Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 45-60 min
Age requirements:12+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Lords of Waterdeep is a worker placement game set in the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms. You are one of the secret rulers of the town Waterdeep and score points by hiring adventurers to complete quests.

Lords of Waterdeep Rules Description:

Lords of Waterdeep has a board with buildings that allow you to add adventurers to your tavern, build more buildings, gather quests and play intrigue cards. On your turn you place on agent on an unoccupied building space and then you may complete a quest. You start the game with two to four agents based on the number of players, two quests and two intrigue cards.

Each quest card grants a reward and requires a certain number and type of adventurers to complete. There are four types of adventurers: clerics, fighters, rogues and wizards. Rewards usually consist of victory points and gold, but sometimes include intrigue cards or adventurers. Some quests are plot quests that grant you bonuses throughout the rest of the game.

You have a choice of three buildings to construct. Each round victory point counters are added to buildings that remain from the previous round. When you build a new building you gain those victory points. New buildings that you add to the board are marked as yours and you gain something anytime another player places an agent on your building.

Intrigue cards allow you to mess with your opponents or help you gain resources. These cards may only be played by assigning an agent to one of the three spots in the harbor. At the end of the round you place these agents on an open action space.

You also begin the game as a specific lord of waterdeep. This card is kept secret and each lord grants you bonuses for completing specific quest types at the end of the game.

The game ends after eight rounds at which point you add your bonuses for extra adventurers gold and your lord. The player with the most points wins.

Quick Review of Lords of Waterdeep:

Lords of Waterdeep brings many classic worker placement mechanics together to create a great medium weight game. This game is very streamlined and plays quickly. Most games will take between 45 to 75 minutes regardless of the number of players.

Lords of Waterdeep looks fantastic and the components are high quality. And while at times the theme seems pasted on fans of DnD will appreciate the attention to detail by the designers. The box is a little wonky. It doesn’t fully overlap when closed and it almost looks like a book. It works fine enough though and stuff doesn’t fall out. The interior tray on the other hand is amazing. There is a place for organizing everything and all the components fit perfectly in the tray.

I really enjoy worker placement games and Lords of Waterdeep is one of the best I’ve played. It is not as complicated or deep as Agricola, but it is still a lot of fun. The unique scoring abilities of the lords keep things interesting. And trying to chain quests together, getting adventurers for your next quest by completing a different one, is great when you can pull it off.

You won’t need to reference the rules often and teaching this game is easy. The simplicity, depth and play time of Lords of Waterdeep guarantees it will hit your table often. You can play with newer gamers and even some non-gamers will pick this up easily.

If you enjoy worker placement games you should give Lords of Waterdeep a try, you won’t be disappointed. This game is excellent for those times you can’t get Agricola to the table. Because it accommodates new players better and plays in a fraction of the time.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 3 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 6 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6