Review: Paladins of the West Kingdom

Introduction & Overview

We find ourselves in a turbulent period of West Frankish history, circa 900 AD. Despite recent efforts to develop the city, the outlying townships remain under constant threat from outsiders. Saracens scout the borders, while Vikings raid wealth and livestock. Even the Byzantines from the east have shown a darker side. As noble men and women, players must gather workers from the city to defend against enemies, build fortifications, and spread the faith across the land. Fortunately, you are not alone. In his great wisdom, the King has dispatched his finest knights to aid our endeavors. So ready your steeds and sharpen your blades. The Paladins approach.

This is the premise behind Paladins of the West Kingdom, designed by Shem Phillips (Noctiluca) and S J Macdonald (Circadians: First Light). The game was published in 2019 by Garphill Games following a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Mihajlo Dimitrievski handled the illustrations, having previously lent his distinct art style to games such as Coloma, Claim, and Viral.

In Spain, it is published in a Spanish edition by Ediciones Primigenio (the game is somewhat language-dependent since Paladin cards feature text, though it is not overwhelming and can easily be managed with a player aid). It accommodates 1 to 4 players, with a minimum recommended age of 12 and a playing time of roughly 90 to 120 minutes. The MSRP is €44.95. For this review, a review copy kindly provided by Ediciones Primigenio was used.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and base) measuring 23×23×6.7 cm (a medium square box similar in size to Architects of the West Kingdom), we find the following components:

• 112 Workers (wooden):
  • 22 White Labourers
  • 18 Green Scouts
  • 18 Blue Merchants
  • 18 Red Fighters
  • 18 Black Clerics
  • 18 Purple Criminals
• 32 Workshops (wooden)
• 28 Outposts (wooden)
• 28 Monks (wooden)
• 28 Jars (wooden)
• 12 Attribute Markers (wooden)
• 116 Large Cards (54×86 mm):
  • 48 Paladin Cards
  • 32 Townsfolk Cards
  • 36 Outsider Cards
• 129 Small Cards (43×67 mm):
  • 10 King’s Favor Cards
  • 6 King’s Order Cards
  • 24 Debt Cards
  • 24 Suspicion Cards
  • 24 Tavern Cards
  • 24 Wall Cards
  • 17 Scheme Cards
• 50 Silver Coins
• 40 Provisions
• First Player Marker
• Resource Marker
• 4 Player Boards
• 2 Main Boards
• Rulebook

How to Play

Paladins of the West Kingdom is set in West Francia circa 900 AD, where players must defend their borders against invaders and develop their domain by recruiting workers from the city. Across seven rounds, players begin each round by selecting a Paladin card (which grants temporary bonuses to their faith, strength, and influence attributes, along with workers) and a Tavern card with additional workers. Players then alternate turns executing a single action at a time by placing their workers (some requiring specific colors, alongside wild purple workers that generate suspicion) on their individual player boards or on the King’s Favor cards on the central board. Actions on the left side allow players to develop workshops to discount future action costs, recruit townsfolk for their immediate or ongoing perks, pray to clear action spots, or gather provisions and coins; actions on the right side demand a minimum value in a specific attribute to commission monks, build walls, fortify outposts, absolve jars of sin, or attack and convert outsiders, which in turn boosts another attribute in an engine-building cycle. Attribute progression and the depletion of the tax supply (which triggers inquisitions and hands out debts to the most suspicious players) drive the tempo of the game. Once the seven rounds are completed, points are tallied for completed King’s Orders, advancement along the three attribute tracks, items built and cleared from personal boards, converted outsider cards, and resolved or unpaid debts. Whoever accumulates the most victory points is declared the winner.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the Workers. Over the course of the game, players manage a pool of workers acquired at the beginning of each round. These pawns are placed on action spots to resolve their associated effects. At the end of each round, a player may hold over up to three workers for the next round. There are six types: White-Labourers, Red-Fighters, Green-Scouts, Black-Clerics, Blue-Merchants, and Purple-Criminals. Color requirements matter significantly, as certain action spots demand specific colors.

