Castle Panic Board Game Review

Castle Panic

I love this description I read in a Castle Panic board game review, “it’s a great Gateway Game for anyone who hasn’t played board games in a while.” (Got to be careful… Castle Panic might lead to Carcassonne… or maybe even Settlers of Catan).

Castle Panic Board Game Review

What makes Castle Panic different from many other board games, is that it is a co-operative game in the truest sense. All players work together to prevent Goblins, Orcs and Trolls from crashing through the Castle walls, and ultimately destroying the Castle within. This means everyone works together.. competition is turned outward!

Even though the monsters are just triangular tokens on a board, there is a sense of tension that builds up over the course of the game. The game is relatively simple to pick up, but because of the whim of the die, and the randomness of the cards, it changes every time. Working together is really the only way to defeat the enemy.

A side-note about Cooperative Play- Of course, there are some people who don’t play nicely with others (you know who I’m talking about). Those people can still fight for the chance to accumulate the most points, and become the ultimate monster slayer.

As I said, the game is easy enough for new or young game players, but there is enough complexity to keep it from being boring.

Castle Panic Instructions

Basic set up for Castle Panic

At the start of the game, a Castle Tower and wall surrounding it are build in the center of the target board. You will notice that the rings are labeled with names like “archer” and “swordsman”… these indicate which player type can hit the monsters in this particular ring. The board is also broken up into 4 colors quadrants.

The Rings Tell which fighter can reach a certain monster.

Each player is given a set of cards with are used to attack. These cards either have fighters (such as archers and knights). You will notice that most of the fighter cards have a color associated with them. This means that the Red Swordsman can only hit monsters in the red quadrant of the swordsman ring, and the blue knight is only effective in the blue quadrant of the knight ring. There are also special cards like Brick and Mortar (used to shore up broken walls and Tar (which sticks the monsters in place for a turn).

Red Swordsman and Blue Knight

The first set of monsters are chosen and placed at the edge of the board (in the forest). M0nster placement is determined by the roll of the die (you will see numbers on the outside edge of the board).

On each turn… everyone looks to see what ring the monsters are in, and what can be used to attack. The play whose turn it is does some trading to get cards that can help in the attack.

Then it’s time to attack. Using the Red Swordsman again… if a monster is in the red quadrant of the swordsman ring, this card can be used to give the monster one hit. Since each monster has a different number of hit points, this may not kill it! (If a monster is killed, the player who does it gets to keep the monster token)

After all the hits have been sent out… the remaining monsters all move forward one ring. And new monsters are rolled up and placed in the outer ring.

Then the turn moves to the next player, who draws cards, does some trading, then fires again!

The Monster Tokens are at the gate!

Everyone fights the monsters together! The monsters work their way in from the edge of the board toward the Castle the center. If they get to the wall, and move forward… the wall comes down.

And then the tower.

The game moves along at a fairly good pace… and there is excitement… Will the monsters be defeated!?! or will the walls come down!?!

Either everyone wins (when the last monster is defeated) or everyone loses… when the tower comes down.

It really does get tense as those monsters get close to the tower… and I love the way my kids pull together and do all they can to defeat them!

Who can Play Castle Panic

On the box, it says this game is good for players 10 and up… I find that if adults or older kids are playing, younger kids (who are used to game playing) can play too, and since up to 6 people can play, it is a good one for family game night. Still, the whole Castle, Troll, Orc and Goblin thing means that teens and adults can play without feeling like they are involved in a game of Candy Land….

Best of all… the instructions are easy to understand!!!! I can not emphasize this enough. I have a bugger of a time figuring out games from written instructions, I learn best from watching it played. We were able to figure out Castle Panic very easily… with one read through.

Buy Castle Panic and the Wizard Tower Expansion Set.

Made by Fireside Games, Castle Panic is a well-designed game that is fun for all ages.

Castle PanicCastle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower