I try my best not to fall into the trap of FOMO when it comes to board games. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years, FOMO is an acronym for “fear of missing out.”  Thankfully, it’s not too difficult since my chosen hobby takes a lot of a finite resource (money) to keep up with.  Thus far, my desire to be a responsible parent and husband has beaten out my desire to own every cool, new board game.  So, unless I want to put my family out on the street, using board game boxes as shelter, I must make choices on what I buy.

This leads me to never getting to even try some of the stalwarts I see mentioned repeatedly. Those games like Dune: Imperium, Gloomhaven, or Root won’t ever make it to my table as they just aren’t conducive to my play group… which is me, about 75% of the time, and me versus my wife another 20% of the time.  I will leave 5% for games where my 9-year-old jumps in (mostly Flamecraft or Quacks.)

This brings me to an iconic game, Hadrian’s Wall, which would fit my play style, but I have never pulled the trigger on it.  I gravitate to Garphill Games and are typically drawn in by Shem Phillips’ designs. So, when I saw a box on the new release shelf with the Garphill Games logo, I immediately picked it up.  I didn’t see Shem’s name, so I Googled the one I saw (Bobby Hill) and was pleasantly surprised to see he designed the aforementioned Hadrian’s Wall.

This is how The Anarchy came to be in my possession.  Over the first few weeks of owning it, I played it twelve times and was impressed by the depth of it. Read on to see what about the game keeps bringing it back to my table over and over again.

Note: I have only played this game solo and that will be the lens in which this entire article will be viewed through.

The Anarchy is housed in one of Garphill Games’ signature square boxes, almost identical to Legacy of Yu or Ezra and Nehemiah, but with a hefty weight different from those other options.  I will go ahead and spoil the surprise and tell you that the majority of the game’s bulk comes from the massive pad of pages they give you. I felt a little cheated at first, but those feelings left as soon as I got a single play under my belt.

Before we discuss the components, I want to mention the rulebook and the accompanying “campaign” book.  In usual Garphill Games fashion, the rulebook excels at laying out the necessary concepts and rules. But be aware, there is a lot to the game and newcomers might find themselves keeping the rulebook close by.  As for the additional book, it lays out 20 scenarios for a solo player to work through. Unlike a straight campaign, players can play them in any order they choose but if played in order, a historical story is told throughout the flavor text.  I will say that some of the added rules in the scenarios aren’t as robust as they should be, electing for efficiency over clarity (I’m looking at you Scenario 5.)

With this being a “verb-and-write” game, let’s start off the components discussion with the papers you’ll be filling out.  Each is double-sided and to play you’ll need one of each side. Moving forward, I will refer to them as Left Sheet and Right Sheet.  These sheets are made up of almost 550 (yes, I counted) boxes to mark off to keep track of a myriad aspects of the game. I know it will look like too much information to take in at first glance but once you’ve played, the layout and flow of all of the areas will make complete sense. I will go into more detail on how to use the sheet in the gameplay section.

During a game, the player will utilize three different boards: Main Board, Player Board, and Castle Board.  All three of these are compact and designed without an ounce of wasted space. I actually love that these are all separate so a player can organize them as they want on the table. I’ve been able to set The Anarchy up on a thin, but long, side table in my office and play rounds as I have time.  This beats the heck out of having a huge game taking up a whole dining room table and your family are giving you the look, because it’s in the way of everything.

Even though The Anarchy has you picking up a pen or pencil throughout, there is no shortage of other components to manipulate as you play. One of the coolest are the Castle Pieces, a collection of cubes, cuboids, and cylinders, printed with varying values on the sides. The player is going to use these pieces to literally build up their Castle, choosing to fortify the Walls or Gate, strengthening the Towers, or even constructing a Moat (represented by a light blue cube.)  Each of these pieces fit nicely into the grooves cut into the Castle Board and the tactile feeling of building up your castle is just so satisfying!

The player will also find a large bag of meeples, shaded in five different hues, representing the different workers or soldiers who will be helping the player meet their goals. You’ll find that the workers each specialize in a different area, so it is nice that the designer only added three other resources to deal with: Food, Material, and Silver.  These components are all fairly par-for-the-course if you’ve played any modern board games.

