly, sometimes these versions can make some sense. I’m playing a campaign against Ganesh, along with a solo game against a full board with the maximum number of solo opponents.
It’s a lot of fun! However, I do think the physical edition is the best way to learn how to play the first time. There is something enjoyable about seeing everything come to life on a physical board where all of the components can be manipulated. But when it comes to playing through another campaign, the digital edition works quite well!
There is a nice soundtrack, pleasant animations for characters and buildings, and a distinct lack of any components that might get destroyed. No stickers! I can’t speak to every version, but the Steam edition has been working very nicely with a good flow. It’s not perfect, though, and I still think the physical edition is the best entry point.
Additionally, the solo opponents are automated to play like actual human players in the digital edition. I’ve found that this leads to the characters picking up their own buildings more often, while the physical edition seems to have some more variation. Not a problem, yet this means the digital edition plays out even more similarly near the beginning.
Specialized Personas
During each game, there is typically a single persona that may be in play. Each offers a different kind of bonus and is worth extra victory points if used during the campaign.
Mine told an interesting story of my play. The mechanic and inventor tied into my heavy emphasis on disrepair and robots. Pierre was very much a tinkerer!
The baroness and trapper were also quite instrumental at certain points, offering extra ways to move ahead.
I didn’t open a ton of crates and ended up reusing some personas, yet that wasn’t necessarily a bad strategy.
My Favorite Assistant
A limited capacity means that only some components carry over. When I picked up lots of advancement cards, I really only had a short time to gain the benefits.
The longshoreman assistant was another story! With the specter worker who boosted reputation, this ability granted a small victory point bonus during many rounds.
I kept this card the longest, probably going around 4 or 5 games with him as a central part of my plans.
It was really neat to see how the combination of personas, buildings, and advancements guided my choices.
Fancy Sky Islands
The introduction of sky islands threw me for a little loop, as they required covering up previous buildings. However, they added even more variety and plenty of thought.
I ended up with the bad ending that made the Eternal King take over Pierre to keep ruling… So I suppose the manor and palace floating in the sky were fit for royalty. Ha ha!
The main benefit here were the final campaign victory points, though. These were the main reason why I won.
Having the framer and an alternate way to build with coins was also integral: I overlapped one building about 4 times!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-12
Expansion: Charterstone: Recharge Pack
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Full Campaign with 2 Solo Opponents
Outcome: 5 Wins & 7 Losses (Campaign Win)
Such a unique experience! I went through the locked crates to see what I missed out on. Lots of buildings, personas, and other advancement cards were in there. They would have changed the landscape of gameplay a lot. Despite some things I disliked, this was a wonderful sort of campaign that I’m very glad I finally played through!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- Unlocking crates is a wonderfully exciting mechanic as new cards and potential rules are unveiled during play.
- There is a very adorable visual style that features all sorts of unique buildings that bring the map to life.
- Gameplay can advance in all different ways depending on the sorts of cards that are unlocked early on.
- Running a couple of solo opponents is very easy with clear rules and a reasonable challenge during the campaign.
- Although the immense amount of recycled content is a lot, there are metal and wooden components to keep.
- Playing through the campaign offers story surprises with some clever legacy mechanics that push the boundaries.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Stickers, scratch-offs, and single-use cards are rather frustrating at times and lead to a lot of recycled materials.
- The campaign is where the heart of the enjoyment is, and playing again on a completed map isn’t a great option.
- Some early decisions can really hamper progress and future potential, although there are catch-up mechanics.
- It takes a long time for gameplay to ramp up to feel like a full game, which can take up about half the campaign.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Victory Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Build at least 1 building on every map space and sky island.
Complete the full campaign at least 1 time.
Use every collected persona card at least 1 time.
Win at least 1 game.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played through a campaign in Charterstone? What are some of your favorite aspects of legacy campaign games? I’ll continue to say that this was a mixed experience in some regards, yet I’m already playing the digital version and having a great time exploring some more. This one isn’t going to be for everyone, but it’s definitely lots of fun!
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