Architects of the West Kingdom - Playthrough & Review

[@yemendel]

I have to say, you two are my favorite new (or at least new-to-me) board game players/teachers. You teach so well, and the playthroughs are a joy to watch. The choice of games feels excellent to me, too. Just wanted to say thanks for all of that.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Yossef, thank you for your kind words, we are so glad you found the channel! We have a lot more videos planned over the next few month, hope you will enjoy those as well!

[@hedgeymcgee3079]

Love your videos because you give such good impressions on games for 2 players. Always nice to see/hear specific 2 player experience. Plus, your play throughs are always enjoyable to watch.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you so much! That was our intent when we first started the channel and remains our purpose to this day. So glad you enjoy the videos, we have a lot more scheduled over the next couple of months! :-]

[@FishersShop]

I started to watch this video to get a quick understanding of the game. One and a half hours later I finished watching you play the entire thing and give your review. Haha... you had me hooked through the whole thing. :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Awww that’s wonderful to hear! Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for watching!

[@kovray]

WE ARE SOOOOO EXCITED! First off, Paladins being Tylor's all time favorite game but also that you're playing Tomesaga, we've yet to play through all of them consecutively so maybe we will join your journey and enjoy these wonderful games! Thank you so so much for doing this friends.

[@kovray]

So many workers in the prison at the end wow!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

You should try it out! We are interested to see what the new powers will feel like in our play of Paladins. Wonder how much they will influence the next game. Do you play with the bot @ 2 players?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Complete disregard for their lives!!! lol

[@kovray]

@@BeforeYouPlay We typically don't play with the bot as we found the game still super fun at two, but now will have to try. Will keep you posted on our thoughts.

[@hz1249]

Thank you! It's so fun watching the two of you playing this. Good flow!

[@softshoes]

What all this adds up to is we need the next vid ASAP. Wonderful job guys. You have become my favorite playthrough channel.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We are comfortable to film Paladins, we plan on filming it over the weekend! =)

[@josyuen4207]

When Naveen says “It’s a Euro” with a smile 😃

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Euro Gamers first are foremost!!

[@Gekkegast93]

40:23 the Pickpocket actually gains you a gold each time you visit the Tax stand (not as a immediate effect)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Ahh you’re right!! Oversight/too excited to gain that tome on my part!

[@notboredjustboard5955]

Just played this for the first time this past weekend! Now I’m watching this to see what rules I missed! Thank you guys for these videos!!

[@CharlesHepburn2]

Excellent, excellent, excellent teach, thank you. I'm playing this today with both expansions and on the massive game mat for this game. You both have a very pleasant tone between each other.

[@ryangallagher7183]

So happy to see you guys covering these games!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Ryan, hope you are having a fantastic weekend! Are you gaming at all this weekend?

[@ryangallagher7183]

@@BeforeYouPlay It was a good weekend for gaming. Played New York Zoo with our friends across the country on TTS. Also played a round of Fleet: The Dice Game, and Dune Imperium. Hoping to play through Tomesaga a second time soon at 3 players. I've played through once at 2 players and enjoyed it. We enjoyed the coop for Paladins and Viscounts, but didn't care for the Architects coop. We felt running the AI interfered with the flow of the game too much. Curious to hear your thoughts if you ever try the coop modes.

[@aaronp5118]

You two have just been pushing out videos non-stop like.... bam... bam... BAM!!! Keep up the good work 👍

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Aaron, oh no you noticed!!! Haha it’s a lot of fun for the both of us and we really enjoy working with the publishers and getting positive feedback from people like yourself. Thank you for supporting us and the channel!

[@velvetotter4586]

One of my all time faves. So glad you guys got to play it, and with the expansion. Monique: I'm rooting for you. We need to stop the "Year of Naveen" 😁

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Monique appreciates someone in her corner lol!!

[@minahabibi4446]

Excellent video! Thanks for playing with Tomsaga

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Mina, we are glad people asked us to do it leading up to the series. We were so out of the loop and had no idea what they were talking about!

[@shelby789]

I enjoyed your play through of this so much! I really enjoy Architects because of the interesting mechanics it brings in with the virtuous actions and sending people to prison, etc as well. I'm glad you were both able to thwart Constantine in the end! lol

[@huhhhh963]

Awesome! I will be picking up this Trilogy soon. Euros/Worker Placement is my jam. And you guys do the best job of teaching how the game is played overall with the teach and the gameplay, at least for me. Looking forward to the rest of this series! Cheers!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi John, you sound like you should pull up a chair with us at a con someday! Thanks for checking out our videos, Monique is the best at teaching, I (Naveen) just try to chime in from time to time. Lol

[@huhhhh963]

@@BeforeYouPlay Hey Naveen. That would be cool man. Maybe someday when cons are a happening thing again. Lol. Monique is awesome but I think the chemistry between you guys is what makes Before You Play. Keep up the great content guys!