Lastly, there is a collection of varying card types with two kinds that particularly stand out to me.  The first are the Domain Cards, a deck the size you might find in a Mint-Tin game.  These cards stick out to me for the sole amount of information communicated by them in such a tiny package. Players will be flipping these cards in a variety of “mini games” as they play and it’s just a really simple and elegant package.

The second deck I want to point out is the Scenario Deck.  If playing through the solo campaign, you’ll be instructed to use varying cards out of this deck to create different obstacles to overcome. I won’t spoil anything, but it is really cool how some of these cards add a totally different spin to the normal ruleset.

The rest of the components are pretty standard fare so let’s jump into setup and gameplay.

Setup & Gameplay

Even though some scenarios have slightly diverse set up guidelines, the general directions will be the same and that’s what I will focus on here. First, you’ll need two papers from the notepad, Left Sheet and Right Sheet.  Second, choose a color and get that color’s deck of Domain Cards and the matching Tent.  Third, create piles for the Silver, Materials, Food, Workers, and Muster Tokens.

For the construction of your castle, take one of the Castle Mounts and the ten dice I mentioned before: 1 Gate Dice, 1 Moat Dice, 4 Tower Dice, and 4 Wall Dice.  Lastly, take one Player Board and sit it out in front of you, keeping it empty for the time being.

Next, you will put the Main Board out and start filling it with various accoutrements.  Shuffle the 25 Path Cards and place them in a facedown pile, removing any cards the specific scenario directs you to.  On the right side of the Main Board, there are two spaces for small stacks of cards. In the left space, shuffle and place the six Final Escalade Cards facedown. Next to these, shuffle and place the 36 Attack Cards.

Turning your attention to the middle of the board, you will find five empty card spaces with five empty spaces above each one. In these top spaces, you will randomly take five Plunder Tiles from the box, placing them in the appropriate space that matches the symbols on the back of each tile. Lastly, choose the five cards from the Scenario Deck to use. This can be based on one of the scenarios listed in the Campaign Book or one of the stand-alone scenarios featured in the rulebook. Place your Tent on the main board, to the left of the Scenario Cards, as well as a single Rival Tent if instructed, and you’re ready to play.

The game is best explained by breaking each round into five phases: Round Start, Production, Actions, Castle Defense, and Round End.  What better place to start explaining how a round starts than Round Start?

Round Start:

The start of a round is going to be focused on putting some important cards in place across the Player Board. The top Final Escalade Card will always be placed into the left-most empty space above the Player Board.  Then, Attack Cards will be placed to the right of this card, keeping a few things in mind. You will only ever place an amount of Attack Cards equal to the round you’re playing. So, in round one, a player should have two cards above the board (one Final Escalade and one Attack) whereas in the fourth round, there should be five cards (one Final Escalade and four Attack.)

The second thing to pay attention to is the orientation of the Attack Cards. While the Final Escalade Card will always be placed face up, the Attack Cards will alternate, with the first in the row being face up, the next being face down, the third face up again, and on and on down the line.

The next part of the Round Start phase is to draft new Path Cards.  In a solo game, if you were not instructed to set up a Rival Tent, it is standard to draw two Path Cards and then choose one to keep.  If you are playing a scenario with a Rival Tent, this will still be the case as long as you are on an equal spot as the Rival Tent.  If not, you’re relegated to taking the first card you draw.

These Path Cards are going to be particularly important throughout the game.  First, it is going to list a number of added resources the player will get for this specific round.  These resources will typically be varying amounts of Serfs (yellow workers), Craftsmen (black workers), Patrons (grey workers), Materials, and Silver.  You will also notice a small chart printed on the bottom of each Path Card with an end-game objective.  Each objective will list three levels that you’re able to achieve and an increasing number of Victory Points for achieving these differing levels.  I find the Path Card choice each round to be a really effortless way of forcing a weighty decision on the player.  Do you choose the card that awards you with some immediate resources you might need or do you choose one that gives you an objective you’re already striving to meet, meaning you might get an additional handful of points at the end of the game?  And in my experience, a handful of points can typically be the difference between winning and losing a certain scenario.

