Architects of the West Kingdom Expansion Reviews

boardgamequest.com:

We review the two expansions for Architects of the West Kingdom. The Age of Artisans and Works of Wonder are both new expansions for the Architects of the West Kingdom worker placement game.

There are two expansions for Architects of the West Kingdom. I am reviewing both today. There is no time to waste with a witty opening.

Age of Artisans (2020) – the 1st expansion adds the following:

Works of Wonder (2022) – the 2nd expansion adds the following:

Age of Artisans

The Artisan is my favorite new element of this expansion. It adds an additional layer to the worker placement decision. It counts as TWO workers when placed, as well as avoiding one virtue loss, if applicable. Yes, that means you can get a Gold on your first turn! The flipside is that it is an obvious target for capture. Do you spend a turn capturing your Artisan back or leave it on the board knowing your opponent may do the same? Do you worry about capturing your opponent’s Artisan, forgoing generating resources? The cat and mouse this single meeple adds to the game greatly increased my enjoyment of Architects of the West Kingdom.

The new craft cards have the second biggest impact to the game. Each card can be used either as an adornment (add more points and an immediate one-time benefit to a building) or a tool (add a power to an apprentice and an end game scoring bonus based on the number of tools crafted). Tools can add some interesting abilities to power up your apprentice, such as allowing an apprentice to count as having all three skills needed to construct a building. Sounds great? Well, to craft both new options, you need to stack a worker on top of a worker that is already in the guildhall, as well as pay 5 Silver for the adornment. This can remove