[@billjaimez]

Loved the playthrough. Keep up the great work. Helped me make the decision to buy the game.

[@Nanuk12315]

Thank you guys so much for your amazing content. Saw your video and it inspired me to go out and get the game for my friend group. We just finished our first play though and we had a blast. We enjoyed it so much in fact that we are going to start up a regular board game night. Once again thank you for your content because a lot of us in this community have been feeling pretty isolated and board games either in person or digitally have helped us connect and help each other coupe in this time.

[@headovmetal]

I've been waiting for this! Thanks!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Us too! Thanks for following along with us. :-)

[@Shot007]

Thanks for the exceptional content as always. This one looks like fun. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for supporting the channel! Always love seeing your icon/image in the comments, is so dang cool!!!

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

And I haven't forgotten about UWE SERIES! I want it on my table until 3pm!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol, it's coming, we just received a few more of his titles earlier this week. It's a big project and we want to do it right ;-)

[@xJAMESVICIOUSx]

Really excited for this series of plays! My friend LOVES this game at pure 2 player. She says she likes the table-talk of trying to decide/convince each other to use Guardhouse actions when workers start getting low lol. I personally think along your lines: bot is better but the more human players the better. The turns are so quick, high player counts would not be an issue in this game. Looking forward to seeing how the other games feel, I will probably get them at some point but haven't tried them yet. Co-op sounds interesting, wouldn't mind seeing you guys do a video on that at some point too.

[@bryanscollick8305]

Thank you for playing through the entire West Kingdom series. I have only been in the modern hobby for about a year, but these games always seem to pop up on top 10 lists all over. I am interested to see how the Tome expansion plays out over time. I also have every confidence that Monique will find a way to overcome Naveen’s advantage in Paladins!

[@Jindorek]

Love your playthroughs. not a huge fan of the bots to be honest, especially in Root but I understand why you use them. been bingeing your content for the last three days.

[@boardtoplay5757]

Can’t wait for the next two videos. Great job! Curious who will end up winning, going to be close!

[@Tabletop_AshleyRose]

AT LAST!!!! :) I haven't played Tomesaga yet so I'm super excited for this series.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It has arrived haha! We will really see what the Tomesaga can go starting in the next game. Have you played all 3 titles?

[@Tabletop_AshleyRose]

​@@BeforeYouPlay Yes, all at two players. Viscounts is my favorite... mostly because I am a sucker for the rondel mechanic. I bought Tomesaga, but its been sitting next to the trilogy for a while..

[@wilby31]

Thank you both for all of your content! You've become a go-to watch for me as I look to learn about which new games may / may not be for me (backed Weather Machine with confidence after watching most of your Lacerda series). Do you guys keep a Win/Loss record of all of your recorded plays? I may or may not be seeing a trend :)

[@marcymarc1981]

Looks very fast paced and a lot of fun! Placed my order, now to wait and sit in front of the door until it arrives :D

[@HuntressMedia]

Thank you for your great and informative videos! You guys really have a gift for rules explanation and I really like how you guys are in sync - even when you don't "necessarily" agree! My wife and I have so many of the same games you guys review and we love watching your videos. Thanks for all the hard work!

I like this game a lot - the racing, the tough dilemmas, etc. I never tried the Tomesaga and other games of the series one been only two player. Our rotations (3-5 players) are: 1775: Rebellion (1754 is nice too), Architects of the West Kingdom, Cyclades (Hades, Titans), Junta (last version), Root, Tigris & Euphrates (Yellow & Yangtze is fun too). Thanks to you, I just got Whistle Mountain and we will try it tomorrow (3 player) along with El Grande (big box).

[@Cissewis]

Thanks for another wonderful teach, playthrough and review Naveen and Monique! Really enjoyed this one, it looked like a lot of fun ;-) Just received my dutch copy as well so looking forward to playing it! Have a great week!

[@obsidiansiriusblackheart]

1:03:00 idk why Naveen didn't go for the two marble, that's an extra VP! Lol

[@pauloyanez2640]

🤣🤣🤣 love two things, Monique revealing a Card and saying Oooohh!! and Navine saying It's an Euro.... Excited about the next two episodes oh this series , reviews and playthrough s excellent work!!!