Production:

After choosing the Path Card, the Production phase starts.  The player will first grab from the supply all the resources listed on the chosen Path Card and then tuck the Path Card in the left-most empty bottom slot of their Player Board.  Next, they will look at the Production tracks, encapsulated within a grey box three-fourths of the way down on the Left Sheet, and take of each resource a number equal to how many circles have been filled in.  In addition to the resources already mentioned on the Path Cards, players may also get Food, Soldiers, and Knights.  Now that you have your resources for your round, it’s time to start checking some boxes!  Grab your pencil sharpener and let’s get down to business.

Actions:

Across the two sheets to fill out, most actions are broken into categories of tracks.  A few standard rules to be aware of is that any resource listed in a beige box is going to be a Cost for that action.  For example, the Moat track has a Soldier / Serf listed in the beige box, meaning the player pays one of these workers to the general supply in order to fill in the next box.  A second standard rule is that any resource or Attribute printed in a white box will be awarded to you once you fill in that box.  Lastly, all white boxes need to be filled in from left-to-right and from top-to-bottom, where applicable.  Below I’m going to give a quick description of each category, including their costs, starting at the top of the Left Sheet, and working my way down and then over to the top of the Right Sheet.  This is not meant to be an exhaustive discussion of each action.  If you’re interested in that, please find a downloadable version of the rulebook.  Instead, I just want to give readers a general idea of what to expect when choosing from the variety of actions.

Fortifications

Building up your Fortifications are going to allow you to place the dice in your Castle Mount, preparing for the Castle Defense phase.  Gates, Towers, and Walls are all going to cost a single Material and one Craftsmen to build and will typically reward you with a Patron or a movement up the Might Attribute track.  The Moat costs either a Soldier or a Serf but will return some Materials and movement on the Might Attribute track.  Be aware that to build past a certain level on all four Fortifications, you will need the Small Crane, and then later the Large Crane, in service.

Quarry & Forest, Farms, and Training Grounds

These three tracks will all cost a single Serf to check off the next box.  Not only do these tracks offer more Materials, Food, or Soldiers, but some of the boxes also allow the player to gain another circle in that specific Production Track.  For example, if you fill in the first three boxes on the Farms track, not only will you be rewarded two Food immediately, but you’ll also get to mark off an additional circle on the Food Production so you’ll start getting two Food during every Production phase moving forward.

The Wealth Wheel

The Wealth Wheel is split into four sections and is going to be the main place to spend your accumulated Silver.  The left, top, and right sections all cost a single Silver to fill in the next box, and gain the specific worker, while also occasionally allowing you to increase a Production track at the same time.  The Guildsmen section is dedicated to Craftsmen, the Mercenaries section is dedicated to Soldiers and Patrons, and the Allies section has a mix of Patrons, Knights, and a lone Craftsman. 

The bottom section of the wheel gets a little more interesting.  This section is where you’ll build Siegecraft, which you will typically need to attack enemy castles (more on that later).  Not only does each weapon cost a Silver but will also run you a number of Craftsmen and Materials.  On the upside, not only are you awarded the weapon, you also might get an additional Serf, Soldier, or a move up the Might Attribute track.

Attribute Tracks

At the very bottom of the Left Sheet are the four Attribute tracks: Bravery, Loyalty, Influence, and Might.  A player will only move up these tracks as a result of filling in other tracks, defeating enemy castles, or (sometimes) defending your own castle.  As you move up these tracks, you’ll be awarded different workers or movements on other Attribute tracks.  These tracks are also important as they will directly impact your final score, with players getting more Victory Points the higher up each track they progress.

Below these tracks is the Discontent track, a space where you keep track of any “failures” you might have.  Most of the times, these are going to come in the form of not being able to pay your army in the necessary Food or when you can’t defend all of the Attack Cards for the round.  There are ways on the Right Sheet to get rid of these Discontent marks but if you end the game with any, the track will tell you how many Victory Points to take away from your final tally.

