Castle Panic

Customer Reviews

A game that keeps coming to the table! Review by FirezonGirl

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I was pleasantly surprised by this game. It was light enough to be enjoyable, yet provided enough strategy to keep me not only interested but completely enthralled for several games my first time out. At the end of the last game I was left wondering where the time had gone.

I also played this game solo, playing two hands myself and found that it played very well. You may not get the social interaction, but you certainly get a riviting game none-the-less. I'm able to get my board game fix even if I don't have a group of gamers available to play. I really enjoy the fact that game play doesn't rely on making plans to have company over as this is a game that my husband and I can sit down to. When you're done playing a two-player game you don't have that feeling that the game isn't worth playing without extra people. You get the full effect of the game whether you're playing solo, duo, or with the three or four.

The only thing that I didn't personally go for was the competitive "master slayer" part, simply because many monsters take multiple hits and it's the person who makes the final blow that takes the trophy... sucks for the person who always seems to make the other multiple blows with no credit. This isn't a problem with a light-hearted fun group, but for the wrong crowd it can lead to a night of belly-aching.

Overall, I found that this is an awesome game that has been coming out to the table time after time for a shorter duration, quick fix of fun that doesn't take hours to set up and take down after. I love the flexibility in player number and look forward to playing this game with my kids once they're old enough to not think that the object of the game should be to eat the pieces. It's a quality family game at a price that doesn't break the bank account. (Posted on 9/11/11)

Castle Panic is a great game, especially for it's low price and high level of co-operative mayhem Review by TR

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Fun, fun, fun!!! Castle Panic is definitely a light co-operative game, with quite a bit of luck involved (at least in the base game) as the monsters arrive based on a die roll. On the other hand, this game has definite potential for any game group as players are both co-operating and competing to win the battles.

I love the fact that players are both competitive and co-operative; it adds a nice touch of roleplaying of snooty heroes to the game. The trading requirements of the game is also very useful since you then need to think a couple of turns ahead, plotting the movements of the monsters in your head before you hand cards over.

Of course, the fact that even the best laid plans can be put to the test when a boss monster arrives or a wrecking ball just makes the game more hilarious.

My only complaint is that Castle Panic's only a 4 player and that's fine, because I'm sure there'll be expansions in the future. (Posted on 3/6/10)

A fun and simple strategy game for all ages, difficult to win but easy to play Review by Rick

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Castle Panic is a co-operative game, recommended for ages 10 and above. As such I found that even 4 and 6 year old boys can play once they understand the basics. As a matter of fact, the younger crowd enjoyed it even more than I did!

Another advantage of being a co-operative game, is that it is fairly simple to play as a solitaire game ( which was my original intent). It plays very well as such, but playing with multiple players is even better ( especially when they were as young as they were - they got right into it.)

The rulebook is very well laid out, and the cardboard pieces were all of good quality. Everything fit together well, and the artwork was excellent. The game has some random factors to it, but they enhance the game play and really don't affect the strategy aspects, which is quite good.

Game play requires a hand of 5 cards, if at the beginning of your turn you do don't have 5 you draw cards to complete your hand. You can then discard one card and draw another if you wish. We played with all our cards face up on the table for all to see.

The next stage involves looking at the board and seeing where the monsters currently are, and where they will be going. You can then trade only one card with each player. After that you may attack the monsters with the cards in your hand.

The catch is, you may only attack monsters that match the color and range of the warriors in your hand. For example if a monster is in the Red Archers range of attack, he can only be attacked with a Red Archer. Trading and co-operation is crucial to winning this game.

After you have finished all your attacks all monsters still on the board advance one range closer to your castle ( which is defended by everyone.) For example, the monster in the Red Archers range, then moves to the Red Knights range.
Once all monsters have moved, you then add no less than two more monsters to the outside ring (which may not be attacked) who will then commence their walk towards your castle.

There are specialty cards allowing you to repair the castles outward walls, as well as fortify them, and special monsters that can wreak havoc with the monsters on the board and special warrior cards that can help you defend your castle. There are even boulders that the monsters can roll, that cannot be stopped that will hit your castle. All in all making for a lot of fun and mayhem.

One minor tweak that I did to the game accidentally ( I missed completely reading the full page instruction page) was the boulder. It is supposed to immediately roll until it hits and causes damage. In our house (now a house rule) the bolder rolls, still unstoppable, at the same speed that the monsters advance.

The minor modification was actually a bonus, as even the 4 year old got into the game trying to work with other players to fortify the wall, or build a new wall, before the bolder struck.

This is a great game for introducing very young players to strategy games concepts and bodes very well for having some advanced gaming partners in the future.

This board game took two very active young boys, who have difficulty staying in one place for extended periods of time, and had them sit still and fully engrossed and excited for two full hours! Awesome!

Which means they really, REALLY enjoyed and were satisfied just playing the game. After both games they wanted to immediately play again..... which speaks volumes.

I have played this game solitaire twice (winning once) and enjoyed both sessions. I have also played Castle Panic twice with my 4 and 6 year olds, both times we lost, but unlike other games we've played where they scream and holler and cry when they lose, there wasn't even a tear. Since no one player won ( we all win or we all lose together) they were happy to just have played the game. There are options that can make this game more competitive between the players, but I found didn't need them and didn't lose anything by not using them.

An extremely well balanced simple strategy game, playable by all ages, that will give years of enjoyment. I highly recommend it!

(Posted on 2/2/10)