Purple workers, the criminals, act as a special worker type by serving as wildcards for action spaces that demand a specific color. In exchange, whenever a player gains a criminal worker (regardless of the source), they must draw a Suspicion Card. These cards may depict anywhere from zero to two coins, which are taken from a special tax supply.

Whenever this tax supply empties, an Inquisition takes place to evaluate which player holds the most suspicion cards, punishing them with a Debt. Debts are represented by Debt Cards, which show a 3-point penalty on their face-up side, while flipping them over (paid debt) yields 1 point instead.

The main method for obtaining workers is through Tavern Cards. Each of these cards displays a combination of four workers that the player takes from the general supply.

Players will also manage two additional resources. First are Coins, which can be acquired through a dedicated action, as well as by taking from the tax supply when acquiring criminals and revealing suspicion cards. Coins are required to cover the costs of various actions.

Provisions function in a similar manner, also featuring a dedicated action to acquire them.

Next, let us examine the attributes. Each player must advance three Attributes to execute various actions: Faith (black), Strength (red), and Influence (blue). One of the most engaging mechanical nuances of the game is that most development actions require a minimum threshold in one attribute while simultaneously advancing another. At the end of the game, victory points are awarded based on the final position reached on each track.

Additionally, players always receive two workers via their Paladin Cards. These cards represent another core pillar of the experience. Each player holds an identical deck of paladins, which display in their top-left corner two workers to collect, along with a temporary boost to one or two attributes (added to whatever values the player currently has). Finally, the bottom banner outlines a special ongoing bonus active throughout that round.

Now we turn to each player’s Player Board. This board primarily displays a set of action spots requiring one, two, or three worker silhouettes; some show specific colors, while translucent outlines accept any worker color. Along the left edge sits the track tracking the levels of the aforementioned parameters. Beside it, the bottom-left area provides a space to slot the active paladin card. Converted outsiders are placed along the bottom edge, while fortified wall cards are arranged along the top edge. Certain action spaces hold supply tracks of wooden pieces that we will outline below.

First, we have Workshops, which, once constructed, discount the worker cost of actions on the right half of the board. Uncovering a workshop space yields an immediate worker of a specific color. Meanwhile, Monks and Outposts are used to secure bonuses on the main board discussed shortly. Uncovering these spaces grants players progression in one of the previously mentioned parameters.

We also find Jars, each featuring a printed numerical requirement indicating the attribute level needed to lift them from their row and place them in the bottom-right area of the board, granting a choice among various bonuses. Clearing jar spaces also raises the player’s value in a corresponding attribute.

Another available action allows building Wall Cards. In addition to increasing one of the parameters, these cards provide immediate bonus rewards. Wall cards are arranged in a row across the top of the board, where the cost and required threshold in another attribute are printed for playing the next card.

As previously mentioned, Monks and Outposts are placed on a main board. It features various regions tied to Strength (for outposts) and Faith (for monks). Each region offers designated spaces to place these wooden pieces in exchange for immediate bonuses. This board also hosts the tax supply (in the top left, with coins set according to player count) and the market of Outsider cards along the bottom, which line up with the same Faith and Strength requirements seen in the regional sections.

These Outsider Cards can be utilized in two distinct ways. They can be attacked to claim the instant reward shown in the top-right corner, or converted to activate the endgame scoring condition displayed along the bottom, alongside an immediate perk printed just above that banner. Outsiders belong to one of three possible faiths, which tie directly into several endgame scoring conditions shown across these cards.

Additionally, we have King’s Orders and King’s Favors. These cards serve two purposes: Orders establish shared endgame scoring goals, while Favors unlock common action spaces that any player can activate by placing the indicated workers.

Every game features three Orders and five Favors, arranged across an Orders and Favors Board that doubles as a round tracker. Along the top track of this board sits the market of Townsfolk cards.

