60 - 90 Minutes
1 - 4 Players
The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimyo, 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. The authors are Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The Red Cathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terrible behind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle, where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimyo Sakai Tadakiyo. The White Castle 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.
Wow what a tough game! This is one of those games where the first time you play it you wonder how it’s even possible to score past 30 or 40 points because it’s so difficult. Then after a few players you find your skill improving and you are scoring well above and beyond what you ever did in your first few games. This is a game that doesn’t feel straightforward on your first couple play through as it has a few unique concepts that aren’t very common. It is a bit of a brain burner, and I would hate to play this game with some that suffer badly from analysis paralysis. All that being said this is one of those games where you will probably also be that person but then when you get something that works out well, it will feel very satisfactory.
This game has to be one of my favourites. I love it! The game is so tight with just nine moves in the game, but it's exciting when you combo a good move. I love the fact it only has nine moves making you feel you want to play again to see if you can do any better.