Game Objective

In Architects of the West Kingdom: Age of Artisans, players take on the role of master craftsmen returning to the city. The goal is to adorn the city's buildings with fancy wares and upgrade apprentices with new tools. Players compete to gain the most Victory Points through construction and the acquisition of Adornments and Tools.

Setup

Set up the base game as per the original rulebook, applying the following changes:

• Place the Guildhall Board over the original Guildhall area of the Main Board.
• Place the Black Market Overlay Card in the middle space of the Black Market.
• Shuffle the new expansion cards into the Apprentice Card and Building Card draw piles.
• Shuffle all Craft Cards and place them facedown above the Guildhall. Reveal 4 Craft Cards and place them faceup in a row.
• Players may now choose Orange as a color. The Orange player can use either of the new Player Boards. If using Variable Setup, Side 2 of these boards provides new powers and starting configurations.
• Each player receives 1 Player Aid and 1 Artisan in their chosen color.
• In reverse turn order, each player hires 1 faceup Apprentice from the Main Board at no cost. Gain or lose Virtue based on the chosen Apprentice. Refill the empty spaces. This draft must occur before the Building Card draft.

Note for 6 players: The game ends when all Guildhall spaces are filled with Workers. Use all available Reward Cards (if there aren't enough to meet the "2 per player, plus 1" rule).

Game Flow

The game follows the original structure, with the addition of new interactions within the Guildhall and Black Market. A key mechanic is the Apprentice reset: when a player places their first Worker over one of the specific Guildhall spaces containing the reset icons, the two Apprentices in the left-most column of the Main Board are discarded and refilled. This happens only after the current player has completed their turn in full. Any Silver on discarded Apprentice Cards returns to the Supply.

Actions and How to Play

The Artisan

Each player has one Artisan, which functions like a Worker with special rules:

• Placement: When placed, the Artisan counts as 2 Workers. On future turns, it counts as a single Worker.
• Virtue: When placing an Artisan, the player may ignore 1 Virtue loss.
• Restrictions: Artisans may never be placed into the Guildhall. They can be captured and are worth 1 Silver in Prison.

Crafting Adornments

To craft an Adornment, follow these steps:

1. Place a Worker from your supply on top of one of your previously placed Workers in the Guildhall. (Maximum of 2 Workers per space; you cannot stack on opponents' Workers).
2. Pay 2 Silver to the Tax Stand and 3 Silver to the Supply.
3. Select 1 of the 4 faceup Craft Cards (using only the top section).
4. Tuck the Adornment under a previously constructed Building Card. You can only have 1 Adornment per Building.
5. Resolve the immediate benefits or punishments.
6. Replace the taken Craft Card from the draw pile.

Crafting Tools

To craft a Tool, follow these steps:

1. Either place a Worker on top of one of your previously placed Workers in the Guildhall, OR place a Worker at the middle space of the Black Market (costing 2 Silver and 1 Virtue instead of committing a Worker permanently).
2. Select 1 of the 4 faceup Craft Cards (using only the bottom section).
3. Tuck the Tool Card under one of your Apprentices. You can only have 1 Tool per Apprentice.
4. Replace the taken Craft Card from the draw pile.

Tool Rules:

• Each Tool activates once per player turn or Black Market Reset.
• A player must be able to benefit from an Apprentice's ability to activate the Tool, though the Tool may be resolved before the Apprentice (acting as a reward or discount).
• Tools cannot be moved or removed. If an Apprentice is discarded, the Tool may be repurposed to another available Apprentice or discarded if no other Apprentice is available.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends in the same way as the original game. In addition to original scoring, players calculate the following:

• Adornments: Score Victory Points as indicated in the top right of each Adornment card.
• Tools: Players score increasing Victory Points based on the total number of Tools acquired (e.g., 3 Tools = 4 VP; 5 Tools = 9 VP).

Tips for Winning

• Strategic Pairing: Be careful when pairing Tools with Apprentices. For example, Tools that capture Workers when taking an action will not activate with Squires or Peddlers, as their abilities trigger during a Black Market Reset.
• Tool Utility: Use Tools as discounts. If you are short on Silver to pay a Debt, you can activate a Tool (like the Debt Collector) to gain the necessary Silver to then trigger the Apprentice's ability.