Architects at play

BENGALURU : Expectations were high for Garphill Games after their North Sea trilogy wrapped up in 2016 what would they do next? The answer wasn’t long in coming, as Architects of the West Kingdom would kick off a second trilogy of games in 2018 to great acclaim; and that’s the game we’re taking a look at today.

When it comes to mechanisms, Garphill seems to treat each new game as a challenge to design a new and interesting twist on the familiar genre of worker placement; and Architects certainly follows this pattern. Yes, it’s worker placement; and yet, no, it’s not really like anything else you might’ve played. As for what you’re doing, you’re medieval architects skulking around trying to hire people, construct buildings and contribute your efforts to the cathedral if they’ll let you.

In a fashion that they would go on to explore more in the subsequent games of the West Kingdom trilogy, Architects introduces the concept of virtue. Stay on the moral path and your virtue will rise; however, associate with lowlifes, drop by the black market or even burgle the tax coffers and your halo will undoubtedly be tarnished a little. Still, a little skulduggery could get you closer to victory but whichever path you take has pros and cons to consider — the virtuous aren’t allowed to partake of the black market’s wares, while the corrupt can’t help construct the cathedral. Swings and roundabouts, everywhere you look and that’s even before we talk about how you use your workers.

Unlike many other games in this genre, Architects showers you with a deluge of workers right at the very beginning and you soon see why — actions are almost always more powerful or better the more workers you have in a particular location, but you can only send out one per turn. So you have to slowly build up your agents to work towards whatever your objectives are, and your opponents will undoubtedly be doing the same. This could’ve resulted in a game that felt very multiplayer solitaire you’re all playing together, but you’re all mostly just doing your own thing. That’s where Architects lets you see the dagger hidden in its other hand, because apparently medieval architecture was a fairly cutthroat business.

You see, one of the actions you can take is sending one of your workers to the town centre to round up a bunch of your opponent’s workers and take them into custody. In the short term, that’s definitely thrown a wrench into whatever plans they might’ve had for that location and it’s cutting off access to some of their workers; on a subsequent turn, though, you could turn them in at the guardhouse where they’ll be tossed into prison and you’ll be compensated for your civic-minded ways with some silver for your trouble.

This sets up a Looney Tunes-esque cycle of cause and effect, where there’s a steady stream of workers being tossed into prison and subsequently released only to be tossed back in shortly afterwards it’s one of those board game mechanisms that perhaps doesn’t hold up to extremely detailed scrutiny, but it’s both very funny and an ingenious way of adding player interaction to what might otherwise feel like a disconnected game. You’re always keeping an eye on your opponents, and the opportunities you might be giving them, every time you send out a worker, and that adds an interesting edge to that decision every single turn.

In my opinion, Raiders of the North Sea is Garphill’s finest game its particular take on worker placement still feels fresh and interesting every time I play it. Architects of the West Kingdom needs a few more plays before I’m certain, but it might just take that top spot away from Raiders it’s sharp, it’s clever, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and it’s got a lot of replayability right off the bat.

What’s New?

A Feast for Odin
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Chai: Tea for 2
Tea for 2 is currently doing quite well over on Kickstarter. As the name suggests, it’s a two-player spinoff of the well-reviewed Chai, which is a delightful light family-friendly game. Tea for 2 retains the same gorgeous aesthetic, but features dice worker placement - one of my favourite mechanisms -  its foundation.

Voidfall
Voidfall’s credits seem like a wishlist. Published by Mindclash Games, the people behind Anachrony and Trickerion, check. Designed by Dávid Turczi (Anachrony) and Nigel Buckle (Imperium), check. Art by the wonderful Ian O’Toole, who might be the best artist in the industry right now? Check. I don’t recall an announcement that’s whetted the appetite quite as much as this one.

Arjun Sukumaran

(Arjun is a gamer, book lover and an all-round renaissance man)