Game profile: Castle Panic

Product Image from Fireside Games.

The first rule of real estate is location, location, location. The same rule applies when building a castle. Build it in the wrong place and sooner or later, the neighbors will come knocking.

In Castle Panic from Fireside Games, your job is to defend the castle from the hoards of monsters attacking from the surrounding forests. One to six players work together in defense, while the attacking Goblin, Orc and Troll forces are controlled through game mechanics.

The castle is laid out in a perfect hexagon on the center of the game board. Six outer walls surround and protect six interior towers. These removable components are handsomely produced and displayed with plastic stands creating an effective 3D castle. Throughout the game, the forces of evil will destroy the walls as they attempt to topple the towers. Fortunately walls can be rebuilt, but if all six towers are destroyed, the castle, as well as the game, is lost.

Like another great cooperative game, Pandemic, the players work together to defeat the enemy forces. While the player with the most monster kills at the end of the game is crowned “Master Slayer”, all of the players win or lose as a team. So while keeping a particularly powerful Castle card may help you become the Master Slayer, it may do more good – and help you and your team to survive longer – if you trade it to a fellow player. One of the many challenges of the game is this balance between your personal glory and team success.

The other major challenges are the monsters themselves; they are powerful, relentless and they far outnumber you. At the end of each turn, two new random monsters are drawn from the Monster Pile and put into play. During each turn, each monster in play moves one space closer to the castle walls. The pressure is on until all 49 monsters are defeated, or your towers have fallen.

While the standard game is a lot of fun by itself, three other game variations are included in the rulebook. First off is Co-op, which is the standard game, but the players don’t keep track of kills. This sacrifices the “Master Slayer” title but emphasizes and rewards team play. Second is Overlord where one player controls the Monsters while every other player defends the Castle. And finally you can play Castle Panic as a solo game. But I believe that board games are meant to be shared, so the Solitaire mode is the least desirable of the four. In fact, Fireside Games agrees and recommends you play Castle Panic with at least 4 players.

Castle Panic is simple to learn and plays in about an hour. For a combat game, it never gets too heavy and is well suited for players 10 and up.

As Miracle Max from The Princess Bride might say, “Have fun defending the castle!”

For more info: Read the Rules at the Fireside Games website, or visit the Board Game Geek.