Between Two Castles Essential Edition

Growing up I was (and still am) fascinated by castles. Medieval, Middle Ages, Renaissance, European, British Isles, Middle East, Far East-it really didn’t make a difference.

There’s just something about castles that fascinates me. Perhaps it is their massive size, maze of rooms, defenses, décor and the people who populated them-a little of each.

I could just imagine exploring each room, hidden passageways, dungeons, throne rooms, living quarters and armory and so much more. Each turn of the corner reveals new and surprising discoveries.

My castle fetish has been appeased with Stonemaier Games/Atoma Factory’s Between Two Castles Essential Edition that combines the best of a board game and a trading card game.

What makes it a great game is you don't have to be an expert gamer in order to play.  Whether you're a novice or game veteran this game is fun, fast, full of surprises and best of all-easy to learn!

Made for one to eight players, ages 14 years old and plus and averaging 45 to 60 minutes of game time, Between Two Castles Essential Edition offers plenty of excitement, quick game movement and lots of cool surprises and more.

My review sample arrived via Fed-Ex and came in an oversize cardboard box, securely sealed shut. The game came snug in bubble wrap. Nicely done.

The game box itself is constructed of heavy box paper. The top of the game box features a beautiful full-color painting of a castle complex in a stunning castles in a mountain/valley landscape. The painting extends down to all sides of the top lid.

Inside the box are three game trays: purple, red and yellow. Each tray holds game components for one Multi-Player Mode and Two Solitaire modes.

The Multi-Plyer Mode includes 194 regular game room tiles, 16 secret room tiles, 64 specialty room tiles, 8 throne room tiles, 48 regular room type tokens, 8 player aids, 28 royal attendants, 28 bonus cards, 8 castle tokens and 1 scorecard.

The two Solitaire Modes (Automa and Introvert Variant) includes 24 Automa cards, 4 room type cards, 1 double-sided turn order card and 3-double-sided player aid cards.

Game play for each version of the game is easy to understand and provides fast set up.

The Automa version pits you against two artificial opponents and the Introvert Version pits your single castle against an artificial opponent's one castle.

The multi-player version uses 3 to 8 players where players team with one player to their right and left to construct a castle.

How the castles are built are determined by the cards. Some cards attach from below, right, left and above.

Where cards are placed is determined by the symbols on the cards. For example only certain cards can be placed in the lower levels, some on upper floors as determined by the cards below them and so on. It’s very challenging.

At the conclusion of the game castles are scored. Personal final scores is the lower of the two castles you helped design and the player with the highest final score wins.

Instructions make game play easy, fun and challenging. You never know what to expect.

The game is well designed with easy-to-follow instructions using illustrations and symbols. Game pieces are small but solid and are easy to distinguish as to the type of object they represent.

Game cards feature beautiful miniature paintings accompanied by easy to decipher location and type symbols. Game pieces (tiles) and token tiles come on full heavy card stock sheets. Pieces pop out of the sheets.

Game components store in the game trays and are easily seen through the game trays' clear plastic covers.

As a graphic designer and artist I really appreciate and marvel at the amount of detail the game has. Selection of paper stocks, materials for the trays, game tokens and pieces, instructions and other components were well thought out and selected.

The art is first-rate and the overall design of all the game contents complement each other from the game box to the game components.

Stonemaier Games also provides a how-to-play video online, downloadable rules, Q & A on Stonemaier’s Facebook and even an online way to calculate and save your score.

Replacement parts are available as well as monthly updates on Stonemaier’s e-newsletter.

Isn't it time to build your own castle?

Psalms 37:4 - Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.