[@cfbrereton9485]

I've watched a few of your videos, and I gotta say you guys are great! There's such genuine enthusiasm about playing each turn, and I get a very good feel of how (and how fast) and game is gonna play. Keep up the good work, I'll be watching 😀

[@muhabwahby]

Can't wait to watch you age quickly playing viscounts. It is agonising but magnificent.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha, we are excited to play it some more leading up to us filming it!

[@yaelakimronzonmorell254]

Hello guys! I'm excited about this new series of videos. Can you talk us of which one of the three is your favorite at the end?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We will certainly do a final wrap up video when the series wraps up!

[@brandbryson3616]

Excited to see your take on Paladins!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks! We are excited to get it filmed. =]

[@bane9179]

My wallet starts to cry when i hear all those games and making a campaign of it this is such an awesome idea

[@mlleloo7225]

I've waited 9 months to watch this series. I am watching it now, as their last Kickstarter is on! I loved this first play and already added Architects to the pledge! Now let's watch Paladins 😍

[@jellevancamp7190]

Really enjoyed this video. This game is designed with a high Fun factor in mind. The only thing I feel less enthousiastic about is the apprentices' power. They feel a bit underwhelming and therefore a bit expensive. Once you got the icons for Building, you're good. Your analysis is spot on. On all accounts. Looking forward to the rest of this series.

[@sandipanmukherjee4813]

LOVE YOU GUYS!

[@lawofgravity1979]

The Garphill Games app is great for scoring purposes!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks for the tip! Just downloaded it!!

[@timregan2096]

super awesome. thank you!!

[@areynolds35]

Where in the rules does it say to draw a building card when building at the cathedral?

[@Hakucho64]

At 52:50, I think you guys forgot to reset the black market (triggered by Monique placing in the guild hall). Oh wait, you realised at 53:42, ignore me.

[@KillJoy83]

I'm really sad you haven't played Raiders of the North Sea! Out of all Shem's designs I think it's the best. Architects is my favorite in the West Kingdom series though, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@MyklSkeleton]

Well I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing but here I am. Great play through and the game moved so quickly from turn to turn. This definitely looks lighter than Viscounts (the only one we’ve played) but it still seemed fun. Might have to pick it up. Thanks!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha thanks for hanging out with us 😊.

[@pimscheers4847]

Can you please play the riverfolk expansion in root and play with the lizards because they are super cool

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We received our copy just recently and have plans on doing a play in the future. It's not officially on the calendar, but we will definitely be doing it.

[@pimscheers4847]

@@BeforeYouPlay thanks

[@cody198402]

Any update on when your Paladins video will published? I am getting my copy early next week, and would love to watch your playthrough before I dive in!

[@marianrys316]

Great idea to play trilogy with tomesaga 👌 Thumb up 👍

[@Feldingor]

I think you got the 2-3 player capture rule wrong. Capturing from up to 2 different locations doesn’t mean that every time a player captures workers, they capture them from two locations with EACH capture action. It’s just for additional actions in the same turn. Each capture only takes workers of one single color away from a SINGLE location. In a 4p game, if you have multiple workers in the Town Hall, you can do a capture selecting a different color for each of your workers but you must take them from the same location, whereas in a 2-3p game each additional action can capture worker from the same location or a different one (max 2 different locations). You (or Constantine) do not capture workers from 2 different locations for each worker you have in the Town Hall (and for which you pay silver): first worker -> one color from location A, second worker -> one color from location A OR B, third worker -> one color from location A OR B, fourth worker -> one color from location A OR B, etc.

[@BillyIndiana]

I'm really curious about the cooperative option that comes with the Tomesaga. My family loves coop. I've played Architects & Viscounts solo, but don't have Paladins yet.

[@wenchwoggYT]

I have Architects and Raiders and really enjoy both. It's a constant struggle to tell myself I don't need to buy the rest of the West Kingdom trilogy and all the expansions, lol.

[@spyrosyannaras8953]

wonderful video! What's your opinion about the Age of the Artisans? Is it worst than the tomesaga?

[@Feldingor]

Age of artisans is a proper expansion to Architects. The Tomesaga is not an expansion in that sense: it adds a way to play all three games in succession, giving players an overall goal (gaining tomes), with ongoing benefits when playing Paladins and Viscounts. It also adds an automa to each game to play against in co-op mode.

[@jonathancarre6932]

Can you play with the Tomesaga in a solo game?