Leadership Rows

The Right Sheet is laid out slightly different from the Left Sheet.  Running down the left side are four main Leadership Rows: Governance, Warcraft, Worship, and Entertainment.  Each of these rows has multiple actions tied to them but many of these actions are gated until the player gets to a certain level on that Leadership Row.  For example, once a player is marked the 1^st box of the Governance track, they can build the Small Keep and use its actions but in order to build the Medium Keep, the player has to have gotten to the 4^th box of the Governance Track.  For all Leadership Rows, the player must discard a Patron to move up to the next box.  I’m going to explain each section, noting the level(s) needed to open that building up.  Most of these buildings cost a single, or multiple, Craftsmen as well as Materials.  If they cost something different, I will mention that in the description.

Governance Actions

Small Keep (1), Medium Keep (4), Large Keep (7)

Keeps are all about giving players a place to dump extra Patrons to gain Knights, Resources, or additional spaces on the other Leadership Rows.

Small Mint (2), Medium Mint (5), Large Mint (8)

Opening Mints up is going to keep the player flush with Silver.  Not only are you awarded Silver as soon as you pay the cost, but you’ll also get to add to your Silver Production track.  Unlike the Keep, Mints need you to discard Serfs in order to use their benefits.

Spies (3, 6, 9)

This area is where you can go to hire Spies.  These aren’t buildings to build, but boxes that cost Silver and the player can keep them armed until ready to use them.  Once ready, a player can mark in the box and it will allow them to flip over one of the face-down Attack Cards, giving a sneak peek at how the enemy is going to attack your own castle.

Warcraft Actions

Tactics (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)

The Tactics track is a place to spend either Patrons or Knights and learn a new Tactic to shore up your castle defenses.  Once a box is marked, the player will move back to the Prepared Tactics section on the Left Sheet and fill in one of the boxes next to the required tactic.  This will immediately earn you a Soldier and the knowledge of one of the following Tactics: Covers, Rocks, Hot Oil, Logs, and Bolts.  From now on, a player can use Materials to build more of these Tactics, circling the next dotted circle on that Tactic’s track.  When taking part in the Castle Defense phase, players will end up using these built tactics in places where their workers and Fortifications aren’t quite strong enough.

Ramparts (1, 2, 4, 7, 9)

The Ramparts track is where players might go to spend Craftsmen to get more Soldiers or Soldier Production.  This is also where you can earn Muster Tokens, a way to transfer workers around your castle as it is being defended (again… more on this later).

Small Stables (3), Large Stables (6)

The last part of the Warcraft section is the Stables.  Once built, a player needs to pay three Soldier or Serfs, or a combination of the two, to unlock the Black Horse in the Small Stable or the White Horse at the Large Stable.  These horses are typically required for players to attack the strongest of the enemy castles.

Worship Actions

Small Chapel/Knight’s Training (2), Medium Chapel (5), Large Chapel (8)

The Chapels function as buildings where Food, Materials, and Silver can all be donated to gain Patrons and Patron Production, alongside Silver and the Influence Attribute.  Just building the Small Chapel allows to hold Knight’s Trainings though, meaning a player may pay a Patron to get a Knight and participate in the first of the “mini games” we are to discuss.

Next to the Knight icon is a purple scroll icon with a number inside, which you will see in a multitude of spaces as we move through the balance of the Right Sheet.  The player will reveal this many Domain Cards, focusing on the top section of each card.  There are four different symbols that could be shown there: Shield, Horseshoe, Bow & Arrow, and Scroll.  Depending on how many symbols do not match across the cards drawn, players may end up earning Soldiers, Knight Production, or the Might Attribute.

St. Valentine’s Festival

This track costs players Patrons and a certain amount on the Worship Row to advance on.  When a player pays a Patron, they will cross off the next box notifying them to draw two Domain Cards, focusing on the second section on the card, with the female and male symbols.  The first card drawn represents the number for the female and the second card drawn represents the male.  Players will mark off these numbers on the track, attempting to mark off pairs.  If the number drawn has already been marked off, the player is allowed to change the value up or down by one numeral.  The St. Valentine’s Festival will be an important aspect of gaining Serfs, Serf Production, and the Loyalty Attribute.

Entertainment Actions

Tournaments

The first “mini game” in the Entertainment section is for Tournaments.  This action costs Food in the first two levels, and then Food and Silver in the later levels.  Players taking part in the Tournaments can get some substantial rewards including Knights, Bravery Attribute, and Influence Attribute.  Additionally, players will draw two Domain Cards and compare the icons found in the 4^th section.  This section is split into three columns, with each column either showing a Shield, a Javelin, or left blank.  The first card drawn represents your Knight in the Tournament and the second card represents the opponent.  If your Knight’s Javelin is depicted in a column different from your opponent’s shield, you win the Tournament though it is possible to tie if your Shield is in a different column from the opponent’s Javelin.

