Game Review: Lords of Waterdeep

Any game with a Drow on the cover is win.

Lords of Waterdeep is a super fun board game for two to five players that brings the elegant worker placement mechanic of an excellent Euro game to the fantastical setting of The Forgotten Realms in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. The game is as rewarding to play as it is fun and promises for a great evening of gaming with your friends. 

With this game, Wizards of the Coasts really flexes its considerable gaming muscle by producing such an engaging and fun game. The box alone is very unique and the quality of the components is top notch. Through out, the immersion of being a D&D game is evident, right down to the chits used as gold coinage. There are plenty of D&D hallmarks. From the art of the quest cards to the map like game board depicting the city of Waterdeep, there is no doubt that this game takes place in the Forgotten Realms. And this is one of the games main strengths to me. Unlike many worker placement games where you may be farming for grain or corn, or gathering wood or food, your resources are hearty adventurers that you send forth on valiant quests to further your particular Lord of Waterdeep's agenda. From a role-play standpoint, players take on the roles of quest givers. I made the joke that an entire thirteen week Encounters season is completed with just one Quest card! :)

Jason intently considers his next turn

But it also very much has the look and feel of the quality Euro game that is is. There are wooden Meeples representing Agents and colored dice cubes standing in for the adventurers: Warriors, Rogues, Clerics, and Mages (the rarest to acquire). There are play mats for each player to track their resources that really harken back to games like Puerto Rico and Agricola. The game is also similar to the game Caylus. The mechanics are simple. Each player is dealt a Lord of Waterdeep card and that identity is kept secret from the other players. Each Lord has an agenda that players try to forward during the game that earn them additional points at the end. Each turn, the players place Agents on different locations on the game board. Each location can only be chosen once (mostly), and each location yields different benefits. Players may also elect to build additional locations for players to occupy. For example, I place an agent at The Plinth and receive one Cleric. As players accumulate adventurers and gold, they can then "spend" these resources to complete quests (of which there are different types, such as Warfare or Skulldugery), which in turn grants the player points on the tracker or some other benefit. The trick is players have limited Agent access (in a five player game we had only two) so where you place your worker becomes very strategic. The turn order can change each turn (by someone occupying Waterdeep Castle) so someone may take a location you need to complete a quest before you have a turn. Add to this the ability to play Intrigue cards that either help you or hinder your opponents, and you have a very strategic and dynamic game. At the end of the 8th turn, players reveal their Lord cards and tally up their points. The player with the highest point total wins. 

The scheming begins!

We got to play two games and each game was different. However, each game we began to see more and more how the mechanics worked and the multiple ways one can earn points. Jason looked to be the clear winner in our first game, he was scoring quests that had huge point values early on, but through some savvy game play Chip came from behind and won by just two points. Our second game saw Jason coming in second again, but Seth won by building additional locations and earning huge bonuses for them due to his Lord of Waterdeep card. 

All in all, Lords of Waterdeep is a great worker placement game wrapped in the finery of a fantasy D&D setting. If you are a fan of one or the other genre, or both, you will definitely enjoy giving this game a try. 

Lords of Waterdeep has an MSRP of $49.99 and is produced by Wizards of the Coast. 

You CAN do what I said you could do!