Middle Ages

Today's review is of the 2024 release, Middle Ages. For 2-5 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

You are in charge of a fiefdom. You will build in various areas to make sure your land is both as strong and well-rounded as possible (you will add one tile per round across 8 types of possibilities). Through good planning, you can become the richest in the land. But will you?

3-player game layout; image from here

The board is set up with each player getting their base fiefdom and tiles (previously shuffled, then placed in increasing numerical order in each row) arranged in four rows in the center (see above). Each player places their knight in an available slot in the top row. (There will be an unchosen tile; discard it.) Sequentially (from left to right), players will take their knight, place their chosen tile on the corresponding column in their base fiefdom, and gain the benefits and income of that column (which can include taking gold from others). They then place their knight on an available slot in the second row and the next player goes. When a row is empty, it is replenished from the tile pool. 

Every fourth turn, a plot card (randomly selected before the game, but known to all players) is 'activated,' and all players gain (or suffer) based on their layout. After 16 rounds, the game is done, and the player with the most gold wins.

One player's game board near the end; image from here

Review

This game is simple and enjoyable set collection experience. It bears strong resemblance to Majesty: For the Realm (by the same designer) with a dash of Kingdomino. Like other Studio H offerings (check out Oltree), the quality and detail is high; I love how they made each type of tile have unique interlocking patterns and unique (yet connected) art—as the game progresses, you are building a picture. It may be a little too simple . . . replays will tell. But my initial impression is that it beats out its progenitor by a hair.

Rating: A-