Castle Combo

Small box delights

Everyone needs a few filler games in their collection, small box games that take less than 30 minutes to play and can be taught easily. These are good if you have limited time to play something, say after dinner before heading out, or as a digestif after a big epic 3 hour complicated game extravaganza where you need to wind down. Ideally these filler games should be quick to set up, quick to teach and not be too taxing. Castle Combo certainly seems to tick the boxes, and persuaded me to purchase it based on its short rules, quick setup and playtime and small box and for me it has the gameplay to keep me pulling this off the shelf as my new filler game of choice.

Solid foundations

In Castle Combo, the winner will be the player with the most points after each player has completed a 3×3 grid in front of them. Scoring will be based on each card in your grid and will score based on a number of different conditions such as placement, number or lack of a certain type of shield or coins on the card. There are also two types of resources in the game, coins and keys. Coins can be used to purchase cards, and are not in themselves worth points at the end of the game and keys (more on that in a bit) are worth points in the end.

To set up the game, give each player 15 coins and two keys. There are two decks in Castle Combo, a villager deck with a yellow back and a castle deck with a blue back, that need to be shuffled and the top three cards of each deck are placed out for purchase. The messenger is placed next to the villager deck and then it’s the turn of the first player, so setup will take you less than a minute!

On your turn you will take up to four actions. The first is optional and the remaining three are mandatory. Firstly you may spend one of your keys to do one of two things, either move the messenger to the other section of cards and you would do this because at the next step you can only purchase cards from the row next to the messenger, or discard all three cards next to the messenger and refresh that row. You can only do one of these two options and not both. Secondly is a mandatory purchase, you must purchase a card from the row next to the messenger for the cost in the top left of the card or if you cannot afford a card you can flip one and gain keys and coins but no points and it must still be placed into your grid.

Once you’ve placed a card you apply that card’s ability which could be gaining coins or keys based on matching symbols in your tableau, noting that at this points cards you’ve just placed count themselves, or gaining an ongoing discount for future purchases and these do not apply to the card you’ve just purchased. Each card will also have end game points printed on the bottom which will usually be based on conditional placement or numbers and combinations of shields or banners or similar. Finally if a messenger icon appears on the card purchased you must move the messenger to the other row, refill both rows and then play moves to the next player.

A Knight to remember?

The whole game plays in under half an hour and turns are quick. Building your tableau is fun and conflict is low between players, other than a player taking the card you’ve been eyeing up or moving the messenger to the other row and you realise you have no keys to move it back. However, games are quick so even if one game doesn’t go your way, it is an easy game to set up and play again.

The art is delightful and the characters on the cards unique, with a nice chunky wooden messenger token and thick card for the coins and keys. The rules are also clear and concise and easy to teach new and experienced gamers. There are enough interesting decisions here to keep experienced gamers going back for more to explore different combinations of cards and scoring strategies and the fact that you will always be able to do something on your turn, even if it is flipping a card into your tableau for coins and keys means that all players will feel like they’ve been able to achieve something by the end of the game.

Castle Combo really is a fantastic little game that I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed and its low price and small box makes it a game I really think should make its way into your collection. I feel even after a large number of plays so far that I’m failing to get bored of the game and as mentioned at the beginning its time length and complexity mean that you always feel like you can make time to play it after or before a bigger game or if you just have a spare 20 minutes to fill.

I only have one minor criticism of the game and that is that there is only one double sided player aid, and yes once you’ve played it a couple of times most of the icons are clear and easily understood but for my first games or when I introduce this to new players, the sheet is getting regularly passed back and forth between players and it would have been really good to include enough for one per player. However, if this is my only criticism, it is a minor one against a game that I really hope you will enjoy as much as I do. Castle Combo really is up there alongside the best new games I’ve played this year and I can see it being played regularly for a long time to come. Finally if you’re looking for something like this but a little meaner Arboretum is great, or for something similar that is a little crunchier in the decisions I also really enjoy Village Rails.