Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig Review

 I recently received a review copy of Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, by Stonemaier Games.  You may remember my previous review of their fantastic game My Little Scythe.  We absolutely LOVE My Little Scythe, so I was eager to review for them again.  And once again Stonemaier did NOT disappoint!

Here's what I loved:

1.) Its a quality game! - Just like My Little Scythe, everything about Between Two Castles feels like quality!  The pieces are sturdy and well-made.  And just like My Little Scythe, it comes with custom inserts to make game play and storage both easier!  Even the rulebook is made from high quality paper!

2.) It comes with a backstory! - Mad King Ludwig, also known as Ludwig II of Bavaria, lived during the 1800's.  There's some debate about whether he was truly "mad," but he was definitely obsessed with castles! He used his personal fortune to fund the construction of several castles, including Neuschwanstein Castle, which served as the inspiration for the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty!

3.) Its both competitive and cooperative! - Each player works with the player to their left to construct one castle and the player to their right to construct a second castle.  But only one player wins!  Its a fascinating game in which you're both competing against AND cooperating with your fellow players!

4.) Its relaxing and yet full of strategy! - You can play a pretty relaxed game, laying tiles without much thought - and see who wins.  This would make the game very much luck based.  Or you can dive deep into the rules for connecting rooms, etc. and play a heavily strategic game! I love games like this!

5.) The instructions are thorough, clear, and well laid out. - There's nothing I hate more than getting a new game and having the instructions be indecipherable. It makes a new game a chore - and often takes all the fun out of it!  But these instructions were very clear.  And it was laid out really well - so I was able to easily flip to the page I needed whenever I had a little question!

We pulled this game out on the Saturday morning after it arrived and just sort of dove in. We learned along the way.  I really enjoyed it!  I'm a big fan of tile laying games and this one is beautiful - with lots of beautifully decorated room tiles!  If you like tile laying games, beautifully illustrated games, competitive games, or cooperative games, this game's for you!  Basically, everyone should try it!

I received this game, free of charge from Stonemaier games in exchange for my honest review.

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