Margraves of Valeria: Knightly Graves and Fierce Dragons
Shore up city defenses by constructing ward towers, hiring knights, and gaining guild influence with Margraves of Valeria.
I decided to have a bit of fun with all of the solo games I own in the Valeria universe, creating a sort of loosely connected campaign as I played in chronological order. So much to explore! My starting point was Margraves of Valeria, which felt a bit too easy when I played a few years ago, yet it was about time to give it another chance. Off to guard the cities!
Game Overview
Game Name: Margraves of Valeria
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: Isaias Vallejo
Artist: Mihajlo Dimitrievski
Publisher: Daily Magic Games
Solo Mode: Included in Margraves of Valeria: Solo Events
The cozy cities across Valeria find themselves in danger from newly formed monster lairs. Ward towers must be constructed and knights deployed to fend off the threats, all while carefully influencing the 4 guilds. A margrave wields great power, yet unexpected events change things!
First Play
July 15, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
December 19, 2023
Expansions
6
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
108
Game Area
34" x 28"
Low Score
84
Excellent Components
I will note that all of the games I own from this publisher have very high quality elements! Never have these boards warped on me, and the tokens are very thick cardboard.
This play area also isn’t particularly large, owing to most of the activity being contained on the boards themselves.
The map of the land is very useful and interesting to look at, while the guild advancement tracks include important details that are easy to see at a glance. Most appreciated!
My margrave was a formidable fellow, although I mostly chose him for the fish banner. Celebrate those fins! Ha!
Guild Influence
A big part of gameplay is advancing along these tracks, which represent influence with the different guilds. The higher up the tokens, the higher the scoring multiplier.
It gets quite expensive to cross over the little bridges, though, so this typically means a focus on 1 or 2 guilds.
New characters are recruited during play to add new actions, yet they also contribute guild icons that will be worth something during final scoring. Plenty of options!
I liked how simple this was on the surface, but it quickly took on many layers with other parts of gameplay.
Recruiting to Win
A starting hand provides plenty of options, although cards are multi-purpose. For most turns, this means they will either use the upper left symbols or the bottom action.
I always love multi-purpose cards! As play progresses, a few new cards will be recruited. Not only do these offer unique actions, but they contribute to final scoring.
There are neat tradeoffs between matching the icons to the guilds with the most influence, or focusing on actions.
Yet recruited cards are still fairly limited, as the chance to pick these up doesn’t come along during most turns.
Amazing Flora Dragon
I added in some expansions to ensure I could see all I could, and I was not disappointed! This card artwork was simply amazing, and was probably my favorite.
Monsters usually only need to be defeated once, but a dragon requires a pair of battles. Dragons and all!
In the past, I quickly attributed this as a game best enjoyed multiplayer with a pretty lackluster solo mode.
Not to jump too far ahead, but I wasn’t wrong 3 years ago. So much more could have been done to create a great solo experience, but this one looks a lot better than it plays.
Articulating My Issues with the Solo Mode
It mostly came down to the idea that I could do everything I wanted to before the end. Events seemed to change the rules up a little bit during the rounds, but these were more like little things to adjust to for a short time. There was no pressure from a solo opponent that blocked my moves, used up knights, or threatened to do anything before I did.
With the multiplayer game, knights may be used by anyone. So bunching them up in a city to take on a monster in a future turn is often a terrible idea… Someone will get there first! In this case, I had control of all of the knights and had absolutely no trouble clearing out all of the lairs well before the recruitment deck ran out. Not much of a challenge.
My scores aren’t the issue, though, as 100 victory points is the threshold for a victory. I’ve always come pretty close, even during my losses, which tells me it’s balanced. Yet it’s more a case of wondering if I earned the extra 6 victory points I need for an official victory, rather than experiencing an awesome conclusion where I fought my way through.
Tracking the Monsters
It was pretty neat to plan ahead to defeat all of the enemies, but I didn’t really struggle with any of them. Some rounds just meant I needed to plan ahead a bit more.
The other strange element is how the lairs are so different in the solo mode. Normally, there are standard enemies and a boss… But these are all just randomized in setup.
I got extra lucky in some ways and didn’t have any bosses show up. Fewer rewards, but lots of easier battles.
This is such a neat premise with the cards and mechanics! Just a shame that the solo mode doesn’t work for me.
A Short Timeline
The solo events made for some interesting rounds, and I had a running timeline to look back on. Royal knights helped defeat a powerful enemy right away at the start!
Unfortunately, since I recruited pretty regularly, these cycled through somewhat quickly. I think I saw all but 4 or 5 events by the end, which didn’t bode well for variety.
I understand the thought process, but this is a game that’s more about player interaction… I needed a margrave foe!
Still, I had some moments when I had to adjust my plans and make sure I cleared out an event relatively quickly.
Session Overview
Play Number: 3 & 4
Main Expansion: Margraves of Valeria: Solo Events
Expansions: Many (Citizens, Dragons, Monsters, Starters)
Solo Mode: Included in Margraves of Valeria: Solo Events
Outcome: 108, 96 (1 Win & 1 Loss)
It was neat to maximize influence with a pair of guilds! I had some fun here and there, but for the amount of time spent playing, I didn’t feel like I got a lot out of the solo mode. Tight scoring like this is excellent… But it’s hard to want to play many times when everything is achieved during each play. Still, nice to check out this design again!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
3
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
3
+ Pros (Positives)
- Recruiting cards to add actions and scoring opportunities is quite interesting, as the decisions are always clever.
- Multi-purpose cards provide different ways to move and interact with the cities, adding plenty of options.
- The artwork is awesome, particularly for a lot of the monsters and dragons, who stand out and come to life.
- Although there is a lot going on, the play area is relatively compact with clear spaces or areas on different boards.
- Building ward towers is important and also helps open up additional storage to hold more resources and knights.
- Using knights to activate city abilities or fight monsters is quite fun, as is filling in the little puzzle in the tomb.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There isn’t much tension in the solo mode, as the events are temporary and can be cycled out by recruiting.
- A single play allows for practically everything to be completed, leading to very limited differences across plays.
- Not all of the solo rules are as clear as they could be, and looking up some answers on the forums is necessary.
- Some elements feel a bit disjointed from the game itself, such as the shipping track near Ny’mar on the right.
Victory Conditions
Score 100+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Defeat all enemies and lairs in at least 1 game.
Maximize influence with 2 guilds in at least 1 game.
Place all 4 ward towers in at least 1 game.
Score at least 100 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Margraves of Valeria? Have you fared particularly well during your solo plays? My husband really loves this one, even though it’s been a little while since we last played. It will be sticking around for the time being so we can enjoy it together! I’ll have to hope we spot some dragons in future plays… Such amazing artwork on the cards!
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