Sunday 23 June 2013

I thought the Germans liked rules

With it looking likely that the week’s dose of games will be put back to Thursday, Sam and I met up for a little two-player action over a new (for us) game from Germany, A Castle For All Seasons.

It’s like a cross between Citadels and a worker placement game. You all play cards simultaneously, but they are resolved in a strict order. These cards may allow you to place workers to get resources or claim essential end-of-game bonuses.

We began slowly, since the rulebook was not written with the newcomer in mind. We scratched our heads over examples that didn’t make sense (unless you’d already played the game) and, crucially, the rules never defined what “a round” was. Playing two cards, or exhausting all eight cards? At first we played it with the latter rule in mind until we realised that it’d never fit into the advertised 45-60 minute time limit, so we tried the former. Also, the illustrations, while very nice, were not very descriptive. The Tavern did not have any drunken people outside it, and the only animals near The Stables were pigs.


About halfway through, it started to make sense, and by the end Analysis Paralysis had kicked in, which at least meant we were on the right lines. Finally we decided we knew what we were doing as the final rounds played out. With an improbable score-chart busting 102-102 scoreline (since we'd effectively played six extra rounds. Sam won on a money tie-breaker) we decided to play again.

And we did, and it went a lot smoother. It still wasn’t the most user-friendly game ever designed. Part of the game relies on playing cards in order (like Citadels) but to find out the order, you have to refer to the rules. There is nothing on the cards to tell you. Similarly, the icons describing each card’s action are vague.

Nevertheless, with all this, it turned into a lovely game. Given the fact that it looks like a strategic beast when laid out on the table, it is very quick. Sort of deep, but light. This time, Sam won comfortably.

Sam 89
Andrew 72

For a game that is so quick, there’s plenty going on. Part of the game is to cash in on your opponents tactics, either by playing the Master Builder card (5 points for every building built by your opponent(s) on that round) or by claiming an end-of-game bonus that capitalises on their strategy. It’s quite cunning and simple. Far more so than the poor rule book indicated. We went from dismay and dismissal to interested and impressed before the evening was done.

And then we played Biblios. But not Extreme Biblios. Quiet, Contemplative Biblios with cheese on crackers with pickle and a bowl of grapes. Possibly, this is how Biblios is meant to be played. And it was close. I had a hand full of cards focusing on three dice, but ran out of money half way through the auction round. Would I have enough to see me through? I had no idea until the final reckoning.


Sam 10
Andrew 6

An evening to rekindle one’s interest in new games. Once you’re over that annoying hump of rule-learning, there are whole new vistas to explore! Maybe we can get Campaign to the table next? Or am I being too optimistic?

3 comments:

  1. I'd agree with Andrew's summary. It's a fast-moving game once you know what you're doing, but strategically quite deep. To be fair to the game there are reference cards for each player but my copy is in German.

    But once we're up to speed on the basics, you can also flip the board and play the winter side, which has an extra level of - I'm not sure what as I haven't read that part of the rule book. Snow? It's a bit more complex anyway.

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  2. When reading the rules to A Castle For All Seasons, we said we needed to explain it to Joe, so he could explain it back to us.

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  3. Campaign on Tuesday maybe Andrew? Though I have a feeling we may be playing this again...

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