These Townsfolk Cards function much like outsiders. Players can hire them in one of two ways: either by claiming an immediate one-time benefit shown in the top-right corner (and discarding the card), or by tucking them beside their player board as a permanent crew member to unlock ongoing abilities. The choice depends on the number of workers assigned to the recruit action. Regardless of which option is chosen, the recruitment cost remains the same, as marked above each card on the board.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. Set out the two central boards in the middle of the table in a line.
2. Shuffle the outsider deck and deal one face-up card onto each space of the main board.
3. Shuffle the townsfolk deck and deal one face-up card onto each space of the orders board.
4. Shuffle the King’s Order and King’s Favor decks, placing 3 Orders and 5 Favors face-down onto the orders board. Return the remaining cards to the box.
5. Form a general supply with workers, silver coins, and provisions.
6. Fill the tax supply with silver coins based on player count.
7. Shuffle the wall deck, suspicion deck, and tavern deck, placing each within reach on the table.
8. Each player collects a player board, 8 workshops (placed on the Develop action row), 7 monks (placed on the Commission row), 7 outposts (placed on the Fortify/Garrison row), 7 jars (placed beneath the Absolve row, sorted in ascending numerical order), 3 attribute markers (set on space 0 of each track), and an individual deck of paladins (shuffled and placed nearby).
9. Each player starts the game with 3 Silver Coins and 1 Provision.
10. Choose a starting player and give them the first player marker.
11. Finally, in reverse turn order (beginning with the player to the right of the starting player), each player drafts 1 available Townsfolk card for free, immediately resolving any instant bonuses if applicable.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Paladins of the West Kingdom plays over seven rounds. Each round is divided into several phases.

Phase I: Round Setup

Players proceed as follows:

• Reveal the card or cards corresponding to the starting round. During the first two rounds, a King’s Order is revealed, while the final four rounds reveal a King’s Favor. Round 3 is the exception, where both the final King’s Order and the first King’s Favor are revealed simultaneously.
• Reveal a number of Tavern cards equal to the number of players plus one (if the tavern deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck).
• Each player draws the top 3 cards from their paladin deck, secretly selects one to play for the round, and returns the other two to their deck—placing one on top and one on the bottom.
• Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each player drafts one Tavern card. The remaining unchosen card is discarded.
• Everyone then reveals their chosen paladin card and collects the six workers shown across their paladin and drafted tavern card from the general supply.

Phase II: Actions

In this phase, players take alternating turns, beginning with the first player and proceeding clockwise.

On their turn, the active player must choose one of two options:

• Take an action: The player places the required workers on an action spot (translucent silhouettes accept any worker color, and purple criminals act as wildcards for any color requirement), either on their player board or on an available King’s Favor card, resolving the associated effect.
• Pass: The player bows out of taking any further turns this round.

Play then passes to the left. The phase concludes once all players have passed.

Whenever the tax supply is depleted, an inquisition triggers. The player or players holding the most suspicion cards receive a Debt card as a penalty. Afterward, any player who received a debt discards half of their suspicion cards (rounded down), and the tax supply is refilled with coins according to player count.

The actions available on each player’s board are:

• Develop (cost: any 2 workers and 4 coins): take the leftmost workshop from the row and place it onto a dashed box space on one of the actions on the right side of the board. It may be placed over an action space already containing a worker (returning that worker to the supply).
• Recruit (cost: any 1 worker, or any 1 worker plus 1 red worker): recruit a townsfolk card from above the orders board by paying the indicated coin cost (or gaining a debt card if taking from the two leftmost spaces). If placing only 1 worker, resolve the one-time bonus in the top-right corner and discard the card. If committing 2 workers, tuck the card beside the board to claim any instant bottom-left perks and gain its ongoing bonus whenever that action is taken in the future.
• Hunt (cost: any 1 worker, or any 1 worker plus 1 green worker): gain 1 provision (with 1 worker) or 3 provisions (with 2 workers).
• Trade (cost: any 1 worker, or any 1 worker plus 1 blue worker): gain 1 coin (with 1 worker) or 3 coins (with 2 workers) taken directly from the general supply.
• Pray (cost: 1 black worker and 2 coins): clear all workers from a single action space on your player board, returning them to the supply.
• Conspire (cost: any 1 worker): gain 1 purple criminal worker from the supply (drawing a suspicion card in the process).
• Commission (cost: 1 green worker, any 1 worker, and 1 black worker, plus the required provisions): place the leftmost monk onto a valid empty space on the main board matching your current Faith level (black track), claiming the depicted reward and advancing your Influence marker (blue) by one space.
• Fortify (cost: 1 blue worker, any 1 worker, and 1 green worker, plus the required provisions): draw the top card of the wall deck and place it on your next open wall space, gaining the listed rewards and advancing your Strength marker (red) by the printed value.
• Garrison (cost: 1 blue worker, any 1 worker, and 1 red worker, plus the required provisions): place the leftmost outpost onto an empty space on the main board matching your current Strength level (red track), claiming the depicted reward and advancing your Faith marker (black) by one space.
• Absolve (cost: 1 black worker, any 1 worker, and 1 blue worker, plus the required coins): move the leftmost jar to an available spot in the bottom-right corner of your board, gaining an instant bonus, increasing your Faith marker (black) by one space, and discarding a suspicion card if you hold any.
• Attack (cost: 1 green worker, any 1 worker, and 1 red worker, plus the required coins): choose an outsider card with a Strength value (red) equal to or lower than your current Strength. You may spend coins beforehand to temporarily boost your Strength by 2 per coin spent. Then, claim the rewards shown in the top-right corner of the outsider card and tuck it into your defeated outsiders pile.
• Convert (cost: 1 red worker, any 1 worker, and 1 black worker, plus the required coins): choose an outsider card with a Faith requirement (black) equal to or lower than your Faith, tucking it under the bottom edge of your board to claim any instant bonuses shown in the lower-left corner.

Phase III: Maintenance

Complete the following upkeep steps:

• Discard the rightmost townsfolk card (if present).
• Slide remaining townsfolk cards to the right and fill empty spaces from the left with new cards.
• Discard the leftmost outsider card (if present).
• Slide remaining outsider cards to the left and fill empty spaces from the right with new cards.
• Discard all tavern cards chosen by players this round.
• Return all workers from action spaces on player boards and King’s Favor cards to the general supply.
• Players who passed while still holding workers may keep up to 3 of them, returning any excess to the supply.

Unless round seven has just ended, begin a new round.

Game End

The game concludes at the end of the seventh round, followed by final scoring. Players tally points across several categories:

• Points scored from fulfilled King’s Orders.
• Victory points from the highest value reached on each of the three attribute tracks.
• Victory points printed beneath the last cleared space on the Workshop track.
• Victory points printed beneath the last cleared space on the Monk track.
• Victory points printed beneath the last cleared space on the Outpost track.
• Victory points printed beneath the last cleared space on the Jar track.
• Victory points from the furthest space reached on the Wall track, added to points printed on the wall cards themselves.
• Endgame victory points granted by converted outsiders according to their individual scoring conditions.
• One victory point for every three total coins and provisions combined (rounded down).

Whoever amasses the highest score wins. In case of a tie, apply the following tiebreakers:

• The player with the most points earned from King’s Orders.
• The player with the fewest suspicion cards.

If still tied, the tied players share victory.

Variants

Solo Mode: the player takes on an automated bot that operates like a regular opponent (mimicking a two-player game). This bot does not collect coins or provisions; instead, it tracks resource gains on a dedicated resource marker track, bumping its lowest attribute whenever the track fills up. Regarding worker costs, the bot treats all worker colors as identical, though it still acquires suspicion cards when gaining purple criminals. Finally, a deck of Scheme cards determines which actions the bot executes each round.

