Château: Kickstarter Buzz
Information:
Mechanics: Roll and Write, Print and Play
Player Age: 7+ Player Count: 1 - 99 PlayersTime to Play: 15 Minutes
Game Designer: Martin van Rossum
Player Age: 7+
Game Designer: Martin van Rossum
Basics:
Château is a french word that best translates to castle. In this game, each player is going to have a unique castle with a special layout, and unique rule or limited ability. The objective is so simple it is as elegant as a good Château, you simply want to fill in all the spaces on your board. To do this two dice are rolled every turn and the players will simultaneously use both of these dice to fill their board. On a dice roll of 2-5 the players use a polyomino shape to fill their board. The shape designated for numbers 2 and 3 are reusable the whole game, however, there are numerous shapes for numbers 4 and 5 which can only be used once and then must be crossed out.
On a dice roll of 1 the players will send a catapult over to fill one space on the enemies board. On a dice roll of 6 the player will cross out one item on the side of their board allowing them to cross out all corresponding items on the board.
The shape you draw can be mirrored and turned as you wish but ultimately has to be used in its entirety otherwise you will only be able to mark off one space. If you mark off a hammer while filling out the board you will then be allowed to fill out one other space of your choosing.
Uniqueness:
Each map has a unique shape and ability. The unique shapes give a new challenge to the players as they often have to tetris the polyomino shapes differently for each map to best utilise the speed it takes to fill the Château. Each Château also has an ability that may fall into the camp of ongoing abilities for the map such as each hammer counts as two spots to be marked off or each item has one more location on the map. If not ongoing then the ability can give the player a free action to be used a limited amount of times, such as up to two times all the items of one type can be crossed off without rolling a six, or when a two is rolled you can use a four shape instead.
The abilities become more complex and intriguing with the expansions. An example of this is erasing a previously marked spot in case you become trapped into marking off one space at a time, or instead having multiple instances of the four and five pentomino shapes, you have one shape for each number that can be used indefinitely.
Zig Zag (Player Interaction):
This game can be directly confrontational as when a number one is rolled you receive a catapult that marks one space off in your opponent(s) Château. This can either waste their item spaces or make it so they have to use inefficient shapes to fill in their board. The game only lasts 15 minutes so it's easy to move on from the confrontation and set up to play again.
Zone:
The game is designed to be a quick roll-and-write that is suitable for families. When reading the rules I thought the game may be so lightweight that I wouldn't see myself gravitating towards the game, however, after playing it I immediately changed my mind. The game is easy in theory, all you have to do is fill your board and while doing this though you will find yourself accidentally blocking yourself in as you race against the other player(s). The concept is light but in reality, this is a challenging roll and write packed into 15 minutes of fun that will have you playing again and again. I place this in the ‘back this Kickstarter’ zone and since this is a print and play the price point will be cheap. What you will be getting is a great filler that will have you instantly returning for more as you try to master the puzzle of each Château.
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