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MEDIEVAL ACADEMY GAME REVIEW

 In Medieval Academy , players take on the role of squires training to become knights of the realm. Players advance by mastering combat and fighting dragons, as well as furthering their education, serving the king and demonstrating their chivalry and bravery. Only one player will be selected as a knight, so start training!

 Medieval Academy is a card drafting game for 2-5 players that consists of 6 rounds and lasts 30-45 minutes. The game consists of a deck of 52 cards, 7 double-sided playing fields and a large number of tokens. Players compete for first place in as many playing fields as possible, earning them points at the end of each round. The player with the most victory points is the winner.

HOW TO PREPARE THE BATCH

 Preparation is simple. Lay out the 7 playing fields as shown below. Each playing field is double-sided, each side offering different scoring conditions for greater replayability.

• Top: Gallantry
• Middle: Jousting (black armor), Tournaments (white armor), Education
• Below: royal service, charity, quests

 Lay out the scroll containing the circular marks and the turn order indicator. Place an hourglass figure in Round I. Shuffle the deck of study cards and place them within reach of all players. Make separate stacks from each group of assessment markers. Each scoring marker will have an icon that matches the game board, with the exception of the Gallantry board.

 Each player will take all the pieces of their color by placing 1 circular disc in the lower left corner of each of the 7 playing fields. Deal 5 study cards to each player. Pick a starting player and give them a totally useless but also totally awesome First Player Sword token. Now the game is ready to start.

GAME PROCESS

 Playing fields

 The game includes 7 different playing fields. There are 2 additional fields that can be obtained from the publisher, which allows you to mix and match them. Each field is double sided and contains everything a player needs to know to play it and score when needed. Let's take a closer look.

 When a field gives points – Playing fields are counted in one of 3 intervals:

• Each Round: As shown on the example card above (Gallantry, Jousting, Tournaments, Education)
• Rounds 3 and 6: (Royal Service)
• Endgame: (Quests, Charity)

1. When the field is updated - the position of the markers on the playing field is preserved until they are reset. Quest and Charity fields continue to accumulate until the end of the game, and other fields are reset at the end of Round 3.
2. Scoring conditions – Bravery, Combat Challenges, Tournaments, Royal Service, and Quests all reward players who lead, while Education and Charity punish players who *don't* lead.
3. Game field icon - very easy to read which point tokens go to which field.
4. Start space – where point markers are placed at the start of the game or after the field is updated.

 Let's use the tournament field shown above as an example. This field counts points each round, updates after the 3rd round and awards 3 points to the player in 1st place, 2 points to the player in 2nd place and 1 point to the player in 3rd place (only for games with 4+ players).

 The Gallantry board will always be the first board to score points, and is the only board that does not award point tokens. Instead, the Gallantry scoreboard awards movement points to players in the lead. These movement points can be used on any square in the game (including the Gallantry square itself) and must be used before any other square is scored.

 The player in 1st place on the Gallantry field gets 3 movement points, the second place player gets 2 movement points, and the 3rd place player gets 1 movement point (4+ player games only). Movement points are scored in reverse order, meaning the player with the fewest movement points uses their points first, up to the player in the lead.

CARDS

 At the beginning of each round, players are dealt 5 cards. Players choose a card they wish to play and place it face down in front of them, then pass the rest of their hand in the direction currently indicated on the circular tracker. In the first round, the cards are dealt clockwise and then counter-clockwise.

 After all the cards have been dealt, players take their cards and play one card at a time, starting with the first player of the round. Players advance the points marker for the selected square (from 2 to 5 cells). If a player moves a piece and lands on the same area as another player, the new piece is placed on top of the old piece and is considered "ahead" for scoring purposes. Play continues in the appropriate direction until each player has played 4 cards from their hand; the remaining cards are discarded.

ACCOUNT TOKENS

 The counting tokens are divided into 6 groups to correspond to the 6 suits in the deck. There are a large number of tournament tokens (sword) and education tokens (book), fewer Royal Service tokens (crown) and only a few quests (dragon) and charity (money bag). This is consistent with when each field is scored.

COUNT

 At the end of each round, players will determine which fields to count and which players are in the lead. If a situation arises where two pieces occupy the same position on the playing field, the top piece is considered "in front" for scoring purposes. Players determine the score they earned that round, take the accompanying points token and place it face down in front of them. All relevant game boards are updated and play continues in the next round.

 The game continues until all 6 rounds are completed, after which the players tally their points, including negative points in the education and charity fields. The player with the most points is the winner.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE GAME

 The components in this game are of really good quality, as expected from Iello Games. The box is well made and sturdy, even lined with linen on the outside. Fields and tokens are thick cardboard with bright colors and easy-to-read text. The player's elements are beautiful wooden chips in bright colors.

 The artwork in this game is fun, and actually quite themed. The cards in each suit from 2 to 5 illustrate how your squire grows in power.

 The game is fast and quite fun. If I'm playing with my 10-year-old sister, we can usually finish the game in about 20 minutes.

WHAT DID NOT LIKE

 While I love this game, there are some things that I think could be improved.

 Game components, despite the high quality, could be a little thicker. As it is, they are a bit difficult to fit for someone with big hands like me.

 Point tokens are completely unnecessary and a bit annoying. I know keeping them face down adds to the strategy, but I wish there was a better way to keep track of your score.

 This game is a reprint of the French game, and while the rulebook explains the game well, there are a few places where the translation fails.

CONCLUSIONS

 One of the things I like most about this game is that it's pretty simple. Of course, there are a lot of tokens, extra chips and that funny sword. But at its core, Medieval Academy is just a card game. And that's what makes you make tough decisions. There were many times when I wanted to be dealt every single card, but I was forced to pick one and pass the rest; not knowing what was waiting for me from the player on the right. Are you looking for relatively quick points in competitions and tournaments at the expense of education? Is it better to focus on the Royal Service or to do quests? 17 points from quests is pretty mouth-watering, but never forget that the last player on the Charity field will lose 10 points.

 Medieval Academy is a fun, fast-paced card-drafting game with challenging picks, fun surprises, and fun challenges. Combine that with high-quality components and a great design, and you've got an unbeatable game!