So I’m still moving along well with my next BGA learned game. And I keep on coming across two player games. This week it is The Architects of Amytis. This one gives me a bit of a feel of something like Harmonies. And I wasn’t a big fan of Harmonies, not that it is a bad game it just didn’t excite me. Does The Architects of Amytis offer something more than Harmonies does?

How To Play The Architects of Amytis

The game is about scoring the most points generally by building out different groupings of buildings. You want buildings of certain colors to be in certain positions so that they complete your scoring card objectives. But you also get points through a couple of different areas as well, which we’ll talk about as we talk about game play.

Getting Tiles

You are pacing tiles onto a 3 by 3 grid. To get a tile you place a worker onto a three by three grid of available tiles. Each tile is part of a stack and you take the top tile on that stack and place it onto your board. You want to place it in a way so it helps build out one of the patterns that you have.

When you place your worker, you do need to consider one thing. Where you place your worker matters. Because, if you get three in a row, you get to place out a scoring marker. Those scoring markers can just be for some points on a track that increases the more markers you have on it. Or you can score points if at the end of the game for each of the spots on your board that has two tiles on it, for example. If you complete a row of three you remove your workers, otherwise you remove your workers at the start of a turn following placing your forth worker.

Placing Tiles

You also need to consider when taking tiles the power of the tile. Each of them is going to give you some in the moment benefit. Often times that’s just going to be scoring some points. But there is one type of building that is going to let you grab another pattern, and you need to get those because you don’t refill in those cards otherwise.

The game continues like this with players taking turns and placing workers until two piles of tiles are empty. At that point, players will tally up the patterns that they scored, plus any other bonus points they chose to go after from getting three workers in a row. And the player with the most points wins.

What Doesn’t Work?

I think that the placing of workers might be a bit disappointing to some people. You want to get three in a row, but it’s a 3 by 3 grid, the other player can block you. So you maybe get two or three of the tokens into play. And sometimes it’s just smarter to spend them on the one track that gives you points for the more you have. The other ones, you want to try and get them, but it’s often difficult to set it up.

I think it also might not work for some people with how tight it is getting new scoring tiles or cards. There are a handful, maybe just 4 tiles, that can get you more cards. So if you don’t get one or two of those, you find yourself very limited in what you can do. So it becomes about creating three in a row. And we just talked about how that is challenging.

What Works?

All The Scoring

Now, I talk about those negatives, but a positive is how you can score in different ways. I think that is a lot of the fun of the game. You want to get three in a row so you can add to your scoring. In fact, you need to do that because while the patterns give a lot of points, you need to supplement them somewhere. And if you can get, for example, the one where you get points for having your tiles two deep and you get all nine tiles, that’s a lot of points. So I enjoy that aspect of the game.

I like, also, how the tiles score when you play them. Walls, for example, score for being near the edge of the board. But if you place a wall in the middle, you get points for your other walls still. So there’s this fun element of where to place the tiles as well. Now, sometimes it is a less than ideal placement to finish a pattern, but you’re still getting points. It just might not be quite as ideal as it could be.

Game Speed

The turns in this game are also very fast. A turn is placing a worker and grabbing that tile to place on your board. While you place and score, your opponent can be figuring out what tile to pick. So even on BGA, if you get two people on at the same time, the games just fly by.

Player Interaction

The final thing I want to talk about is how you can mess with the other player. I make this game sound fairly solitaire. And it is generally the best plan to get points yourself. But when I place a worker, if I can block you from getting three, that is great. I don’t want to do something that won’t give me anything, but if I can slow down your bonus scoring it works well. And this only works because the patterns are face up. So I know what you want to go for.

Who Is The Architects of Amytis For?

I think that this game works really well for a lot of players who who want a good two player game. The back and forth of the game is nice and there is a good mix of strategy, a little luck, and not so many decisions that the game bogs down. So it is going to feel familiar and comfortable to a lot of more casual gamers.

My Final Thoughts on The Architects of Amytis

I enjoy this game a whole lot more than I do Harmonies. They have some interesting things going on in them, but for a pattern making game, I think this one is better. I like the little bit extra that it adds without making it too complicated. Harmonies gives you one extra element of placing a token so you can’t reuse stuff, but that just makes it restrictive. This game is more generous and very generous when it comes to points.

And I think that generosity with the points is something else that I appreciate. It’s no0t like I spend a ton of time and I get something done and it’s a few points. When you need a few turns to build up and get points, it’s nice to have the points mean something. Add in that you get points even when you don’t complete a pattern is nice as well.

Finally, the three in a row is very fun as well. I think element of the game is one of my favorite. I want to figure out how to optimize my end game scoring. And I make choices, like going for piles of tiles that are two tall, that will determine how I play the game.

My Grade: B-
Strategy: B
Luck: C-

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here