The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Kingdoms is a highly abstract tile-placing game by master game designer Reiner Knizia. Knizia is known for numerous games, among them the cooperative Lord of the Rings game, Stephenson's Rocket and Titan: the Arena. This time, players take the role of kings, trying to make money by constructing castles on the most profitable places.

The story of Kingdoms starts as early as 1994, when a German version of the game was published as Auf Heller und Pfennig. Apart from some cosmetic changes, Kingdoms is a straightforward reissue. In the original game, the players are merchants on a medieval marketplace, trying to make the most money from their stands. This clearly shows the level of abstractness. Fantasy Flight Games (also producers of the English version of the excellent card game Citadels) has now made an international version of the game.
The game board and tiles are adorned only by pictures or numbers, whereas the manual (found here as a PDF file) is written in 7 languages: English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, French and Italian. An excellent move, making the game much more accessible (and, of course, profitable).

Presentation

The game comes in a nice sturdy box with a moody painting by Jim Pavelec. The pieces are all full colour and of excellent quality, illustrated by Eric Lofgren. They are made of cardboard, however, so they are relatively easily damaged, especially by fluids. The game board is assembled from 4 pieces which fit together in a jigsaw kind of way. The paintings on the components are good and lend what little atmosphere they can to the game. What's more, the different kinds of chits are easily distinguishable: the shape varies and they are colour coded.
The rules are provided in 7 languages, as I mentioned above. The English rules are clear and concise and provide some illustrative examples. Three optional rules are included to enhance the replay value. (As my knowledge of the non-English languages is insufficient, I can't comment on the clarity of the translations. If you can, please elaborate in the forum below.)
One could wish for more solid game components, but still I give two thumbs up for the presentation.

Rules

The board is divided in a 5 by 6 matrix on which tiles are placed. If all 30 places are covered, the epoch (round) is over. After three rounds, the game is over.
There are three kinds of tiles: resource tiles, hazard tiles and castles. Resource tiles are numbered 1 to 6, with each number appearing exactly twice, resulting in 12 resource tiles. Hazard tiles are numbered from -6 to -1, with each number appearing exactly once. Each player has a certain amount of castles, depending on the number of players, with each castle bearing a number of dots ranging from 1 through 4.
The basic idea is simple: add all values from the resource and hazard tiles that are found in the row and column of a castle tile. The product of this and the number of dots on the castle tile is the amount of gold pieces a player receives (or has to pay, in case of a negative result). Do this at the end of each epoch, and the person with the largest treasury wins.
There are four special additional terrain pieces that change this scheme:

The Dragon nullifies all resource tiles in the row and column in which it lies.
The Gold Mine multiplies all values of both resource and hazard tiles in row and column.
Two Mountains that divide the row and column in which they're placed in two separate parts.

At the beginning of every epoch, each player draws one tile from the shuffled, face-down pile and looks at it. Each turn, players can do one of three things: place the 'secret' tile on the board, draw a new tile and play it, or play a castle. At the end of each epoch, all tiles are recycled, except for the castles with value greater than 1, which are useable only once.

Playtest

Kingdoms proved to be an enjoyable game. The fact that all pieces count two ways, both in a row and in a column, takes some getting used to and generates a large part of the strategic element. As you can't skip a turn, you're sometimes forced to place tiles at the end of an epoch. The fact that only your one-dot castles are returned at the end of each epoch provides yet another dilemma: when do you use your larger castles?
With these few elements, there are already some nice strategic moves to be made: placement of a castle to prevent the placement of a hazard tile on the same spot, the placement of resource tiles next to hazard tiles to deny the next player the full usage of the tile, and so on. The real meat, however, lies in the four special tiles. These open up an unexpected wealth of options and moves. "If I construct my castle here, the risk of the Dragon being played is negligible, but the value is not very high." "My castle reaps the benefits form both this row and the effect of the Gold Mine in this column— hey! Put that Mountain down!" I only wish that there were more specials.
The number of players has a big impact on the way Kingdoms is played. With four players, the game is more chaotic and unpredictable. In three-player games, the person in the lead is often bashed by the other two in a cooperative effort. One-on-one games are the most straight-forward: move and counter-move are exchanged.
According to the box, sessions last about 20 to 40 minutes. We found this to be inaccurate, as we never played a game in less than 45 minutes, with 50 to 60 minutes for games with new players.
The game is far too abstract to convey much of an atmosphere, which is a pity. It's good fun, with a certain element of risk and many possibilities to change the course of the game and thwart your opponent's plans.

Conclusion

Taking everything into account, Kingdoms is a good game. If you're comfortable with abstract games with a good chunk of math thrown in, this is your thing. The game components are excellent: great graphics, easily distinguishable. Although the cardboard that is used is quite sturdy, people may balk at the price of the game. While I agree that the price is a bit steep, I still think that the game and its replay value are worth your money.
This brings me to the ratings. Good solid presentation, consisting of well-written rules and nice components result in a four out of five for Style: good, but not outstanding. Substance also rates a four: good game, with a lot of depth but probably too abstract to appeal to everybody.

