Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig – First Impressions
Review copy provided by the publisher
What happens when you combine Between Two Cities and Castles of Mad King Ludwig?
Well, you get Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig. It’s rather simple. You should have figured that one out.
Designed by Ben Rosset and Matthew O’Malley, this castle-building game is a cooperative experience for 3-7 players. It’s going to take close to an hour, but in that hour such beautiful castles will be built! And, if you’re clever, they may even look somewhat like the miniatures that represent them on the table.
BTCoMKL (for all the hip gamers out there) is a tile-drafting game. Simultaneous drafting, just like the mega-hit 7 Wonders, but the gimmick (or wonderful mechanic) here is that players aren’t working on their own castle. They’re working on their own castles. But not really their own. They share it with the player next to them. And then other player next to them. Because the castles aren’t actually in front of them. They are between them and the adjacent players.
I made that sound much more complicated than it actually is, but the game is a collaboration. Much like the partnership between Stonemaier Games and Bezier Games, players will be partnering to create something where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
The king demands a castle! You are a world-renowned master builder who has been asked by the Mad King Ludwig to help design his castles. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person, so for each assignment you are paired with another master builder to execute your grandiose plans. Will your planning and partnership skills be enough to design the most impressive castles in the world?
So you’re drafting tiles. And each tile is a room in the castle. And each tile scores points based on certain criteria. Your goal is to select the right tiles and synergize with your building partner to create the best-scoring castle you can. At the end of the game, your lowest-scoring castle is your final score, so don’t slack with either of your partners!
Ready, steady, build! And for anyone who gets that obscure cooking show reference, I greatly appreciate you…
What It Does
You make castles using pretty rooms and then score points based on how well those rooms go together. Get a lot of wall hangings that match—like mirrors! Build a lot of outdoor features and get a pretty fountain! Hire royal attendants who increase your prestige with certain castle decor. Make a really tall tower of rooms and top it with… a tower!
It’s all about creation and cooperation in this game. You need to find a rhythm with the building partners to your left and right. Work with them to make the best combinations. And try hard with each of them because if you give up on one endeavor, that low-scoring, dismal castle will end up being your final score.
In Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, you have to strike a balance between each castle.
It’s a tightrope walk over some really impressive rooms. It’s like building an awesome dollhouse full of the weirdest collection of indoor and outdoor spaces.
How It Does It
The entire game takes place over two rounds. In each round, players take a stack of 9 tiles and then select two of them to place in their respective castles before passing the remaining tiles in between players to be ready for the next turn. Then, a castle at a time, players will decide which castle needs which tile and communicate with their building partners. Once the tiles are placed, any bonuses are resolved and then the next turn will start.
Since there are 9 tiles in a stack and 2 are used for each turn, there will be 4 turns in each round. And two rounds total.
Then the endgame arrives and you tally scores for all of the castles.
Whoever has the highest-scoring lower-scoring castle wins!
It’s really simple. There are 7 types of basic room tiles, all with scoring bonuses that can be achieved by placing the right tiles in relation to each other.
Beyond the regular scoring for each tile, there are bonuses that can be unlocked to give another layer of depth to the game:
When you get three of one room type in the castle you get its related bonus.
When you get five of one room type in the castle you get a free bonus tile from the Fountain, Tower, and Grand Foyer stacks.
A sound strategy lies in both placing tiles that increase the scoring potential of the ones you already have and finding tiles that can get you the room bonuses. Aiming for both will likely improve your chances of constructing a high-scoring castle.
Why You Might Like It
Since you’re working on two different castles, the drafting phase feels both more engaging—as you try to maximize points on your two castles—and forgiving because there are two options for any one tile and you’re not forced to slot it into one place in front of you.
The collaboration with other players provides Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig with a sense of intrigue and excitement. You genuinely want each project to succeed… but maybe you want that one to succeed just a little more.
Why You Might Not
If the tiles are poorly shuffled, it can be challenging to set up combos with certain room types, which can chain into multiple strong plays if you’re cunning (or lucky) enough.
This plays best at larger play counts, so if you’re someone who usually plays games at a two- or three-player count, then this one may not reach its highest gameplay potential.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed my first play of Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig. Even at three players, it was a good time.
I don’t own 7 Wonders (I just own Duel) because I found the player interaction lacking as the group somewhat quietly explores their drafting options over the three ages. However, this game would easily replace that board game classic for me. The forced cooperation between players means that you’re partially invested in each player next to you and you want all three of you to succeed. The hope is that the other collaborations between those players and the others next to them don’t go as well, but it’s wholly a positive gaming experience.
There aren’t negative player interactions. In our three-player game, we didn’t even have any arguments or disagreements as to what would go where. It was a focused, strategic look at what would garner the most points or endgame bonuses and striving to get that on each castle.
As usual, the production value is superb. Stonemaier has a fantastic Game Trayz insert that makes getting the tiles out of the tray so easy. And the artwork! Every single one of the rooms is unique (outside of the starting chamber and the three main bonus tiles).
Before I write out a full Right for You / Wrong for You review, I need to see how it plays at larger numbers and get more sessions under my belt. But I’m excited about that because I genuinely found it to be a warm and inviting play experience. The main question I have is how the length will be affected when there are more players at the table. I anticipate it climbing a bit from our ~45-minute session, but I hope it won’t extend too far. The simultaneous drafting should help with that.
So, a good start, and I tentatively think this one will stay in my collection as a strong option for mid-sized groups looking for a light but fun game.
If you want to check out Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, you can visit Stonemaier Games or read what the community thinks on BoardGameGeek.
Have you played simultaneous drafting games like Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig? What’s your favorite one?
Let us know in the comments and give a recommendation for other games of which to share our first impressions.