Rich puzzly gameplay packed into just nine turns. It always feels satisfying, even when you lose
While there is some luck, you have plenty of ways to mitigate and work around it
Tense game arc with tough decisions from start to finish, but it isn't stressful or frustrating
High-quality components and silly artwork draw you in and elevate the whole experience
Well-made rulebook and player aid make the game easy to learn, pick up, and internalize
Downsides
Can draw out analysis paralysis in min-max gamer personalities
Not much table talk or player interaction. Mostly a heads-down game focusing on your own tableau
Sweet spot is around 2 or 3 players because you have less control with more players
In a nutshell...
I went into Castle Combo as a skeptic, but it's an absolute banger. I've long been on the lookout for a quick card game that's simple yet punchy and playable at two but also with more. It's one of my favorite weeknight games for after dinner. Do you like breezy yet mentally stimulating games? If so, then Castle Combo is a must-play.
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I'm always on the lookout for simple, replayable games that I can enjoy with my partner on weeknights. You know, when dinner is cleared away and we have an hour or so to fill, but we're tired from work and don't want to think too hard or deal with too much fiddly setup.
I kept seeing Castle Combo pop up as one such game, so I took the plunge... and I have to say, it has really lived up to the hype. If you've ever played Skulls of Sedlec, this is similar except with more meat to it. It has the same tableau building, card drafting, spatial scoring conditions—just more of it.
Here's how my experiences have been with Castle Combo, why I keep coming back to it as a weeknight game, and everything you need to know to decide for yourself whether this is a game you'll like.
This review is based on my own personal copy of Castle Combo, which I bought new from Gamers Guild AZ. Not a free review copy.
Castle Combo is a tableau builder. You draft from a central market of cards to build a 3x3 grid, where each card in your grid does something beneficial for you when you draft it and also scores points for you at the end of the game based on what the other cards are in your tableau.
Every card in Castle Combo has five important traits:
An ability that resolves as soon as you draft it to your grid.
A scoring condition that earns you points at the end of the game for meeting whatever condition is shown on the card.
A Gold cost that you must spend in order to draft this card.
One or two Shields, of which there are six types (Blue, Purple, Green, Red, Orange, Yellow). The number and types of Shields in your grid affect the benefits gained from abilities and points earned at the end.
A card type, either Castle or Village, denoted by the color of the card's banner and background (either silver or brown).
The twist in Castle Combo is that the central card market actually has two levels. The Castle cards exist as their own deck and market, with the Village cards as their own deck and market, too. Each market consists of three cards drawn from their respective decks, and when a card is drafted it gets refilled with another card drawn.
But you can't just take from either market as you want. There's a Messenger token that shows which of the two markets is currently active—and you can only draft from there. Some of the cards also have a Messenger icon, indicating that the Messenger should switch markets when that card is drafted. Castle cards with this icon send the Messenger down to the Village, and Village cards with the icon send him up to the Castle.
You start the game with 15 Gold for buying cards from the markets. You also start with 2 Keys. A Key is a special resource that's worth 1 point each at the end of the game, but can be spent on your turn to do one of two things:
Wipe and refill the current card market.
Move the Messenger to the other market.
This means you have options when you're stuck with a card market you don't like. But you can only use one Key per turn, so you have to be thoughtful about how to use them.
This is what the back of every single card looks like. The art is different between Castle and Village cards, but they all grant the same thing: 6 Gold and 2 Keys.
What if you're stuck with an undesirable card market or don't have any Gold to afford cards, but also don't have any Keys? You have one last option: you can freely draft any card from the currently active market (without paying anything), flip it over, and place it in your grid. This earns you 6 Gold and 2 Keys at the cost of losing one of your nine scoring spots.
Here's what a finished 9-card 3x3 grid might look like.
And that's pretty much it. You draft one card per turn, so Castle Combo is over in just nine rounds. Your goal is to draft the best combination of nine cards, positioned in the most optimal way for maximum points, while making sure you earn enough Gold to afford cards and enough Keys to keep your options open so you don't end up with problematic cards.