If there is a tie, you draw another set of cards, repeating the process until you’ve either won, lost, or tied three times.  If you tie three times, that is considered a win and you can gain the Influence Attribute, the Might Attribute, Soldiers, or Hearts to erase that nasty Discontent we touched on earlier.

Brewhouse

While working your way up the Entertainment Row, players will notice a new icon that looks like a cooking pot on a fire.  This is the Brewhouse icon and means you’ll draw two Domain Cards and check the 5^th section of the card.  Here players will see one of four ingredients: Water, Hops, Barm, or Yeast.  For each of these symbols revealed, they will fill in a square on the 4×4 Brewhouse grid.  If a row or column is ever filled in, a Beer is rewarded.  These can be stored and used later on during the Castle Defense phase to strengthen the defense of a Craftsmen or Soldier (but never a Knight) by one.

Michaelmas

The Michaelmas “mini game” is all about spending Serfs and hopefully getting back a multitude of Resources or Hearts.  When using this action, you’ll draw… yep, you guessed it… two Domain Cards and look at the 3^rd section.  This section has an open book and a number printed within it.  Whichever numbers are revealed need to be written in one of the Sum Boxes in the Michaelmas section.  If the two written numbers ever sum to the value that is pre-printed on that space, the player is awarded the associated resources.  Players can never use a single value to meet the stated sum, so they’ll have to be smart on where they write their numbers.  The game does give two spots where there is no pre-printed sum so players can dump unwanted numbers there and still get at least one resource back.

Lammas

The last track in the Entertainment section is for the Lammas Flags.  Players will again pay Serfs and draw a pair of Domain Cards, this time focusing on the last section of the card.  A flag will be printed there in either green, red, yellow, or purple.  The player will fill in the required flags, choosing from the three banners strung across the page.  If two neighboring flags are ever both filled in, the player is rewarded with the benefit between them: either a Heart or a movement up the Loyalty Attribute track.

Attacking Enemy Castles

The last action that a player will take during this phase is not on either the Left or Right Sheets but instead is played out on the Main Board.  The Scenario Cards that were placed there during setup all will have a beige banner at the top, listing required costs to attack the castle, as well as a number in a silver, upside-down, teardrop icon (the Defense Icon) representing how much Strength you need to employ to have a successful attack. 

If you choose to attack, you will move your Tent one space to the right and pay all the Resources in the top banner.  Be aware that some of these requirements could include Horses or Siegecraft, so check that you’ve gained access to these before attacking.  Then discard an appropriate number of Soldiers or Knights to meet the Defense number, where Soldiers are worth a value of one and Knights are worth a value of two.  If these requirements are met, then you are rewarded with the attributes listed (always Bravery and sometimes Might) as well as the Resources printed on the Loot Tile above the card.

Castle Defense Phase

Eventually, you’ll run out of Resources and won’t have any additional boxes to fill in.  Hopefully you’re leaving this phase with a wealth of Craftsmen, Soldiers, and Knights, or some semblance of a decent Castle because it’s time to defend against your enemies and all the wicked siegecraft they’ve been accruing while you were out brewing Beer, attending Tournaments, or whatever else you’ve been doing during the Action phase.

The first step though is to feed your army because nobody wants to defend a castle on an empty stomach.  Players will discard a number of Food equal to the round that is being played.  For every Food that can’t be paid to meet this number, an equal amount of Discontent will be earned.

Second, you’re going to disperse your army around the four sides of your Castle to help mitigate the ensuing damage.  This is where those Attack Cards we placed above the Player Board so long ago finally come into play.  Each Attack Card is going to list a type of weapon being used, as well as what can defend against the weapon.  For example, an Attack Card utilizing Ladders is going to have a single section of Wall highlighted meaning that this one side of your Castle Wall will need to be defended.  It would also have an icon for a Rock Tactic, alerting you that you could mark off any unused Rocks that you have stored up in your Prepared Tactics section to add one defense for each.  Lastly, this Attack Card has the outline of a worker, showing you that Craftsmen and Soldiers add one defense and Knights add two. 

