The Builders: Middle Ages

About this board game

The Builders: Middle Ages is a 2013 board game for 2–4 players, with games taking about 30 minutes. Players develop buildings by assigning workers whose skills meet each project’s construction requirements.

Building and worker cards each feature four characteristics: carpentry, masonry, architecture, and tilery. Each value ranges from 0 to 5. To complete a building, you must place enough workers on it to cover all four characteristics, paying each worker’s cost before construction begins.

Every player starts with 10 ecu and an apprentice. Five buildings and five workers are available face-up, and each turn provides three free actions. Additional actions cost 5 ecu each, so managing your money is an important part of developing your workforce and completing projects.

• Open a site: Take a face-up building and replace it from the deck.
• Recruit a worker: Take a face-up worker and draw a replacement.
• Assign a worker: Pay the worker, place them on a building, and complete it when its needs are met.
• Get money: Forgo one, two, or three actions to gain 1, 3, or 6 ecu.

Completed buildings award the points and coins shown on their cards, then flip over. The workers assigned to them return to your available labor pool, and some completed buildings can also join that pool to help complete future projects.

As soon as a player reaches 17 points, the round continues until everyone has taken the same number of turns. Final scoring includes completed building points and 1 point for every 10 ecu. In The Builders: Middle Ages, the player with the most points wins.