When everyone has completed their 3x3 grid, scores are tallied up and whoever has the most points wins!
Setup and Table Footprint
One thing that makes Castle Combo a great weeknight game for me is how easy it is to pull out, set up, and get going. Shuffle up the Castle and Village decks, draw the markets, place the Messenger, and pour the Gold and Key tokens out from their baggies. Take 15 Gold and 2 Keys each. Done!
Castle Combo's table footprint is just as good, too. The card market is compact, and you just need a little bit of space per player for 3x3 grids. While the piles of Gold and Keys can get messy, it's not so bad if you stack them—and they're surprisingly stackable. If you have enough table space to play cards, then you have enough room for Castle Combo.
Learning Curve
While Castle Combo is simple to play, there's a bit of upfront mental investment needed with all the iconography and scoring conditions. Once you get over that initial learning curve, though? It's smooth sailing.
Actions-wise, you do the same basic thing every turn: draft a card, add it to your grid, and gain whatever you get from its ability. Anyone can understand that. The hard part is understanding why you'd want to draft one card over another, for which you need to understand scoring. And to understand scoring, you need to understand all the symbols.
This side is a reference for all the Castle (silver) cards. Flip it over and you'll see a similar reference for all the Village (brown) cards.
Fortunately, Castle Combo comes with a convenient player aid that explains all the symbols, so even if you struggle at first, you have something to reference. For me, it only took one game to internalize it all. Non-gamers might take a few games, but should eventually get it down pat. (Scroll down to the "Production Quality" section to see what this player aid looks like.)
Game Experience
Decision Space
What I find most interesting about Castle Combo is that the value of a given card isn't so easy to determine. That's because every card pulls in multiple directions, offering you some things you need and some things you don't, and the things you need might change from turn to turn.
Remember, cards in Castle Combo have three main reasons to draft:
The ability on a card might give you the resources you need to continue snatching up future cards.
The scoring condition on a card might play well with the cards already placed in your grid, or might set you up for big points later.
The Shields on a card might help you satisfy the scoring conditions of cards already placed in your grid.
Other lesser reasons to draft cards include:
The Gold cost of a card is cheap or even free, allowing you to take it even though you'd prefer another card you can't afford.
The Castle or Village type of a card might help you satisfy the scoring conditions of cards already placed in your grid.
The Messenger icon on a card will move the Messenger, preventing the next player from drafting a card they want.
Clearly, this means multiple players could want the same card for different reasons. But it's more than just that. It's the designs of the various abilities and scoring conditions that make Castle Combo that much more interesting than other drafting games of its ilk.
The Baron card is one of many that offers a discount on future card purchases, so it's good early on. Meanwhile, the Woodcutter grants 1 Gold for every card in your grid (including itself), so it's better later in the game.
For example, some cards grant discounts on future cards bought. These are great when they come out early, but that ability is near useless towards the end. Another example, there's a card ability that gives 1 Gold for every card already placed in your grid. This one basically does nothing at the beginning of the game, but generates a lot of cash towards the end.
In fact, there are lots of cards in Castle Combo with abilities that grant bonuses based on stuff you already have in your grid, so those abilities are more valuable after you've built up your tableau. But they're balanced with big scoring conditions or rare Shields, which entices you to grab them early before someone else snatches them.
Her Majesty the Queen scores 10 points per every set of Blue + Green + Orange Shields in your grid, which incentivizes you to buy those cards. Meanwhile, the Barbarian scores 10 points if you don't have any Green Shields in your grid, incentivizing you to avoid them.
And then you have scoring conditions that reward you for NOT having certain things, which causes you to avoid certain cards. You may really want to draft a certain card for its ability, but it comes with two Shields that would break one of your high scorers. Suddenly, this desirable card is actually undesirable—for you, anyway. Not for others.