[@omgwtforz]

I just noticed you didn't use the black market overlay for the artisan expansion.

[@Feldingor]

They weren’t playing with the Age of Artisans expansion 🤔 They played base Architects with the Tomesaga add-on

[@aaronfirewing9196]

YAAAAAY WEST KINGDOM SERIES!!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yesss!!! It has arrived!!

[@arrnorn6142]

Please try playing it with the Artisans expansion. It has a mechanic to refresh the apprentices.

[@ryanscott6300]

Constantine that scoundrel!! Glad he got his tail wrangled finally by the end of the game with the debts 😂. Looking forward to seeing how the remainder of the series pans out! Paladins is one of my favorite worker placements due up next! On a side note, why type of resource trays and table cloth mat? are you using for your games? See you in the next one!

[@ryanscott6300]

In an additional side note, have you ever played with the Age of Artisans expansion?

[@TheLuminousCleric]

I was wondering if you were going to use the Automa. But did not think you would play a campaign. 😀 Paladins is my favourite game, but Architects is great with Artisans.

[@Totihno]

This was so fun to watch I love AotWK, definitely one of my fave games. I was wondering if you guys have tried the expansion age of artisans? Also one minor correction, I believe when you discard a building or aprentice card, you do not remove it from the game nor put in a discard pile but instead place it back at the bottom of the corresponding deck. It problaby wouldnt matter in a 2 or 3 player game since like you said the deck does not cycle fast enough but at 5 (or even 6 with the expansion) those apprentices do move faster. Also the tomesaga looks really neat kinda makes me want to finally get the other two games in the series. Really looking foward to the next 2 games.

[@Stolovky]

Very enjoyable as usual! Thanks! One puzzle I have is player count when playing all 3 with Tomesaga - u want to play Architects with 4, Paladins with 2, not sure about Viscounts - how to go about that? Been bugging me :)

[@scorpian223]

We have Paladins, but always stayed away from this because of the comments on it not being great for 2 players. We don't mind bots, though, so maybe I'll consider it anway.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

The bot felt strong at first (like we were going to lose) but in the end it wasn't competitive, but did create the tension needed for the 2 player experience. I think we will now always play with the bot.

[@sleepfighter3438]

Any recommendations for a worker placement game similar to this but a bit lighter? I'm trying to coax my wife into playing something with me other than games like Rummy. While this looks fun, it might be a bit much for her. Thanks! Love the videos!

[@marybethboyd]

We love the West Kingdom trilogy but haven’t yet played through the Tomesaga campaign so I’m super excited for all of these! We have played all the co-op versions though and Architects is our least favorite of those due to the bot acting just like Constantine did. They don’t do a great job of simulating a human player because of their lack of resource needs haha. So you end up playing more to the bot instead of the game or your fellow human players, which is one of the best and most unique aspects of this particular game. Paladins and Viscounts worked much better for us (the co-op versions anyway- we still enjoy Architects at its core) and I can’t wait to see y’all play those because you guys are the BEST!!!

[@marybethboyd]

Haha clearly I wrote this in the middle of the playthrough and not at the end. I definitely think Architects is the one in this trilogy that plays best at more than 2 because the competition is best that way so you don’t have the randomness of the bot, just like you guys mentioned in the review section! *Also, the Age of Artisans expansion adds some mechanisms including an apprentice reset, which is super nice!

[@davidko9289]

The Tomesaga adds a great incentive to play the whole trilogy. Is there confirmation about whether this was an intentional reference to Parks and Rec's Cones of Dunshire? You forgot about the essence of the game. It's about the tomes/cones.

[@jchangaus]

At around 38:10, Naveen should have hired through the black market and forced a market refresh.

[@jchangaus]

Also, when he took the pickpocketer in his subsequent turn, he shouldn't have gotten the gold.

[@timothymclean]

The way that players can round up their opponents' workers and send them to prison for money (and how they do basically the same thing to round up their own workers to redistribute them in more convenient locations) makes me think less "honest citizen's arrest" and more "petty nobles using their authority to screw with their rivals". Also, FYI, while Paladins is the second game in the cycle, Viscounts is second in the playlist. I assume this is an error?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha Timothy you're totally right! Also thank for the heads up, we really appreciate that. We've made the correction to the playlist, thanks! :-)

[@babyrne78]

Looking forward to see you play Paladins. Love that game .

[@henribcosta]

Nice game! I'm actually terrible at this because I keep fighting to take other workers from the board and don't focus on building! haha

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hahaha you smash the Towne Hall action too much!!!

