The Builders: Middle Ages (BLD01)

Publisher: AsmodeeGame Designer: Frédéric HenryArtwork: Sabrina MiramonPlayers: 2-4Ages: 10 & upPlaying Time: 30 minutesGame Mechanics: Action Points, Card Drafting, Set Collection, Worker PlacementContents: 42 building cards (8 are machines), 42 worker cards, 1 first player card, 15 gold plastic coins, 25 silver plastic coins, 1 rulebookSuggested Retail Price: $17.99Parental Advisory: Safe for childrenAwards: 2014 As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année Nominee, 2014 As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année Prix du Jury WinnerIt seems like the hottest trend in board gaming right now are microgames, compact, fast playing games that are inexpensive and offer great value for your gaming dollar in many cases. Being compact, microgames are easy to carry anywhere and fast playing means they’re generally less complex allowing exposure to a wider audience.Microgames are also generally less expensive to manufacture due to fewer components which leads to lower cost and more impulse buying for the gaming consumer. I’ve become a huge fan of microgames for all of the above reasons and you’ll always find at least 3-5 of these little buggers in my gaming go-bag to satisfy various needs and audiences.One of these games I recently picked up at my FLGS is The Builders: Middle Ages, a small worker placement/set collection game that is right on the outermost limit of what I’d consider a micro due to its component count and fairly significant footprint but it still fits the bill of being compact, quick and easy to play while accessible to everyone.Asmodee released this in the States this past February and being a fan of their games I snatched it up in an impulse buy. The Builders: Middle Ages is a clever take on worker placement, using set collection to build a stable of contractors that match the resources necessary to construct buildings and machines that you draft from a row of available projects. It’s a fun, cute little game and I enjoy it quite a bit, just not as much as I’d hoped because it has no player interaction, so games end up being a multiplayer solitaire race to the finish. Even without this important facet of multiplayer gaming, I still recommend it as a gateway game for those unfamiliar with worker placement or set collection and it makes for a good, quick filler game, so this is not one to overlook.The Builders: Middle Ages comes in a small but sturdy embossed tin box adorned with colorful art that sets the tone, the mix of bright and earthy colors give a warm and enjoyable feel, welcoming you to the game when you pop open the box. Most micro’s seem to be doing this as another way of attracting newer gamers to their products and I must say us older gamers like it too.As I mentioned before, The Builders: Middle Ages is right at the limit of what I’d consider a microgame having 84 cards, 40 plastic coins and one rule book which leads to a larger footprint on the table than you’d expect from a microgame. The cards are broken into two categories, buildings and workers. The building cards are good sized 3 ½” squares, while the worker cards are standard 2 ½” x 3 ½” and all are linen finish which I’ve always liked. The only problems with the cards are that they are a bit thinner than I wish they were, which means you’ll want to take care when handling the cards or to go right ahead and sleeve them if you choose, to protect them from getting folded corners.The plastic coins are fantastic and one of the biggest draws to this game for passers by at my local game nights, everyone wants to come up and pick them up and play with them. They’re made of embossed plastic with distinct markings you’d expect to be on ancient currency and they make a nice plink when you shuffle them in your hand. It’s funny how the little things matter.The goal of the game is to be the first player to reach 17 victory points; these points are acquired by completion of different buildings and tools. The tools you build such as Survey Tools or the Tile Oven for example, give extra value in that they also double as workers along with providing victory points. Once built, you can use them for free in place of a worker whom you must pay a cost to use.To complete the construction of the buildings you need workers and there are four classes of workers in The Builders: Middle Ages, Novice, Laborer, Craftsman and Master. Each worker card has unique artwork fitting to their class and varied abilities to work the four main resources used in the game as well as the workers associated cost. The four resources used are Stone, Wood, Knowledge and Tile. The abilities to using each resource are different from within the same class as well, meaning each worker is different even from the same class so you will need to recruit a varied assortment of workers to complete the building tasks.The Building cards are nicely illustrated with an incomplete building on one side and a completed building on the other, once complete you can flip the card over to show it is done and add the victory points to your total. The Building card also lists the resources needed for its completion and the cost that you will receive when it is done along with its victory point value at the top of the card.Setup is quick and easy, you simply lay out a row of five random building cards and another row of five random workers. Then deal out one Novice worker to each player and one gold and five silver coins (10 total value) to give each player their starting funds.Each player then has three actions that they may take from four possible actions available. The available actions are: start construction, recruit a worker, send a worker to work and take coins.Start Construction is where you choose a building card from the row of five available buildings. As one is removed it is filled in from the stack of building cards set to the side of the row and you are not limited to the amount of buildings you can construct at the same time. Taking a building card is one action point.Recruiting a worker is similar to starting construction; you choose as many worker cards as your action points allow. Each worker taken from the row is one action point from your pool of three.Send a worker to work is where those coins come into play. Once you’ve selected a building and workers, you send the workers that match up to the resources necessary to finish the job. When you lay them down next to the building card, you pay the workers cost into the bank. Once the building construction is complete, you receive the payout listed on the building card and your workers go back into your pool of available labor.Take coins allows you to take one coin from the bank for one action, three coins for two actions and six coins for all three actions. You can also use coins to pay for extra actions at the cost of five coins for one extra action beyond the three you are granted each turn.To win, you’ll need to be efficient with the worker and building cards you choose by taking only what is necessary to complete the job. You will need to scan the cards in the builder’s row and match up the resources needed as denoted by the resource meters on each card, with those of the available workers in your head so you will know what to grab when it’s your turn. Grabbing too many buildings or workers will cause you to fall behind quickly and in a short game like this, you will be hard pressed to catch back up.I’ve played The Builders: Middle Ages with two through four players and the games move quickly even for first timers. Games are quick, finishing in about 20-25 minutes with four players and shorter with two players. That’s it; it’s as simple as that.I’ve had a lot of fun with this game but the one thing it is really missing is some form of player interaction. Even without the interaction I still enjoy it quite a bit and it’s always in my gaming bag. I do think if there was some form of adversarial play, however slight, it would increase the enjoyment as it would get everyone more involved.Club Fantasci Scoring (Based on scale of 10): 6.5Artwork: 7Rules Book: 6Re-playability: 6Component Quality: 7Club Fantasci Overall Score: 6.5I am giving The Builders: Middle Ages 6.5 out 10 stars because it’s proven itself to be a fun little filler for gamers of all levels and a very good intro game for new players. The absence of any player interaction detracts from a higher score but it doesn’t ruin the game. I myself really enjoy it but I know not everyone finds multiplayer solitaire very fun. In fact, another gamer I introduced this to explained to me that they also liked it but found it kind of boring due to a feeling of isolation, hence the solitaire distinction.I don’t hesitate to recommend this game though, it is a fun little game and that is the most important reason we game right?Company Website: http://us.asmodee.com/Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Asmodee-game-News/269642758448Company Twitter: https://twitter.com/Asmodee_USACompany Google+: https://plus.google.com/114742625337406481414/postsNote: A review copy of this game was purchased by me. If you like what we bring you, please vote for us here: http://www.boardgamelinks.com/links/details/1420Club Fantasci on Facebook: www.facebook.clubfantasciClub Fantasci on Twitter: www.twitter.com/clubfantasciClub Fantasci on Google+: Club Fantasci Maurice Fitzgerald on Twitter: www.twitter.com/moefantasciClub Fantasci on Facebook: www.facebook.clubfantasciClub Fantasci on Twitter: www.twitter.com/clubfantasciClub Fantasci on Google+: Club Fantasci