Every card in Castle Combo pulls you in multiple directions, forcing you to evaluate its pros and cons. Sometimes one card in the market is a clear winner for your grid; most of the time, you have to make sacrifices and compromises. When every card offers you good and bad, the challenge rests in figuring out which combination of pros/cons is best for your grid. And not just your grid as it is now, but what it'll evolve into later.
Here's what your grid might look like four turns into the game. Already your possible placements are limited and influenced by what you have.
I'm not saying Castle Combo is a heady, complex, demanding game that's going to burn your brain out. It's actually quite pleasant, relaxed, dare I even say cozy. There's stuff to think about, but it's snackable.
My only caveat here is that there are lots of different ways cards can combine for points—the game literally has "combo" in its name—and it's possible to math things out between the card market and your grid to determine which card will net the most points. Because of that, gamers who have min-maxing personalities may run into analysis paralysis with Castle Combo.
Luck Factor
Yes, there's a non-trivial dose of luck in Castle Combo. You're at the mercy of the active card market, which consists of three cards. That's not a lot choices, and you could very well build your grid with certain strategies in mind and never see the cards you need. They could also be snatched away by other players, leaving you high and dry. And with the Shield distribution not being perfectly even across cards, some scoring conditions are naturally luckier than others. You have to weigh those odds.
Understanding the Shield distribution is a key skill for assessing scoring conditions, planning how to achieve your goals, and mitigating luckiness.
But I don't think of this luck as a negative for two reasons. First, you have Keys, which provide more than enough mitigation against a crappy card market. The active market only has three cards, but you always see what's in the other inactive market—and if you see something you need, you can just spend a Key to move over and grab it. Or, if neither market has something for you, you can spend a Key to wipe it. Sure, the new cards could still be bad, but at least you have these opportunities.
Second, you can always bank on "flipping a card" as part of your strategy. Even if there's nothing for you, you can just take any card and flip it face-down into your grid for 6 Gold and 2 Keys. And this isn't just a last-resort move. It can give you what to need to snag future cards, or bolster the score on other cards with Gold-related scoring conditions, and there are even cards that give points for having flipped cards in your grid. Flipping can be a good move, and that makes it a good hedge against luck.
Fun Factor
If you've played other puzzle-style drafting games—think Azul, Cascadia, or even Wingspan—then you know what to expect here. Castle Combo is a heads-down, in-your-own-mind sort of game as you only have your own independent grid to work on. Not much table talk.
The fun here rests in that puzzly gameplay, of figuring out the best path to victory based on imperfect options. If you like optimizing, if you like fitting disparate things together, if you like doing your own thing without interference from others, then you'll like Castle Combo.
Pacing
Castle Combo has a lovely game arc that simultaneously feels like a rope is tightening around you yet you're always hopeful because you have options—and even when you've actually run out of all options, you can still freely flip a card for 6 Gold and 2 Keys, putting you back in the game.
You start with infinite potential. An empty 3x3 grid that can go in any direction you want. But as soon as you choose your first card, you're locked into a particular path. Can you stack different strategies? Sure. But with every card you add, the next card has fewer places to go.
You only have so many cards to choose from on any given turn, but even when you absolutely dislike every single option, you can always flip one for the backside benefits.
You feel a growing tension as you seek cards that are more and more specific to fulfill your scoring conditions, and sometimes they don't come. To the very last turn, you're debating which card you should draft.
Is there downtime? A little bit. It usually takes about 1 to 2 minutes to take a turn (more if you're indecisive and/or prone to analysis paralysis), and that can add up at higher player counts (more waiting between your turns). But overall, it's pretty quick and snappy, and end game scoring is pretty darn smooth with the included scorepad.
Player Interaction
Castle Combo is mostly a solitaire affair with some indirect interaction to keep things interesting. You're mainly focused on your own grid to maximize points scored, and whatever's happening in the grids of other players doesn't really affect you. Except in a few situations.
While "hate drafting" is usually a losing strategy here, there are times when you want the same card as someone else. If they take it, you're screwed. They can also use Keys to move the Messenger or even wipe the market, which can seriously mess up your plans if you were banking on drafting a certain card on your next turn. It doesn't feel mean, of course. But it happens.
