Summary
A game for 1 – 5 players
Play time is around 45 – 60 minutes
Publisher is Thunderworks Games
Introduction
Dungeon-crafting is an ancient minotaur art that you’ve studied for a decade under Master Hortgully. To demonstrate your skill, as your final project you must carve your own perilous labyrinth into the base of the Stonespine Mountains.
Intro
In Stonespine Architects, players will try to achieve the highest reputation by constructing the most perilous dungeon over four years. Each year, players draft cards and build their dungeon one chamber at a time. At the end of each year, you can use your gold to purchase additional elements for your dungeon and collect challenge cards. After four years, Hortgully will evaluate each player’s creation.
Follow your blueprint, leverage challenges, and capture attention to earn the most reputation and emerge victorious!
Let’s play
Stonespine Architects is played over four rounds, also known as years. During each year, each player places a single row of four chamber cards. At the end of the game each play will have created a dungeon of 16 Chambers in a 4 x 4 grid.
Each year you have three phases: construction, improvement, and cleanup
Let’s dive deeper into the tree phases
Phase 1 Construction phase;
This phase is divided into four turns; each turn you select one of the of five cards from your hand and place it face up in your dungeon. Pass your hand with the remaining dungeon cards to the player on your left or right (year 1 and 3 to the left, year 2 and 4 to the right).
Repeat steps one and two until each player has four chamber cards in the dungeon, now discard the last hand from your hand.
Phase 2 Improvement phase;
This one is divided into two steps, count you gold, and visit the market.
Step 1 Players count their gold for the current year. Count all the gold coins on all the chamber cards placed in the current round. Add one gold for each treasure chess icon in any chamber of the player dungeon and move each players track marker on the gold track to the space equal to their total.
Then move each players tracking marker on the priority, track to the space directly below the tracking order.
Step 2 visit the market. The players take turns to buy market token or pass to collect a challenge cards. You always start with the player with the most gold. Buy one of set market tokens on a single market card, at the top or at the bottom. Equal to the cost of the set and adjusting your tracking marker on the gold track. Now you immediately place the tokens in your dungeon.
If a player chooses not to buy tokens or can’t afford to buy tokens they must pass. Move the tracking marker on the gold track to the 0 space. Gold can’t be carried over to next year, then select one of the to challenge cards and place it near your dungeon, move the tracking marker from load priority, track to left most unoccupied spaces on the priority track. This phase ends when every player has passed and taken a challenge card.
Phase 3 cleanup phase;
Discard any remaining market tokens and all reviewed market cards and replace them with new cards from the market deck. Place new market tokens for each page on the new market cards and placed in face up. Discard unclaimed challenge cards in year one and two and place new cards open equal to the number of players. In year three you do not review new challenge cards as players do not select challenge cards in year four
Each player receives a new set of five chamber cards from the chamber deck and a new year starts with the construction phase.
The Game ends
At the end of year 4 the game ends and each player place their remaining doorway marker at the dungeon exit.
- You receive bonusses for your final priority; this represents how much gold each player has had when they’ve passed in year four. The player on the first position on the priority track gains 9 reputation, the second player gains 6 reputation, and the third player gains 3 reputation.
- Players compare their players dungeon to determine first, second and third place for the scoring condition on the goal card. The first player gains 15 reputation, the second player gains 9 reputation, and the third player gains 5 reputation.
- Look at your challenge card and gain reputation based on the scoring condition of your cards
- Each player totals all the values of the reputation stars in their dungeon and gains or lose that amount of reputation
- Each player looks at their dungeon and gain reputation based on how many of the eight demands they’ve met with their blueprint card. To meet a demand players must have the specific chamber type or element in the chamber matching the specs on the blueprint. The reputation gained is indicated on the bottom of their card.
- Dungeon paths; Each player can examines the path in their dungeon and gains reputation for paths that that connect to the either the dungeon entrance or exit. To connect to an entrance or exit you there must be a door on the chamber card adjacent to the doorway marker:
-Gain one reputation for each chamber with a path connected to the entrance and
-Gain one reputation for each chamber with a path connected to the exit.
You get two reputation for each chamber connected to both the entrance and exit of players dungeon, as they are counted twice
The player with the most reputation has achieved the title of master architect!
Conclusion & final score
Difficulty: 2.10/ 5
Re-playability: 8
Our score: 8 out of 10 dice
Stonespine Architects sounds like an exciting and strategic board game, and it actually is! The idea of building the most dangerous dungeon over a four-year period is very coolly conceived. Drawing cards to build parts of your dungeon adds a layer of challenge in which each year (round) you get to decide where to start building. But in addition to building as tactically as possible, you also want to get enough money in each round to buy and add additional elements to your dungeon. The challenge cards you can collect provide an even deeper layer and challenge that makes you want to look extra carefully to collect even more points.
The game requires careful planning because not only do you need to optimize your own dungeon, but you want to anticipate a bit the actions of your opponent(s). Following your blueprint and exploiting challenges to earn the most reputation makes the game challenging and engaging.
The theme of building a dangerous dungeon is unique and can immerse players in the world of the game. The ability to add different rooms and elements makes each playthrough different and keeps the game fresh and interesting.
Thanks to Thunderworks Games for this review copy and the opportunity to write about it.