Kingdoms
Kingdoms Playtest Review by Jake de Oude on 30/09/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A highly abstract board game with few flaws — Fantasy Flight Games' reissue of Knizia's Auf Heller und Pfennig* was a good idea and was well done.* Product: Kingdoms Author: Reiner Knizia Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Line: Cost: US$ 19.95 Page count: n/a Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1589940318 SKU: FFG KN03 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Jake de Oude on 30/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Kingdoms is a highly abstract tile-placing game by master game designer Reiner Knizia. Knizia is known for numerous games, among them the cooperative Lord of the Rings game, Stephenson's Rocket and Titan: the Arena. This time, players take the role of kings, trying to make money by constructing castles on the most profitable places. The story of Kingdoms starts as early as 1994, when a German version of the game was published as Auf Heller und Pfennig. Apart from some cosmetic changes, Kingdoms is a straightforward reissue. In the original game, the players are merchants on a medieval marketplace, trying to make the most money from their stands. This clearly shows the level of abstractness. Fantasy Flight Games (also producers of the English version of the excellent card game Citadels) has now made an international version of the game. The game board and tiles are adorned only by pictures or numbers, whereas the manual (found here as a PDF file) is written in 7 languages: English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, French and Italian. An excellent move, making the game much more accessible (and, of course, profitable). Presentation The game comes in a nice sturdy box with a moody painting by Jim Pavelec. The pieces are all full colour and of excellent quality, illustrated by Eric Lofgren. They are made of cardboard, however, so they are relatively easily damaged, especially by fluids. The game board is assembled from 4 pieces which fit together in a jigsaw kind of way. The paintings on the components are good and lend what little atmosphere they can to the game. What's more, the different kinds of chits are easily distinguishable: the shape varies and they are colour coded. The rules are provided in 7 languages, as I mentioned above. The English rules are clear and concise and provide some illustrative examples. Three optional rules are included to enhance the replay value. (As my knowledge of the non-English languages is insufficient, I can't comment on the clarity of the translations. If you can, please elaborate in the forum below.) One could wish for more solid game components, but still I give two thumbs up for the presentation. Rules The board is divided in a 5 by 6 matrix on which tiles are placed. If all 30 places are covered, the epoch (round) is over. After three rounds, the game is over. There are three kinds of tiles: resource tiles, hazard tiles and castles. Resource tiles are numbered 1 to 6, with each number appearing exactly twice, resulting in 12 resource tiles. Hazard tiles are numbered from -6 to -1, with each number appearing exactly once. Each player has a certain amount of castles, depending on the number of players, with each castle bearing a number of dots ranging from 1 through 4. The basic idea is simple: add all values from the resource and hazard tiles that are found in the row and column of a castle tile. The product of this and the number of dots on the castle tile is the amount of gold pieces a player receives (or has to pay, in case of a negative result). Do this at the end of each epoch, and the person with the largest treasury wins. There are four special additional terrain pieces that change this scheme: The Dragon nullifies all resource tiles in the row and column in which it lies. The Gold Mine multiplies all values of both resource and hazard tiles in row and column. Two Mountains that divide the row and column in which they're placed in two separate parts. At the beginning of every epoch, each player draws one tile from the shuffled, face-down pile and looks at it. Each turn, players can do one of three things: place the 'secret' tile on the board, draw a new tile and play it, or play a castle. At the end of each epoch, all tiles are recycled, except for the castles with value greater than 1, which are useable only once. Playtest Kingdoms proved to be an enjoyable game. The fact that all pieces count two ways, both in a row and in a column, takes some getting used to and generates a large part of the strategic element. As you can't skip a turn, you're sometimes forced to place tiles at the end of an epoch. The fact that only your one-dot castles are returned at the end of each epoch provides yet another dilemma: when do you use your larger castles? With these few elements, there are already some nice strategic moves to be made: placement of a castle to prevent the placement of a hazard tile on the same spot, the placement of resource tiles next to hazard tiles to deny the next player the full usage of the tile, and so on. The real meat, however, lies in the four special tiles. These open up an unexpected wealth of options and moves. "If I construct my castle here, the risk of the Dragon being played is negligible, but the value is not very high." "My castle reaps the benefits form both this row and the effect of the Gold Mine in this column— hey! Put that Mountain down!" I only wish that there were more specials. The number of players has a big impact on the way Kingdoms is played. With four players, the game is more chaotic and unpredictable. In three-player games, the person in the lead is often bashed by the other two in a cooperative effort. One-on-one games are the most straight-forward: move and counter-move are exchanged. According to the box, sessions last about 20 to 40 minutes. We found this to be inaccurate, as we never played a game in less than 45 minutes, with 50 to 60 minutes for games with new players. The game is far too abstract to convey much of an atmosphere, which is a pity. It's good fun, with a certain element of risk and many possibilities to change the course of the game and thwart your opponent's plans. Conclusion Taking everything into account, Kingdoms is a good game. If you're comfortable with abstract games with a good chunk of math thrown in, this is your thing. The game components are excellent: great graphics, easily distinguishable. Although the cardboard that is used is quite sturdy, people may balk at the price of the game. While I agree that the price is a bit steep, I still think that the game and its replay value are worth your money. This brings me to the ratings. Good solid presentation, consisting of well-written rules and nice components result in a four out of five for Style: good, but not outstanding. Substance also rates a four: good game, with a lot of depth but probably too abstract to appeal to everybody.