Castle Combo
- Board's Eye View
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
WizKids' Fantasy Realms has long been a regular games night filler for members of the Board's Eye View team. We still play the original game as well as the Star Trek version Star Trek: Missions. It's a game that's obviously inspired others; for example, Grove (WoksOn Studio) and Red Rising (Stonemaier Games), and we'd have to add Castle Combo to that list. In this game from Catch Up Games and Hachette Boardgames UK, the 2-5 players are drafting character cards to create their individual 3 x 3 card tableaus. Cards may yield in-game benefits but, crucially, they score in relation to their positions in your grid and in relation to the other cards you've drafted.
Designed by Grégory Grard and Mathieu Roussel, the game is played over nine rounds and gameplay is super easy. There's a market display showing three nobles and three peasants, and a wooden place marker indicates from which of these you can draft, paying the cost in gold for the card you take. If you spend a key, you can wipe and replace the cards in your row or you can move the wooden marker so that you can buy your card from the other row. Then your only decision is where to place your purchase in your 3 x 3 grid. You must take a card every turn but if there are none you want or can afford, you can take any card from your row for free and place it face down in your grid; as a face-down card it won't ordinarily contribute anything to your end-game score but taking it does give you coins and keys you can use on a future turn.
That's Castle Combo in a nutshell but it's enough to make this a game you'll want to come back to time and again. It's satisfying when you put together profitable combos and, yes, it can be frustrating - particularly as your 3 x 3 grid fills and you're forced to place out a sub-optimal choice - but it remains a fast, fun game that you can play in 15-30 minutes, depending on player count. The cartoon artwork of Stéphane Escapa further adds to game's appeal.
