Review 6: Kingdom Builder

Kingdom Builder won Game of the Year (Spiel des Jahre) in 2012 and in my opinion deserved to do so.  It is one of the simplest games to play and teach but has high level of replayability due to its unique set up and points scoring system:

Name: Kingdom Builder

Players: 2-4

Playing Time: 45 minutes

Suggested Ages: 8 and up

Awards: Numerous – most notably 2012 Spiel des Jahres Winner

Game Setting:

Each player is trying to create a kingdom made up of growing settlements.  The aim of the game is to play settlements in the best position to score the maximum amount of points.    The board is made up of four segments which are placed as a rectangle but can be placed in any order and in any orientation.  On each board segment there is a special building that will grant players who build adjacent to it an additional ability on their turn.  Each board segment also contains a city which when players build adjacent to it score an addition 3 points at the end of the game.  Three points scoring are picked at random from a supply of different scoring criteria and are revealed to all of the players.   Each player is then given a card from the terrain supply ready to use on their turn.

Game Play:

Each player takes a supply of coloured wooden houses.  On their turn a player places three of their wooden houses on the board.

The placement of the house must be on the same terrain type as the card that they have in their hand.  Each house that is played must also be placed adjacent to an existing house on board.  The existing house does not have to be on the same terrain type as the card that is being used, however the house that is being played must still be placed on the terrain of the card.

When placing the buildings the player considers the three scoring cards that are on show to pick the best place to score.  For example if the ‘Miners’ scoring card has been chosen from the game the player will be looking to build as many houses as possible next to the mountain terrain type. 

Once the player has placed three houses the player then draws a new terrain card and play passes to the left. 

The special buildings on the board grant the players extra abilities, for example, the tower allows the player to build an extra house on the edge of the board, the harbour allows the player to move one of their existing houses to a water terrain space and the Oasis allows a player to place an extra house on a desert terrain space.

The game ends when the first player has placed all of their houses.

My Score:

Game Play:  3/4

Components: 2/2
Replayability: 2/2
Theme: 2/2

Total: 9/10

My Comments:

I’ve only recently dropped the score for this game down from 10/10 to 9/10.  It is a great game and I think a strong contender for first time players.  It is a really simple game to play.  Each turn you only have two actions, place the housed and then pick a new card.  The genius aspect to the game is the amount of variation.  There are 8 different board segments to choose from and they can be placed in a multitude of different combinations.  As each board segment has a different special building, the bonus actions change each game also.   Finally, with 10 different score cards and only three being selected each game, the strategy that is used to maximise the score changes. 

For me it’s this diversity to the game that makes it a solid game.  I think it’s better with more players because the terrain spaces on the board get filled up quicker which makes the scoring more challenging.

I’ve taken the game down a point from the maximum score and that’s due to the level of complexity.  For those people who are looking for a real challenge, this game is slightly limited.  The card you draw for the terrain type will tell you where to place your houses and this means your decision is limited.  For experienced gamers I see Kingdom Builder as being a filler game as I’ve not played it where it’s taken 45 minutes.  As long as the other players are planning their turn whilst they are waiting then the game is quite quick. 

The artwork is great and I love the fact that the terrain types do not conform to the normal;  Desert, Forest, Grassland, Canyon and randomly Flower Field!  It has a great feel and a depending on the scoring criteria, even the look of the kingdoms that the players create look different.  One game will have long sprawling settlements other will have one really large settlement and another will have lots of tiny settlements all over the board.

In my opinion it’s a game that people will go back to time and again and is relatively easy going of an evening.