[@adeptusorbisbrasil2783]

awesoomee can wait!!! hows gonna win???? cheerrs

[@BeforeYouPlay]

It’s hard to say! So glad we both ended in a tie for tomes going into the next game!

[@suenonhui]

Is it possible that the AI can’t make any move? I tried and the AI has no worker on the Playing board.

[@suenonhui]

I miss the rule vs BOT. Collecting all workers back is the move when BOT doesn’t have any worker

[@dynomite8561]

At first glance this screams "Stone Age/Village" mash-up. Now I gotta take a closer look at the series.

[@makedonka11]

idea - you could, like in poker games, show your hand to the camera so we know what you have (but the other player doesn't). or? good? bad? dunno. just crossed my mind. :D

[@marknadeski7485]

The West Kingdom series is off to a great start with this video. Really entertaining and I love seeing the usage of the Tome Saga since I haven't opened my copy yet. Going to be interesting to see how the special powers gained in Architects affects the play of Paladins. I'm very curious how victories in the individual games play into competitiveness for the Saga. And Naveen, I'm right there with you on the artwork - I like everything but the way the characters are drawn. Just doesn't do it for me. I actually stayed away from the West Kingdom series initially because of the character art on the boxes. Glad I got past that because the game play is great. Anyway, great video you two!

[@zhivik]

I guess I am getting the two other games in the West Kingdoms series and the expansion now :) This was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to Paladins, which is the one I own. I am kind of split on the bot, though - it was a little bit too disruptive, in my opinion. Still, I suppose it made the game more exciting, so I am glad you liked it. Also, having a bot does help in cycling cards, which I suppose will be helpful in Paladins as well. Art is great throughout all the games, and I like the cartoonish flavour. I totally agree with you on the prison mechanic, it is a lot of fun. I also agree that the game suffers a bit at lower play count because cards do get cycled faster with more players.

[@queparkerqp]

The cards not being cycled was addressed in the first expansion for architects.

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

Is it weird that I LOVE the Westkingdom Series but I don't have any of the games? kkkkkkk

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Which one is your favorite? We are still trying to figure out which one is our fav.

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

My favorite is Raiders Of The North Sea, the worker placement mechanic is so unique and works so well, it's simple and very strategic at the same time.

[@ryanscott6300]

É brasileiro?

[@renanmerchedguerreiro6535]

@@ryanscott6300 Carai, o maluco me reconheceu pela risada. Kkkkk

[@ryanscott6300]

@@renanmerchedguerreiro6535 kkkkkk TMJ mano

[@jonathanpickles2946]

I feel this one is good filler rather than a disappointing main course. I have not played Paladins but it looks like the one that's most to my usual taste. I do like the art down to the caricature people.

[@arrnorn6142]

Can't wait for Paladins!

[@areynolds35]

Correction - at 23:27 the bot, even in a 2-3 player game, with only 1 worker, can only capture 1 group from 1 location. Two capture from a second location (only in a 2-3 player game), they would need to have two workers and pay a second silver.

[@jeffreykeenan346]

Not the bot, it says how it works on the player aid card when playing with 2 players and the bot.

[@oinkoinkmoo]

Hope you focus on the cards at least once on your teach or playthrough so we can be amazed on the art and beauty of them.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We might do some close ups, trying to figure out the green screen technology some youtubers use.

[@MrFrancisChio]

My least favourite among the west kingdom series especially doesn’t really impress me for 2-player game. But still a solid game overall. Always go down the virtue early to enjoy all the benefit in reducing tax! 😂 money is king in this game so always grab the money in the tax. Debt cards aren’t that punishing as later part into the game you can flip multiple debt cards in a turn as long as you have sufficient money. Haven’t try the tomesaga campaign because I finished up the sleeves of the west kingdom series. Makes me can’t play as some cards are sleeved and some don’t if I play with the tomesaga 😂 looking forward to viscount and paladin! Both my favourite of the series especially paladin in a 2p game!

[@georgeresso6835]

going to prison is great ..u break urself out and can reuse workers that would have stayed in the same spots till the end of the game....more workers more actions...more VP'S ?

[@ShowHero]

Sorry.. couldn’t do it. This game is terrible with two players. Absolutely hate dummy players.

[@Feldingor]

Constantine is far from being dummy. It breaks your plans constantly and gives you additional workers to capture, thus more money.

[@beanis8624]

I'm just glad you didn't complain about white supremacy in the theme, or something like it, in this one.