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Manufacturer:
Devir Games
The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimio, from the top of the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where the koi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd the gates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circles of the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return to their clan.
In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans in order to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amass influence in the court, manage resources boldly, and place their workers in the right place at the right time. It is a Euro type game with mechanics of resource management, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. During the game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tend the gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of the nobility. At the end of the match, these will award players victory points in a variety of ways.
The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor, divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room of the Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until they reach the circle closest to the Daimio to enjoy his favor. There is also the pond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone can relax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important area is the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and stand guard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three types of dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and the personal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resources and where they will have the reserve of workers.
With accessible rules and a very careful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile title that will fit in with different gaming groups. As is tradition with Llama Dice titles, its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within the grasp of players.
Contents:
77 Cards
82 Tiles
5 Boards
85 Wood Pieces
15 Dice
Rules
Ages: 12+
Players: 1-4
Game Length: 80 minutes
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1 - 10 of 18 reviews
Nine Actions to Greatness!
Originally played this at a convention recently, and based on that playthrough alone, I had to buy this game. Every game is different as far as strategy, base on the random layout of the dice triggers and rewards on the board. With only 9 actions in the game, every move has to be an important move in order to stay on top. The challenge is how to best utilize each action to chain into multiple actions with your turn. I really enjoy the layout, the easy understanding of the rules and it was easy enough to teach as you play through the game so that others can understand how to play as you go. Solo is a real challenge, which is good if you like to not win often. Overall, this game is very enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing how the upcoming Matcha expansion will add to the overall gameplay and planning.
July 9, 2024 6:15 PM
Nine Actions to Greatness!
Originally played this at a convention recently, and based on that playthrough alone, I had to buy this game. Every game is different as far as strategy, base on the random layout of the dice triggers and rewards on the board. With only 9 actions in the game, every move has to be an important move in order to stay on top. The challenge is how to best utilize each action to chain into multiple actions with your turn. I really enjoy the layout, the easy understanding of the rules and it was easy enough to teach as you play through the game so that others can understand how to play as you go. Solo is a real challenge, which is good if you like to not win often. Overall, this game is very enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing how the upcoming Matcha expansion will add to the overall gameplay and planning.
July 9, 2024 6:15 PM
Robert Thro
Only played this solo: It's an incredibly tight resource conversion game. Having only 9 turns to combo together multiple actions with an unbalanced AI opponent makes for an okay experience.
April 15, 2024 9:49 PM
Awesome game!
This game is one of my favorite new games. It has so many different levels of how it works that it keeps you engaged strategizing how you are going to pick up your victory points. At its core it's a worker placement game, but it has added rules and mechanisms that makes it different than a traditional euro worker placement. You also have the aspect of engine building with the cards that you acquire and layer into your player board that helps you gain resources. It's a phenomenal game. Go buy it!
March 30, 2024 1:39 PM
Crunchy fun!
You only have 9 turns in The White Castle, so your combo-ing game better be strong! In order to make the most of those 9 turns, you have to think ahead, but also be flexible if the action cards change before it's your turn again. This game is definitely one of the best games released in 2023.
March 16, 2024 12:54 AM
Very compact, thinky game!
The economy of turns make this one a very strategic game. The cards can really turn on you if the resources you need aren't available, and can make a huge difference from turn to turn. Great for solo or 2person play, at 4 it gets very cumbersome.
February 27, 2024 6:10 PM
Anonymous
A beautiful game in a very crowded genre. Recommended with caveats - you need to be into the theme or it's just not going to stand out among all your other options for worker placement games.
January 26, 2024 12:57 AM
Dice on a Bridge
Fast play, intuitive design, everyone has got to try it.
January 12, 2024 2:57 AM
An innovative worker placement/Euro-style game that fits on your coffee table
This game is wonderful; it's in our weekly rotation for two players and we've gifted a couple of copies to friends at this point. Every play has a slightly different strategy that will tease your brain just a little differently than the last due to the variability in possible setups. For those of us that love to hang out on the couch with something on the TV while we play, this fits perfectly on a coffee table. Additionally the art is gorgeous.
December 28, 2023 11:12 PM
Great medium level game
I got this after playing Red Cathedral a couple of times, which is another great medium level game. This game adds a little more complexity. Great game!
December 28, 2023 4:35 PM
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