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Ludwig II of Bavaria is a very well known character in boardgames. First, he wanted all his royal architects to build bizarre castles in his kingdom. Now he’s got (the best) of them to create one single, massive palace. If you are familiar with the series, you also know this will not end here. It should not come as a surprise they call him “Mad” King Ludwig.
Palace of Mad King Ludwig is the second full-sized strategy game by Bezier Games and a successor to the 2014 hit Castles of Mad King Ludwig. The two games share some similarities and a lot of differences. In both games you will find similar room types, favour scoring system, room-completion bonuses and the possibility to build rooms on the ground floor or the basement. Also, you know there will be swans as the mad king loves them.
In terms of mechanics, Castles is a good tile-lying/ engine-builder game, with each player playing independently to build the best castle. Palace is more tableau building than tile-lying and it is faster-paced and more directly competitive than Castle.
Let’s have a look inside the box and the game.
Components
The first thing I remember seeing when I open the box for the first time is the amount of tokens and tiles. In total, you have 475 swan tokens and player markers and 232 tiles. You also have a rulebook, a three-piece Garden board, 4 player boards and a score pad.
All the components are solid cardboard with neat and colourful printing on both sides. Considering you will need space to grow the palace on your table while playing, the size of the tiles have been kept on the smaller end. This does not dramatically impact the gameplay but it may take away a bit the pleasure of building the castle. I found for example it is easy to focus on the icons you need for the game while ignoring the name and the cosmetic details of the rooms.
The markers and swan tokens are also quite small and fiddly, the player markers especially. It is already difficult to pick them up but you end-up ruining your game by accidentally sneezing.
Overall, the components are not bad and they are fit for their purpose. They could use a more modern style and a size increase if Bezier would ever like to make a second version but they are not a negative for the game. Positive note on the rulebook that is very clear and simple to follow.
Gameplay
In The Palace of Mad King Ludwig, two to four players work together to build a giant, beautiful palace for the King. As you build the palace, a moat will slowly surround the rooms and once that moat is complete the game ends.
During their turn, each player could pay for room tiles from a common market row and add them in the palace. At least one entrance of the new room has to match one of a room previously placed. You could also purchase stairs and Hallways to increase your options.
All room entrances are marked with a coloured swan. Matching them will grant both the new room’s owner and the owners of the existing adjacent rooms with a token of that colour. Swan tokens are the in-game currency and could be used to purchase better rooms, upgrades and favour-granting goals. They are also worth points at the game’s end as singles and as part of a set.
In addition to the swan bonus, a player could gain bonuses for completing each type of room and multiple sets of the same room. A room is only complete if all of the entrances to that room adjoin entrances to other rooms and players are allowed to work to prevent other players from scoring. Player to Player interaction could hardly get nasty and it could help pushing players to find more complex strategies.
The game also offers some other interesting strategic choices to make. For example, you can slot unplaced rooms into your blueprints board as in game or end game bonuses. The placement limitations triggered by the growing moat also keep up the pressure by providing a sense of urgency.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I always enjoy playing The Palace of Mad King Ludwig. It is a good and simple game that you could quickly get to the table and that does not require a long explanation before start playing.
The room building mechanics is the core of the game and it may feel at times a bit repetitive. In reality, the strategic aspect of the games lies in how the sum of your decisions adds up over the course of the game play. There are also several viable paths to victory in this game and players have to balance them. Chance also needs to be accounted for in your strategy as you never know which new room will join the market row.
The moat mechanic is a cool thematic touch and one of my favourite aspects of the design. It adds a sense of urgency and it forces players to plan the palace ahead to avoid being rapidly blocked. This game also looks great on the table and once the moat starts to build it looks even better. Sure the tiles and tokens are a bit smaller than I would have liked but the built palace always looks amazing once the game ends.
I think my final thought should go to Palace vs Castle. If you have played both, you have probably compared them and weighted the differences. Personally, I tend to consider them as two different games and I like them both for different reasons. At the end, you should be Mad to not get any possible opportunity to please the King.
