🏰 Middle Ages — Straightforward Rules, Meaningful Decisions
⭐ 9/10
Players: 2–5
Playtime: approx. 30 minutes
Difficulty: Light / Medium
Game type: Euro / Strategy / Engine-building
Mechanics: tile drafting, area development, income management, negative interaction, synergies, long-term planning
Publisher: Czacha Games
🎯 What is this game about?
Middle Ages is a game about building your own fiefdom — but not in a fairy-tale, sugar-coated way. This is medieval life made of blood, coins, and decisions that actually have consequences. Each tile represents a fragment of your kingdom’s story: fields, mills, villages, churches, barracks, palaces. You add them one by one, and over time you start to see not just a board, but a system you’ve created yourself — one that, if built well, starts working for you.
🎯 Goal of the game
You want to have the most money. Not abstract victory points, but hard cash: coins, rubies, diamonds — a full treasury. Over 16 rounds you develop your lands, trigger effects, collect income, and react to events that can shift everything just slightly off course. This is a game where you plan… but you’re never fully allowed to sit back and relax.
🃏 What does a turn look like?
A turn is simple, but packed with meaning:
take a tile → add it to your fiefdom → activate its effect → collect income.
And suddenly you realize that:
one tile triggers another,
one bad moment can ruin an entire round,
and one good decision can pay off until the very end of the game.
Every few rounds, event cards come into play — like medieval fate itself: sometimes it helps, sometimes it burns your crops. And you just have to deal with it.
🏆 How do you win?
There’s no single path to victory. You can focus on:
a stable economy,
strong building synergies,
cleverly stealing momentum from others,
or very specific, narrow specializations.
But Middle Ages does not forgive chaos.
It’s a game that says: “Sure, do whatever you want — just be ready to live with the consequences.”
🌿 Why does this game work so well?
🏰 It’s Kingdomino for grown-ups.
If Kingdomino felt too calm or predictable, Middle Ages delivers exactly the tension that was missing.
🏰 It’s beautifully produced — character illustrations are full of personality, and the boards are clear and atmospheric.
🏰 The box deserves special praise: everything has its place, no insert needed — always a big plus.
🏰 The game is easy to teach, but not trivial. Perfect for a table with players of different experience levels.
🏰 Interaction? It’s there. You can feel it.
It doesn’t ruin the fun, but it definitely makes you watch what others are doing.
💀 Why might it not be for everyone?
If you’re looking for a purely relaxing puzzle where everyone quietly builds their own little world — this isn’t it. Sometimes someone will take something from you, sometimes an event will mess up your plan, and sometimes… you’ll sabotage yourself. But that’s exactly what gives the game its character.
✨🧀🍞 Cheesy Joke Corner 😄
Middle Ages reminds us of one important thing: in the Middle Ages — and honestly, in every era — it’s not about having a plan, it’s about making sure your neighbor “Andrzej*” doesn’t have a better one 🏰💰
☕ My impressions
This game really pulled me in. It’s fast, focused, and elegant — yet it leaves you with that very pleasant feeling of: “okay, just one more game.” There’s emotion, there’s thinking, and there’s real satisfaction from a well-built engine. I honestly believe that for anyone who loves Kingdomino, this is an absolute must-have.
🎯 Final score: 9/10
Dynamic. Thoughtful. Highly replayable. Perfect if you enjoy games that are simple in form, but rich in decisions.
📜 Rulebook: Middle Ages
*a character from the Polish series 1670