Also, a few card abilities grant benefits based on what's in the grids of your neighbors. For example, you might get a Gold for every Green Shield in a neighbor's grid. Other card abilities grant big perks to you and small perks to others. For example, one card gives you 3 Keys and everyone else gets 1 Key. It's minor in the grand scheme, but it's there and it's fun.
Player Counts
Though Castle Combo goes up to five, I like it best at two. Like most games where you draft from a central market, chaos increases with more players—more stuff happens in between your turns, reducing how much you can plan ahead and increasing the chance of losing the cards you need for your grid (either via others drafting it or wiping the market). It feels more random.
Play time also increases with player count. You each take nine turns per game, and it takes about 1 to 2 minutes (or longer) to assess the market and decide what you want to draft. Too much downtime at four and five.
For a quick and punchy game like this, I think the sweet spot rests at two players, but three players is also good.
Replayability
Castle Combo is fantastically replayable. It's still fun after a dozen plays and that's because the core gameplay—making the most of a limited card market—has a wide decision space that rewards good play, without being overly demanding or thinky or stressful. It strikes such a good balance.
The game comes with 39 Castle cards and 39 Village cards, and you go through about half of each deck when playing at two. With more players, you cycle through more of it. So, you're going to see all the cards within two or three games, and after that the novelty factor is gone.
But does the game grow stale once you've seen them all? Not at all! Because each card can be more or less valuable depending on when it shows up (see the "Decision Space" section above for what I mean by that), no two games are ever the same. The order in which cards appear matters as much as which cards appear, and using that knowledge to your advantage helps you to hone your strategies and decisions.
Castle Combo is a tactical game. You have to make do with what you see, and you can't always bank on your overall strategy paying off. There's some luck involved and it might bite you at times. But you have enough control over it that I don't mind.
Plus, the game's so short, snappy, and satisfying that even when I lose, I'm happy to just shuffle up and play again. I file this one under the "comfort food" category of board games. It's warm and reliable like that.
Production Quality
Castle Combo might be "just" a card game with some tokens, but the production is pretty good considering. The value is great for the price, and the experience is elevated by it. I'm impressed.
The card quality and artwork are fantastic. There's a silliness to Castle Combo that makes it all the more approachable, and it's just a joy to look at. The graphic design is clean and everything is readable at a glance. While most things are represented with icons, those icons make sense and aren't confusing for the most part. It's all quite smooth.
The cardboard tokens are surprisingly thick. There's really no reason why the Gold and Key tokens had to be this thick, but I love it! They feel good to handle, even if all you're really doing is just taking from and throwing back into the supply. And they're stackable up to five or so, which is nice.
The wooden Messenger is a nice touch. This one could've easily been a cardboard marker instead, and maybe that would've shaved a dollar or so off the price tag. But it just feels good to grab this chunky wooden block whenever it's moved from market to market, and that elevates the overall experience that much more. These little details add up.
Castle Combo has an excellent rulebook and player aid. Granted, the game is simple, so it's not like it would've been hard to create a logically ordered rulebook. But credit where credit is due: the rulebook is easy to read and easy to reference, thanks to its design and layout. I also appreciate the player aid, which explains all the different icons, and the back of the rulebook, which has a handy chart of Shield distribution.
The box size and insert are perfect. I've said this in previous reviews, but Pandasaurus Games tends to give a lot of attention to their rulebooks, inserts, and box sizes. There's never any wasted space. Components go back to their rightful spots and they're easy to pull out again next time. And the boxes are never bigger than they need to be, as is true for Castle Combo.
The Bottom Line
I went into Castle Combo as a skeptic, but it's an absolute banger. I've long been on the lookout for a quick card game (under 30 minutes) that's simple yet punchy and playable at two but also with more. It's one of my favorite weeknight games for after dinner.
If you like breezy games that are still mentally stimulating, Castle Combo is a must-play. I put it right up there alongside other entry-level greats like Welcome To..., So Clover!, and Bomb Busters.
