- Designer: Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel
- Artist: Stephanie Escapa
- Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
- Players: 2-5 Players
- Playtime: 35 minutes
- Ages: 10+
What’s In the Box?
- 39 Castle Cards
- 39 Village Cards
- 1 Messenger Pawn
- 52 Gold Tokens
- 44 Key Tokens
- 1 Double-Sided Game Aid
- 1 Score Pad
- 1 Rule Book
Setup
To set up Castle Combo, shuffle all of the Castle Cards into a deck and place them in the center of the table. Flip over the top three cards and line them in a row next to the deck. Repeat this process with the Village Cards. The Messenger Pawn will go next to the Village Cards. Each player starts with 2 Keys and 15 Gold. All remaining Keys and Gold should remain on the table with easy access to the players. These two piles make up the supply. Finally, randomly select the first player and you are ready to play Castle Combo!
Objective
The objective of Castle Combo is to earn the most points. To do this, you are going to methodically place your cards in front of you in a 3×3 grid. Each card will grant you an immediate ability as well as an end of game scoring condition. Play close attention to those scoring conditions, as they will help guide you to the optimal placement of your additional cards.
Gameplay
Each player’s turn takes place over 4 steps. First, players have the option of spending a key. Next, players must buy a card and thirdly, must immediately apply that card’s ability. Finally, the player will move the Messenger Pawn and fill the display for both locations. Play then continues to clockwise to the next player. Each step is explained in great detail below.
Step 1: Spending a Key- Spending a Key is an optional step. If chosen, players may spend 1 key to take 1 of the follow actions. Players may move the Messenger Pawn to the Castle or Village, or they may discard all 3 cards where the Messenger Pawn is located to reveal 3 new cards.
Step 2: Buy a Card- In contrast to spending a key for step 1, buying a card is a mandatory step. A player will take one of the 3 face up cards at the location of the Messenger Pawn and pay the total cost in Gold. The player will then place the card in their tableau (3×3 grid in front of them). Some of the cards have a discount ability on them to reduce their cost. Keep in mind a Card can never be less than 0 (you cannot earn Gold back on any cards). Alternatively, you can buy a card for no cost by taking a face down card from the pile and placing it face down in your tableau. If you choose to do so, you ignore any of the information printed on the card but gain 6 Gold and 2 Keys.
Step 3: Apply the Card’s Ability- Just after a card is played, its ability is applied. The ability will be affected by what is showing on your tableau. Note that if a card’s ability mentions opponents, it means all other players. If a card refers to a neighbor, the active player will choose either player directly to their right or left.
Step 4: Move the Messenger Pawn and Fill in the Display for Both Locations- For the final step of a player’s turn they will move the Messenger Pawn to the appropriate row, Castle or Village. Then ensure that each row is showing 3 face up cards each.
Play continues clockwise for a total of 9 turns per player, to complete their 3×3 tableaus. At the end of the game there is a super helpful scoring pad called the Scoring Scroll, that assists with keeping everything straight, and ensures that everyone gets their due points. The player with the most points wins! If there is a tie between players, the player with the most gold wins! If there is still a tie, the win is shared!
Final Thoughts
J and I both really enjoyed our time playing Castle Combo. On our first play through, we played 3 times in a row! I am a sucker for a Pandasaurus Game, and really enjoy the products they put out. Recently, they have added an expansion to Castle Combo. I haven’t picked it up yet, but I have been keeping my eye on it to see how it adds to the game. Castle Combo scales nicely with more players as well. I recommend this one if you are a fan of puzzle and/or card drafting games!
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