Similarly, an Attack Card utilizing Arrows is going to have three Walls highlighted, as it attacks three Walls at a time.  While this card also shows the meeple outline, it has no additional Tactic printed on it as no Prepared Tactics can help defend against the enemy’s arrows.

Using the values printed on your Fortifications, knowing which Tactics you have prepared, and how many workers are available, you’ll disperse them around the four sides of the castle, but remember, not every Attack Card is face-up.  The face-down Attack Cards will alert you which type of weapon is being used but you won’t know which side of the Castle is being attacked nor how strong it is.  If you have Spies employed, you can use them at this point to flip the cards over, but odds are, you’ll have one or two cards that are still a mystery going into this phase.

Each side of the Attack Card will have a letter (A through E) printed on it, which correlates to a value on the Scenario Cards on the Main Board.  In the first round, the values B and C might have a value of 1, while A, D, and E might have a value of 2.  Knowing the strengths ahead of time will help you to disperse your defenses in the right spots.

Once you’ve placed all the workers, it’s time to Resolve Attack Cards.  Starting at the far-right card, you’ll turn the card over if it isn’t already face-up and apply the damage to the specific side and area of your Castle.  For example, let’s say the first Attack Card is utilizing Ladders, has a strength of 2, and is targeting just the East Wall.  If your Wall dice there already has a 2 or higher value on it, that single Fortification was enough to repel the enemy and that card has been defended against.  If we pretend that the Wall was only at a strength of 1, the player would either need to use a Rock Tactic to add 1 point of defense, or they needed to have already deployed a worker there to soak up 1 point of damage.  If the latter is true, the player discards that worker (as they have been killed) but the card is still successful.  If there is no worker there, but a Muster Token is available to use, a player can transfer a worker from a different side of the Castle to help out at the East Wall.

It might be that your Wall isn’t strong enough, you have no available applicable Tactics and no workers on that side, which means your defense of 1 was not enough to defend the attack of 2.  In this case, that Attack Card is turned sideways and is deemed Undefended.  You’d then move one card to the left and resolve each card in the same way down the line.  Once all cards have been resolved, Round End begins.

All surviving workers are discarded, though you can gain Serfs for the next round depending on how many people are left.  You then need to determine your Loyalty won and Discontent earned based on how many cards you were successful at defending.  You’ll mark these off on the required Attribute Tracks, gaining any printed rewards, discard the Attack Cards above your board, and move back to the Round Start phase for the next round.

General Thoughts

When things are going your way in The Anarchy, few other board games rival that feeling of pure satisfaction.  When you’re chaining together actions, continually filling in boxes, grabbing more rewards, and just squeezing out every last ounce of efficiency, the rush is real.  But the game can be very unforgiving and not everyone is going to like that.  There are still certain scenarios that I’ve played a half-dozen times and still can’t get my head around how I would ever beat them.  They seem impossible!  Even though I haven’t ever rage-quit, I’ve found myself pretty mad at times. Though I will say, when I have finally overcome some of the scenarios that I was originally stumped by, I have a really great feeling of board game pride.

Marking off box after box won’t be for everyone either though I wouldn’t say that haters of “verb-and-writes” should just look the other way when it comes to The Anarchy.  The building of the Castle alone adds a cool dynamic that won’t be found in most games with such time dedicated to the pen-and-paper side of things.

Though I haven’t played Hadrian’s Wall, I know enough about it to think that The Anarchy is going to scratch a lot of the same itch.  It’s heavy and people need to know that going into it but if you’re a fan of weighty solo games, especially ones that will throw you into a lot of differing scenarios, I definitely think you should take a look at The Anarchy.

Ratings are based on 5 main criteria: rulebook, setup, components, art & graphic design, and gameplay.  The first 4 criteria are rated 1 to 5 and the gameplay is rated 1 to 10.  These scores culminate in an “overall satisfaction” score that is rated from 1 to 10.  If the reviewed game has both a solo and multiplayer mode, I have assigned scores separately to give context to which mode we enjoy more.