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either to avoid clearing a path to a desir- able tile for your opponent or to be pre- pared to finish an area at any time. But if you have a specific tile that you cannot sensibly place, you are allowed to discard it. But rather than a shrine this will only get you one meager victory point.
The time tokens, however, score two points. Up to four of them are on the board and players are free to collect them individually as soon as the two topmost levels of the Dragon Castle have been cleared away. This option is mostly used when it becomes obvious that you can no longer generate any more points from developing your own castle, while your opponents are still scoring heavily. Because as soon as the last of these tokens has been picked up, the current round is played till the end and then the game is over. To trigger the end game in this way has proved to be a good mech- anism with all player numbers, and two victory points seems a sufficient reward
for missing a regular turn.
Although the starting display with its
specific shape and composition allows for some variance, the game offers sev- eral more fine-tuning options. Two sets of cards extend possible actions and
the scope of additional rewards. For example, the spirits impart special abil- ities like access to a tile from a short side or repositioning two tiles in a play-
er’s castle. But the activation of a spirit comes at a cost (a tile or a shrine), and you are advised to use it with some cau- tion. To receive additional points from a dragon at the end of the game, you need to have fulfilled specific conditions such as building shrines on the edge of an area, symmetrical shrines in the middle, or having various face-up special tiles.
I Use situational advantages
Because most tiles in the two lower
levels are covered by those on top, there is a certain random element in their uncov- ering, a mechanism that primarily appeals
to casual players. And only a two-player game allows you to put pressure on your opponent and follow a specific
strategy, whereas with higher player counts you need to lower your sights and rely on exploiting situational advantages. The overall task creates a positive, con- templative mood with all player numbers.
There are no aggres-
sive moves, but instead snap-
ping up tiles, attempting not to
help others, or exposing bait all create indirect interaction.
The clear and concise
rulebook with its many illustrations and examples is exemplary; the design of the components, apart from the slightly-too- thin boards, is very attractive. Not quite so elegantly solved is the turning over of the tiles of a specific group later on in the game. You have to be extremely careful not to move other tiles or bring down stacks.
2 the score is twice as high and from the third level onwards it amounts to three points. This is where the special
colors come in, for they allow you to place two shrines at once. A group of those particularly rare purple tiles adds an additional bonus point. But you need to be careful, for plac- ing a shrine can unnecessarily hamper your future developments or even cut off
specific spaces.
Each player only receives one shrine at
the beginning of the game, and you want a constant supply. You receive a new shrine every time you cannot pick up a
suitable second tile or refrain from doing so,
Looking at the price tag of Dragon Castle, its consider- able qualities, also reflected in the rating for the incentive to play, are not enough to recommend purchasing the game. In the end consumers have to decide for themselves if what is on offer here is worth the price asked for it. But if you wanted to buy the game as a special gift,
you could not go wrong.
L. U. Dikus/cs
Title: Publisher: Designer: Artist: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Dragon Castle
Horrible Games
L. Silva, H. Hach, L. Ricci Cinyee Chiu
2–4 (for two: )
about 8+ years
about 45 minutes about 50 €
Reviewer Playing appeal
L. U. Dikus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Alan How. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Harald Schrapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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