Personal Opinion

Shem Phillips has steadily carved out an enviable reputation in the hobby since founding Garphill Games back in 2009, rolling out ambitious designs and seemingly acquiring quite the taste for thematic trilogies. Pulling this off requires genuine boldness, since relying on crowdfunding means that if backers lose faith along the way, a series could easily stall unfinished. That fate seems unlikely here: following the acclaimed North Sea trilogy, the studio has solidified its footprint with the West Kingdom saga. Following Architects of the West Kingdom (read its tocho-review here), we now receive Paladins of the West Kingdom (with Viscounts of the West Kingdom lined up as the trilogy’s conclusion). Let us see how it performs on the table, but not before thanking Ediciones Primigenio for providing the review copy that makes this extensive breakdown possible.

Years have elapsed since we laid the groundwork of the realm, centered around the rise of an imposing cathedral. Now external threats loom large, forcing players to rally together to defend what cost so much labor to erect. Gratefully, the King recognizes the danger posed by foreign invaders and offers support through heroic paladins and regal decrees that widen our strategic scope. Even so, like any feudal ruler, he demands results in return.

Under this setup, the game challenges players to develop their personal player board to its fullest potential. Three foundational attributes underpin every strategic arc: Faith, Strength, and Influence. Each attribute can be advanced through two specific actions that, in turn, require reaching specific thresholds on one of the other two tracks. This design creates a dynamic that nudges players toward relatively balanced progression, even if leaning hard into two attributes while leaving the third lagging behind remains a viable route.

The mechanical heart beats around worker placement treated largely as action point management, given that most action activations resolve directly on your personal board. Spaces require specific worker combinations and counts across six distinct colors. While these hues feature flavorful thematic associations—green scouts for attacking or fortifying, black clerics for converting or absolving—in practice, thematic flavor fades fast. At the table, you will evaluate them purely as distinct colors rather than narrative roles.

Tied directly to this progression loop, the first three rounds reveal common objective cards that serve as the main strategic compass, dangling 18 points that no player can afford to overlook. These milestones demand milestones across the board’s six developmental tracks: monks, outposts, absolutions, walls, converted outsiders, or defeated foes.

Consequently, early rounds boil down to racing toward those three objectives, securing the strategic breathing room needed to push remaining tracks. Ideally, you will aim to max out as many attributes as possible, given that reaching the end of any track yields a hefty 20 points in final scoring.

The most critical moments of every round unfold right at the start, when you face two foundational decisions. These picks determine your worker pool, provide temporary attribute boosts, and grant an ongoing action perk or discount for the round.

First comes drafting one of three paladins drawn from your personal deck. The other two return to the deck with a clever twist: one goes on the bottom, delaying its reappearance for several rounds, while the other goes back on top to be drawn alongside two fresh cards next round.

I find this dual-layered decision-making brilliant. On one hand, you select a paladin whose perks and worker colors optimize your current turn’s objectives. On the other hand, you are banking a future play on top of your deck while burying another card at the bottom, largely kissing it goodbye since you only play 7 of your 12 paladins over the game. Cards relegated to the bottom early on will not resurface until the final rounds, and any sent down during mid-game rounds are effectively gone for good.

A similar deck-manipulation mechanism appears in a contemporary release, Sierra West (read its tocho-review here), with which it shares a noticeable drawback we will address later, though Jonny Pac Cantin’s design wove that mechanic into deck-building nuances.

The sheer tightness of each round is delightful. Consider the math: players begin every round with just six workers. That allowance translates into running merely two of the primary development actions. Pinpointing exactly which steps to take is vital for making your personal engine hum. That is where developing workshops shines, as each workshop placed chips away at action costs and adds momentum to your snowball effect.

Chaining these upgrades alongside paladin perks to reactivate an action space multiple times through clever board combos feels intensely rewarding. The puzzle runs crunchier than one might assume, particularly when stacked against its predecessor. Do not expect brain-melting weight, but Paladins of the West Kingdom clearly offers more chew for players seeking a meatier strategic hurdle.

Another obvious point of comparison is Terra Mystica (tocho-review here) or its sci-fi evolution, Gaia Project (tocho-review here). Both share that core dynamic where clearing pieces from your board and deploying them onto a shared landscape progressively supercharges your capabilities round after round.

