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As a second opinioner, I don’t need to explain how to play Castle Combo to you – that has helpfully and already been done by my fellow Zatu Blogger, Jacob. As such, I am allowed to luxuriate in the review zone for a little longer than usual. And, although Castle Combo is a small box which has already been shown a lot of love, I am going to add to the accolades with our own experiences of playing this wee tableau building card game.
Controversially, however, I am going to start with a difference! As a time starved gamer, the term “filler game” feels like an unattainable position. By that I mean, I wish I had time to enjoy an evening where a 30 minute game is just the warm-up. At the moment, 30 minutes is all the time we have (if we are lucky!), so the game we choose has got to be fun and fulfilling rather than the sample to tickle the tabletop tastebuds for what’s to come. There’s a particular joy in games that leave us wanting more, but the single game experience has got to scratch our cardboard itch right now.
Luckily for us, Castle Combo is doing just that! It’s brilliant in its own right and not just as an amuse bouche to the full feast. Of course, it can also fulfil the purpose of a traditional filler game. But I’ll probably have to wait for a planned (and much needed!) few days off until Christmas to find out!
From the same publisher as this year’s other small box runaway success, Faraway, Castle Combo is another game where you only play a few cards (9 in a 3 x 3 grid pattern in this case), but the decisions are fun and can leave you slapping your forehead when you realise you’ve missed an opportunity to score maximally.
And there’s more to balance than meets the eye. Because every card has a scoring condition as well as a value, you need money. You must buy and place that card each turn. Granted some are nil cost but you know they don’t have the jubby point opportunities you are looking for. Although you do start the game with some coins, they quickly run out. So you need cards that are going to generate you some buying power. But you might not want any of the available cards where the Messenger has settled. Well, that’s okay so long as you have keys you can spend to refresh the row or move the Messenger. So you need cards that will give you these. However, ultimately you want the scoring conditions on your played cards to succeed in terms of collected icons equalling VPs! And just to add to the deliberations, the money and key bonuses you get can depend upon what your opponent(s) have collected so far! Now then, you do have a nuclear option – you can add a facedown card into your tableau for an instant injection of coins and keys. But how many spatial scoring conditions is this intruder going to scupper by its inclusion? Oooh it’s a lovely dilemma!
Not that it forms the primary focus of our turns, we are not blind to the fabulous hate drafting opportunities either! Sometimes, there is a card in the row you aren’t in that will be perfect for your opponent. And whilst we could focus on selecting the action that will give us the most points in that moment, sometimes it’s just too tempting to invade the opposite row to mitigate the risk of opposition gain. It’s a flash of push your luck as you may not exploit that card to its maximum potential, but at least you’ll stop them doing it! And that’s a fun indirect interaction similar to the fact you can benefit from what other players are adding to their own tableaus without physically affecting them.
For a small footprint, modest length game, Castle Combo is a cracker. The rules lift is light, the components are lovely, and we have a thoroughly good time whether we are playing 2, 3 or more players. In truth, my first game of this was on Board Game Arena and I was hooked. And, like most games I love on BGA, it quickly made its way into our collection!
If you are looking for a colourful, clever, light card based game with some fun decisions to add to your collection, you would struggle to do better than Castle Combo. And if you haven’t already got the Faraway bug, check that one out too!
