Tapestry: Arts & Architecture Expansion Review

Note: I was provided a complimentary copy of Tapestry: Arts & Architecture for the purpose of review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

At a Glance: Tapestry: Arts & Architecture Expansion

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“Learn about art, Captain. When you understand a species’ art, you understand that species.”
― Grand Admiral Thrawn, as written by Timothy Zahn in Heir to the Empire

Tapestry: Arts & Architecture Intro Story: Cutting Corners

We do what we want.

Time passes too slowly for us, so we forge our own way. Cut a corner here, make an…effective deal there. The urban planners didn’t see us coming, the Renegades from afar. Their towns and cities are a mere obstacle, the ocean another bump in the road. While others are relentless in their efforts to collect and cultivate culture, we gamble on our future in ways no one saw coming.

From the city of clouds to the wide-open expanse of the mesas, we barge through recklessly what others so painstakingly set up. Their loss is our gain, as we take the best parts of others’ cultures and civilizations and make them our own. Their housing, science, and military might becomes ours, and we flatten all who stand in our way. This is a race you will lose, a fight you cannot win.

Make way for the Renegades.

Review

In a nutshell, the Arts & Architecture expansion for Tapestry adds enough to expand the game in a good way, but doesn’t change the way the game is played. As you may recall from my review of the previous Tapestry expansion, Plans & Ploys, I mentioned something similar. I like these types of expansions. The following review will look at what is new in the Arts & Architecture expansion, and how it all plays together.

The Arts Track and Masterpiece Cards

This is, perhaps, the biggest addition to Tapestry in this expansion. The Arts track adds a fifth track to the game, opening it up at higher player counts and effectively giving all players a chance to claim all three buildings from a single track. Previously, with only four tracks, five-player games could leave someone out of luck. But there’s more to this new track than just leveling the playing field a bit more.

The Arts track introduces a new card type—the Masterpiece cards. These cards go on your “Maker of Fire” space on your Income mat, and they activate at the beginning of each income turn. In essence, these cards provide you with extra income each of those turns. Sometimes you gain points, other times you gain resources, and other bonuses as well. And they stack, too, so you can claim as many as you can and reap the rewards! Because they only activate during an income turn, these Masterpiece cards still feel balanced and aren’t overpowering anybody. It’s simply a new strategy to try and pursue, and some may do it better than others.

Oh, and there’s a new Science die—a d20, with all five symbols on it. So when you roll, you can now advance on the Arts track as well. Fancy!

New Landmarks, Civilization Cards, Tapestry Cards, and Tech Cards

These new additions don’t necessarily change the way the game is played, but they do add even more variety to the gameplay. The new factions have interesting abilities which I’ve really been enjoying. Some of the new tech cards allow you to upgrade the card from the middle row to the top row by putting a landmark on it when acquiring a new landmark. This can really speed up your research, and also give you somewhere to put those 2×2 landmarks that you don’t necessarily need, or those massive ones that don’t fit anywhere anyway.

The new landmarks come from the Arts track and the new starting Landmark cards. Some are similar or the same shapes as previous ones, but others are quite different, which gives more options (or problems) when placing them on your Capital City mat. The additional Tapestry cards allow you to place income buildings and landmarks on them to cover squares for various effects. Lots of fun new things for an ever-changing experience.

Advanced Capital City Mats

The Arts & Architecture expansion has new, advanced Capital City mats. These mats come with special rules, and the shapes of the sections aren’t necessarily square. During setup, each player is dealt one of these advanced mats in addition to the other two regular mats, so they get to choose a regular or advanced one to play with. I’m a big fan of the advanced mats, as they add a new layer of Tetrising your capital, but it’s always nice to have the option to not use it as well.

Inspiration Upgrades

You know those rows on your income mat where you put your income buildings? And when you remove an income building to place it on your capital, you uncover points or a resource? Well, now you can upgrade that reward track! Yup, and you do it by going through the Arts track. You can upgrade a few of them, too, so you don’t have to pick your absolute favorite, but multiple favorites! It’s not a huge change, but it’s certainly a nice boost once your income buildings start coming off at a good rate.

Standout Performances

• The new track is a lot of fun to play with. I like how it’s focused on wild resources (as every other track has a focus resource as well)
• Advanced Capital City mats
• More stuff that enhances the game, but doesn’t change it.

Breaking the 4th Wall

In theater, breaking the fourth wall refers to when characters (or something else) directly address the audience, thus pulling them out of the narrative and making the astutely aware that they are, in fact, watching a performance and that’s it’s not actually real.

Personally speaking, I don’t have a negative thing to say about the Arts & Architecture expansion. I like the additions, and there’s nothing about them that bother me.

Arts & Architecture Gameplay

The actual Tapestry gameplay is the same beautiful gameplay you’re used to. The only difference is there is more to do and think about, and more variety to the game. The additions don’t make the game take longer, either, which is great. If you enjoy the base gameplay, then these additions should feel as natural to add in to your game as chocolate is to peanut butter.

Solo Play

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to play Arts & Architecture solo, as I did the base game and the Plans & Ploys expansion. However, it doesn’t look like much has changed. There are some differences, of course, which are easily explained in the solo rule book. Of note, the scenarios from the Plans & Ploys solo variant are not compatible with any part of this expansion, the rule books states. That’s really the only major bit to keep in mind. There is also a more difficult Shadow Empire variant, called Shadow Empire’s Twin Impact. This increases the competition for landmarks. Definitely something to look into when playing solo or two players, especially with the Arts track.

Final Thoughts

What can I say? Arts & Architecture is a solid expansion that enhances the overall gameplay without adding new rules. When it comes to expansions, I’ve been quite impressed with the two for Tapestry. I can’t see myself not including the new Arts track, and I really enjoy the puzzles of the new Capital mats. Yes, everything it brings to the table will certainly be included in future games of Tapestry. I find the content in this expansion adds greater depth and variety to the gameplay without compromising the core mechanisms. The additions may not bring jaw-dropping, earth-shattering mechanisms, but sometimes all you need in life is enhanced familiarity. Like upgrading from one iPhone model to the next. Kind of. Maybe. You know what? Ignore that last example.

Final Verdict

This is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Having read it everything, I’m sure you could guess fairly accurately as to what I’d rate this. But I won’t make you guess. All in all, the Arts & Architecture expansion for Tapestry gets a rating of Captivating. Indeed, there is much to love about the contents of this box and the gameplay that comes with it. Like I said—it’s nothing earth shattering. But where it lacks in the destruction of planets it makes up in more excellent material to play with. And if there’s anything I’ve learned about life, it’s that we all want more awesome stuff. Fortunately, the Earth is still in one piece, so we can enjoy this expansion for quite some time.

Verdict Scale (Lowest to Highest)

The Final Verdict is based on a scale of 1-7, although this scale is not numbered. Instead, it uses thematically appropriate words to describe the performance of the game.

Tomatoes – This game was emotionally taxing and difficult to finish.

Uninspiring – This game had me daydreaming about other games.

Lackluster – This game had its moments, but it probably won’t see much table time.

Laodicean – This game is decent. It works. There’s a reason people like it.

Two Thumbs Up – This game is pretty dang good.

Captivating – This game is outstanding! It’s more than good; it’s practically a staple.

Standing Ovation – This is the best game you will ever play. Period.

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