Paladins of the West Kingdom: Across a Vast Landscape
Set out to develop a faithful city while keeping a watchful eye on the outside invaders in Paladins of the West Kingdom.
Over the years, there is only one game I skipped over in this trilogy… Paladins of the West Kingdom finally made its way to my solo table! Talk about an enormous table presence. I knew what to expect, yet I was a little intimidated by the setup. Still, this is often labeled as one of the best from the publisher, so I dove in with a whole kingdom set out before me!
Game Overview
Game Name: Paladins of the West Kingdom
Publication Year: 2019
Designers: S J Macdonald & Shem Phillips
Artist: Mihajlo Dimitrievski
Publisher: Garphill Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
A unique knight provides an ability during each of the 7 rounds, where various workers help enhance the city. Aspects like faith and strength must be balanced to take actions centered around defense. Walls rise up, invaders are dealt with, and the kingdom develops in all sorts of ways.
First Play
November 27, 2025
Complexity
4
Latest Play
November 28, 2025
Expansions
3
Setup Time
15 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
1 Hour & 15 Minutes
High Score
66
Game Area
56" x 28"
Low Score
39
Kingdom-Sized Space
That is… A lot. Maybe I was unwise to include all of the expansion content from the start, but I wasn’t exactly prepared for the sheer magnitude of this play space.
Why?! It doesn’t seem like anything is wasted… Yet I felt like there was a lot going on before I started to play.
The solo opponent wasn’t too difficult to manage, but that was another fairly large player area I had to keep in mind.
My solo table is pretty spacious, and I still had a lot of issues reaching the top row of cards. What an entrance! I wondered if this was too much game for me… And I was right.
Entirely Separate
I was a little surprised by how little interaction was present. The solo opponent took away opportunities, yet it was a far cry from the risks in Architects of the West Kingdom.
There is certainly an interesting game here, though. Choices are very open at the start, with multiple paths to proceed down to discover strategies and victory points.
Managing the solo opponent wasn’t particularly difficult, although I was very aware of the lack of interactions.
Wrapping my head around all of the choices was a lot more than I expected, although there were some neat rounds!
Wall-to-Wall Victory
At the easiest difficulty level, I had a chance to try out a lot of actions. Very cool! I enjoyed building the wall and seeing my aspects rise together… Aside from diplomacy. Whoops!
It flowed together pretty well, despite me feeling like I was left to my own devices without a lot of guidance.
Goals definitely helped, yet there was a point when I felt like I knew I was doing well… And nothing was going to change that. Unsurprisingly, I won by a very large margin.
Was it fun? Yes, in many ways. But for the amount of time spent and required table space, I was a little concerned.
Townsfolk Abilities
Gameplay is very focused on finding the most optimal moves every round. When they all seem to be pretty good, it’s about identifying the ones that are just slightly better.
Townsfolk cards brought in familiar artwork. Awesome! But while I often feel like I can create stories, it was the icons I stayed focused on. The individuals didn’t add a lot.
It was pretty apparent that there was too much going on to align with my preferences. I felt rather overwhelmed.
Not that I have the game to blame, but I’m thankful I played the others in the trilogy first… This was too complex for me.
The Goldilocks Theory: Finding “Just Right”
As I’ve been exploring this trilogy of games, I’ve had a little bit of fun figuring out how they run in parallel to Goldilocks and the Three Bears for me! One was a little too easy, this one is a little too overwhelming, and I’ll let you take a guess as to what my final opinion will be about the final game. Just an interesting connection, although it makes a lot of sense.
My preferences change all the time, yet one of the important things is figuring out what’s “just right” for my solo table. I’ve gotten better about matching my game choices with how I’m feeling, which often leads to very positive experiences. But I still end up with mis-matches now and then. Definitely wrong, although there have been valuable learning moments.
Fortunately, I’ve gotten away from the mindset where I felt like I had to apologize for not loving top-rated solo games. I hope I’ve conveyed how I appreciate every game, but some are simply not right for me… And they might be right for you!
Knightly Choices
Each round offers a choice of different knights to provide a set of workers and attribute bonuses. Most also feature a unique ability to guide some of the round’s actions.
This decision point was excellent! But paired with the many other options, things never quite came together for me.
Some of the expansion knights were amazing, such as one that allowed me to use a paladin from a previous round.
For me, I felt like this was a case of giving me too much free reign. There was a lot I could do, and measuring the slight differences never quite came through for me in this play.
When Failure is Obvious
On the other hand, when I moved up to the standard difficulty level, everything changed! It was a lot harder to stay ahead of the solo opponent and I struggled.
Whereas my first play allowed me to take advantage of some nice early bonuses, nothing came together. I knew about halfway through that I was way behind, and it wasn’t fun.
Not that I have to win to enjoy a solo game, yet there was too much going on and I felt like I would lose no matter what.
A few neat turns came about, but I was defeated by a huge margin. No worries: I shall be a paladin no more. Ha ha!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 & 2
Main Expansion: City of Crowns
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy & Standard Difficulty Levels
Outcome: 66-39, 39-93 (1 Win & 1 Loss)
The solo opponent had a lot more going on this time, and the discounted actions made a difference! I didn’t invest in these developments enough, and it showed. This is a great game in many ways, but as is probably quite clear, it did too much for what I’m looking for in a solo experience. At least it had some fun moments, though. Onto the viscounts next!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- Balancing attributes is an interesting part of gameplay that encourages finding out how the actions are connected.
- Variety is quite high with the different paladins themselves, along with the possibilities in the card decks.
- Managing the solo opponent doesn’t take too much time or effort, despite the rather large player board area.
- Finding ways to assign workers and gain extra benefits is exciting, and there are often fun surprises in later rounds.
- New scoring opportunities and actions open up each round with a clear track to understand how much time is left.
- The sequence of play is generally easy to understand and follow, with the focus on making the best decisions.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The amount of required table space is vast, even with just the solo mode, and reaching everything is a challenge.
- Many strategies and options are open to try, yet there are times when it’s overwhelming to find the optimal choice.
- Aside from taking cards or spaces, there is practically no interaction with the solo opponent in any way.
- Gameplay moves along at a nice pace with interesting moments, yet it feels very focused on icons and victory points.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy the most about Paladins of the West Kingdom? Is there a strategy you like to focus on, or one you want to try out soon? So many possibilities! I appreciate what’s going on in the game, but can also recognize that it goes beyond the complexity level I’m comfortable with at my solo table. Glad I now know what it’s like, and I had some great moments!
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