Kingdom Builder

Our younger son is on a long-term quest to buy us a game that makes a good regular alternative to 'Settlers of Catan'. We love Settlers and all its variations, and play it at least once a week. Sometimes more. But there are times when we really want something different.

Agricola is an interesting game, and Puerto Rico has grown on us. We like them both. But both have quite long setup phases, and games can last quite a long time. They're also rather complex, with a lot of fine detail in the rules: they're not the kind of games that can be explained quickly to newcomers.

Our most recent gift, however, is one that we can already see we are going to play regularly. Kingdom Builder has very few rules, and setup takes a couple of minutes. Basic game-play is so easy that a child could do it (it's recommended for age 8+) but each game has different aims, and also a different layout, so no two games are identical.

Here we are playing for the first time, while following the rules.

There are eight layout boards, of which four random ones are chosen and placed in a rectangle, as shown above. They feature different terrains: mountains, canyons, forest, grass, desert, flowerbeds and sea. They're even divided into little hexagons, making the whole feel pleasantly similar to Catan games.  

To make the resemblance stronger, there are four sets of forty little wooden houses, exactly the same as the Catan settlements. And they have to be placed on the board.  There the similarity ends, however; players draw terrain cards in turn to indicate where three new houses - which we keep calling settlements - must be placed, and they have to follow some specific rules. Most important of these is that new settlements must, if possible, be placed adjoining that person's previously placed settlements. 

Then there are three mission cards selected randomly from a pack of ten, explaining how victory points will be earned in this particular game. They range from building settlements next to mountains, through to counting the houses in the largest group of contiguous ones, or having as many as possible in a straight line. Players have to decide how they can best meet as many of these aims as possible. 

Oh, and there are 'locations' and 'castles'. Each of the eight possible playing boards has one or two castles (three points for building next to one) and one or two 'locations' which have bonus cards attached allowing extra optional moves: for instance, placing an extra house at the edge of the board, or building on the sea. A players gets the use of a location bonus for the rest of the game by building next to it. 

So there's a lot of rapid thought needed in this game, which lasts for about 12 rounds. A rough strategy can be planned, but luck comes into play with the terrain cards. The game is about making the best use of the land, while aiming for one or more of the specific game missions. 

I like it because it's quick and easy to set up and put away, because a game typically lasts about 45 minutes, because it's simple to explain, and because every game has different aspects. Then the graphics are very nice, the game play straightforward enough that it's easy to chat while playing, and it's not a competitive or vicious game. There's no trading, and while it might occasionally happen that one player blocks another's access to somewhere, moves are made for the benefit of the person playing them, not to foil anyone else's desires.

Scoring doesn't happen until the end. The terrain boards all have scoring grids on the back and the arithmetic needed is not difficult. None of us has scored more than 60 points in a game, and we've played at least half a dozen so far. Typical scores seem to be around 35-50. It will be interesting to see if our scores reach higher numbers when we've been playing a bit longer and are able to think more strategically.

But, at least so far, this is definitely a winner - and highly recommended. We are already tempted by an expansion that will increase the number of players to a maximum of five.