Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Essential Edition
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a play on the original Between Two Cities game, but with a much stronger theme in my opinion. We had the privilege of reviewing this game over half a decade ago, but Stonemaier has somewhat recently released an Essential Edition of the game that we are looking at today.
The essential edition comes back with content, including the games various expansions, special trays to hold all the tiles very neatly, and more. The original packaging from Between Two Castles and the expansions was phenomenal as well, so if you are familiar with those, you’ll have an idea of what to expect here. Solid production only goes so far, though – how is the game? Let’s take a look!
My initial reaction to Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig was that I was really impressed. The quality of the tiles, the stunning artwork, and the fantastic box inserts means the development team has put a premium on the components for the game. Even the trays are created to make grabbing tiles easy, which is a huge bonus as you will go to the box often to get new tiles.
Working collaboratively with others while still trying to ultimately win yourself is a strategic game play element that is never the same game-to-game. Different players like to focus on different things; if you link up well with a partner you’ll create a fantastic castle; find someone who plays a way you don’t, and you could struggle out of the gate.
And things only will get worse when you remember that your score is equal to your lowest scoring castle, not your highest. And This collaborate mechanic works most of the time, but those playing with younger or less experienced players might have issues creating fantastic castles. While you can discuss with them how to play the two pieces they choose, you cannot help them choose those pieces in the first place. This caused us problems on numerous occasions, and can quickly deplete the potential score of a castle because of poor decisions made in the selection phase.
Thankfully, however, the 7 different room types means it’s not hard to get back on track either. While you might prefer to go in a specific direction, you’ll almost always be able to play off what you are given (from your partner that is). And since you can openly talk strategy with the person sitting beside you, experienced players can provide pointers ahead of the selection phase, such as “perhaps you should focus on getting this type of room!”
The biggest thing going for this game, however, is the ability to play with up to 7 players. There are not a lot of board games on the market now – outside of party games – that can accommodate more than 4 or 5 players (without expansions), so to have the ability to play with up to 7 people is phenomenal. And even in a 7 players game – which I played multiple of – everything still works. And that is what I really like about Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig. Whether I play with 3 players, 5 players, or 7 players, the experience always feels the same. You still grab the same number of tiles, make the same number of decisions, just with more people at the table.
Ultimately, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a fantastic card drafting game. With only a few choices per turn, it’s easy for most people to pick up quickly; the more you play, the better you will get at building your castles. Playing with three other veteran players was phenomenal, and it didn’t take many games to feel like a veteran. For a deep, easy to understand, card drafting experience, I’m not sure there is a game on the market better than this one!
Article By Adam