The Builders: Middle Ages – 2-4 Players, Ages 10+, Average Play Time = 30-45 MinutesIn terms of a learning curve, the game was incredibly easy to pick up and play. Those who have played the more recent “Splendor” will get the general idea here rather quickly: draft buildings (I prefer the term “blueprints”) & workers, use workers to construct buildings, profit. If you happen to build a machine or two to assist in the resource production, all the better. There’s a bit more emphasis in chaining cards/resources properly in “Splendor”, I feel, though there’s still enough of the concept here to warrant your attention. “The Builders: Middle Ages” is more like “Splendor” in the sense that you can draft (“reserve”) buildings or workers that other player might be going for in order to ruin their plans.Along those lines, there’s no limit to how many buildings and workers one can draft. This is where “The Builders: Middle Ages” really begins to set itself apart from “Splendor”. “Splendor” is all about using a finite amount of resources to accomplish your personal goals, and I stress the word “finite”. There’s more room for maneuvering and mistakes in “The Builders: Middle Ages” since you only pay money when you assign a worker to construction…not when drafting. This, coupled with the fact that there are no limits to how many cards one can draft, makes the game play out a little more differently. Of course, you are still racing to get victory points as quickly as you can and spending time drafting cards you won’t actually need could in fact cost you the game.With that said, is “The Builders: Middle Ages” worth buying? Absolutely. The game offers a lot of replayability for its average asking price, which is about ten to fifteen bucks on Amazon. Like “Splendor”, it hits a nice sweet spot in terms of being easy to learn yet being complex enough for thinkers like myself to enjoy playing. The cards are a bit too thin for my tastes, though the art is nice and themed appropriately. I also would have liked rubber bands or a zip-baggie for the coins…the bag the coins came in was not resealable. All in all, it’s a solid light family-friendly strategy game.

A simple but very well done city building game. Works great for 2-4 players, but does not have a ton of player interaction. The great thing I found about this game so far is that most people like it right off the bat, and the rules can be tweaked to add more interaction and complexity without breaking the game overall. Simply amazing game for such a small package.This is the best game I have bought in a long time. On the surface, it seems like a very simple game, you hire builders and pick structures to build and the first person to gain a certain number of victory points wins. However, this is not as straightforward as you might think. Each builder has a set of stats, and the builders and structures are randomized so each game you have no idea what you are going to get, meaning that there is no clear cut strategy right out of the gate to assure victory. You could grab a few master builders and think you are going to take the game, and then for the next turns you see all the structures that you CAN'T build because they just happen to require stats that your builders are low in. Overall, I really enjoy playing this with 2 or 3 players, it hasn't gotten old yet after several plays.

Un juego que tiene una curva de aprendizaje que hace que quieras repetir la partida . Niños desde los 9 años juegan perfectamente. Pero también adultos pueden ver un reto . La caja metálica es muy durable .

A fast, streamlined, worker placement card game that boils down a much bigger game into its bare essentials. Perfect for when you want to play a worker placement game and not worry about setting up a ton of little components.

This is a great travel game - compact, attractive tin and good fun.

Excelente calidad y gran juego lo recomiendo

Excellent little card game in which You associate ressources on cards. Well balanced.