Yet unlike those Jens Drögemüller and Helge Ostertag titles, Paladins provides an intensely solitary experience punctuated by minimal player friction. The sharpest point of contention centers on the Inquisition. Because action spaces carry tight color demands, wild purple criminals are highly sought after. Taking them, however, forces suspicion draws that tempt you with coins scooped from the municipal coffers. If that coffer runs dry, the Inquisition strikes, slapping the most suspicious player with a debt that docks three points if left unsettled.

Timing your plays around the coins remaining in that tax pool lets you outmaneuver tablemates, forcing them to absorb the penalty. You will frequently take a suboptimal action simply to ensure you are not holding the suspicion crown when the tax coffer runs low.

Outside of that mechanism, interaction is limited to card drafting—for both outsiders and townsfolk—and competing for board positions. Even though you can occasionally hate-draft a card or poach a desired spot, attribute requirements restrict options naturally, muting direct table conflict more than you might expect.

The final arena of competition lies in the King’s Favor actions, which operate as traditional exclusive worker-placement spots. The first player to claim a favor locks everyone else out until the following round. Herein lies one of the game’s flaws, one that impacts scalability.

The first player across each of the five rounds featuring King’s Favors enjoys priority access to these powerful actions on turn one. Some favors offer massive swings, like running a development action for minimal provisions, boosting an attribute, or scooping up extra workers. A fairer design would ensure equal access to turn-order advantage across all participants.

Regardless of those shared spaces, eighty percent of your game will be spent with eyes glued to your own player board. In my view, this insular feel hampers an otherwise solid design and may turn off players who thrive on tracking their opponents’ maneuvers.

Newton (read the tocho-review here) is an apt comparison: a solid engine that felt hollow due to constrained choices and nonexistent interaction, quickly devolving into an on-rails puzzle that ran out of steam. Fortunately, Paladins of the West Kingdom avoids that fate by varying each setup through the appearance of orders, townsfolk, outsiders, and board contention, keeping its replay value reasonably intact.

Still, be prepared for quiet sessions where little table talk occurs and higher player counts mainly bring sluggish downtime. For that reason, I consider two players the sweet spot. I would only table this at three or four players if everyone is intimately familiar with the rules and immune to analysis paralysis; otherwise, the experience turns excruciating.

Initial plays left me with mixed impressions due to that plodding tempo, where everyone minds their own business and players easily drift away, especially if an opponent runs away with an efficient early engine. Once the design clicks, however, matches remain fiercely contested, as reading true victory point standings on the fly is tricky and points remain up for grabs until the very end. It stands as a thoroughly satisfying design, even if it falls short of the all-time greats referenced earlier.

Production values are top-tier, showing off its crowdfunding pedigree. The player boards are thick with neat fold lines that sit flush on the table. Cards boast high-grade linen finish and snappy snapback. Wooden tokens feature bespoke shapes with great size and density, all packed snugly into a compact box that can be tough to close. The rulebook is logically organized and unambiguous, barring a minor typo on a paladin card whose ability references a synonym for an action instead of its exact printed board name.

Visually, the Macedonian illustrator continues to demonstrate why he is in such high demand. His distinctive, expressive aesthetic gives the game tons of character without cluttering board usability. Some asset recycling from the previous title is noticeable among the townsfolk, but the stellar work across paladins and outsiders makes it easy to overlook.

And let’s wrap this up. Paladins of the West Kingdom delivers a stimulating personal development puzzle powered by multi-colored worker placement and intertwined attribute tracks. The opening decisions of each round provide fantastic crunch, as managing paladin cards steers your engine building and sparks gratifying combos. The constant worker scarcity and tight efficiency race keep the tension humming. On the flip side, near-negligible interaction reduces the game to a heads-down solitaire affair where players rarely look up from their boards. It remains a thoughtful, deeply engaging challenge tailor-made for fans of personal board optimization. For all these reasons, I give it a…