Castles of Mad King Ludwig Deluxe Review: Deluxe isn’t always too big!

Tom Vasel takes a look at Castles of Mad King Ludwig Deluxe!
Intro 0:00
Overview 1:14
Final Thoughts 6:20
Support The Dice Tower at www.dicetowerkickstarter.com
Support the channel by becoming a member!
/ @thedicetower
Subscribe to our newsletter, "The Dice Tower Digest": dicetowerdigest.com
Buy great games at www.GameNerdz.com
Check out the friendliest conventions on Earth!
Dice Tower Cruise - www.dicetowercruise.com (January 15-21, 2023)
Dice Tower West - www.dicetowerwest.com (March 8 - 12, 2023)
Dice Tower East - www.dicetowereast.com (July 5-9, 2023)
Find more reviews and videos at www.dicetower.com
Get a great game table here! www.rathskellers.com/
BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3...

[@BryanKlass]

Love the review! This happens to be my wife’s favorite game and we also got the Royal Pledge. Only thing missing was the fact that the board is double sided and has a winter theme on the opposite side.

[@thecuriousboardgamer]

Just unboxed mine and I may or may not have been drooling the whole time. It's gorgeous *and* practical.

[@AaronBaillio]

Got this one recently too and played 5 times in a row I just really enjoyed it and the components and the quality knock it out of the park.

[@TheAmazingYeti]

if I recall correctly the colors were actually voted on by KS backers.. why everyone chose green is beyond me. absolutely should look like castle walls. Oh well... My wife and I play colossal only at 2P.. once another player wants to join, we divert to the original.

[@aceofdiamonds6510]

I agree, they did a really good job with this one. I was also pleased with the production. I found the towers to feel a little cheap but that’s a minor complaint. I didn’t get this for the tower minis. I got the all in pledge and I played this last night with family. We actually gave the Colossal version a go and I must say if I can avoid using the small room tiles in future games I absolutely will. You can really appreciate the art on the larger tiles. I also can easily glance over at my opponents boards and see what they all have going on. I don’t have to lean over and hover over their boards I would say we were playing on a average sized dining room table (3 players). We had to adjust our boards at times to avoid running into each other. You also have to keep the room tile trays on spare chairs off the table. I have a much larger table in my game room at home and see zero problem playing the large rooms on that table. 5 players might be tight but I think it would still work.

[@Lanxe]

Thanks Tom. I recently unpacked my Royal collector’s edition and was impressed but hadn’t dug into it much. Glad I shelled out for it - CoMKL is one game that we have that actually has been played quite a lot.

[@BezierGamesInc]

Thank you for your support, and sharing how much you're enjoying Castles of Mad King Ludwig Collector's Edition!

[@codym6376]

People asked them multiple times in the campaign to make the green trays gray like a castle wall or anything other than that green color. But I’m happy with everything else. I do wish the coins were slightly larger.

[@kevinbhieey9188]

Love the correct pronunciation of Ludwig! The one thing I don't really get is that board with all the islands. I assume it's meant to be Herrenchiemsee since it's Ludwig's only island palace, but that lake has 3 islands. Throwing all these other islands in here makes it look more like Ludwig was building these things in the Caribbean.

[@Tenebyss]

Can anyone think of other games that use the color system for expansions in their rulebooks? Seems brilliant to me

[@nicholasschneider6655]

Istanbul Big Box kind of does that, although the expansion sections are mostly separate. It also has the colour system on the player aides, so you know which parts of your turn aren't available if playing without an expansion.

[@gavingunawan6203]

Petrichor collectors edition uses this colour system in it's rules too.

[@tfoksieloy]

Exodus event horizon did it for its modules.

[@MattHew-ic4zq]

Maracaibo the uprising expansion did it for its modules too 👏

[@GivenToFly201]

Agree with Istanbul they do a great job.

[@ScytheNoire]

I was very impressed with the production. Very happy with it. Bezier, GameTrayz, and Panda Mfg really hit this one out of the park.

[@jcsap04]

Thanks Tom!!! I am now even more excited to get mine! I took a risk on it and it seems the deluxe is worth it! Woo!

[@refreshdaemon]

Maybe you can print a sticker to make the green trays look like castles from the outside? I'm surprised the Dice Tower didn't get the Colossal version for their game library for conventions, I'm sure that'd be a showstopper.

[@DebateDeliberate]

Just got mine unboxed a couple days ago and am hoping to get it to the table after I finish my 'honey-do' list.

[@MichaelAW17]

Man I wish I backed this.

[@Xhawk33]

We loved the original, so going all in on this KS with the Colossal box as well, was a no brainer. We already got it and played, and its worth every single penny. They did an absolutely amazing job putting this edition together.

[@JosephFlemming]

This is probably the best deluxe game I own, maybe need better then Merchants of the Dark Road in some ways because the insert makes so much more sense. I LOVE those coins. I might use them in other games as well

[@john-qz3fu]

Wow, that is some overkill hahaha

[@MadSlantedPowers]

I normally don't care about having the fanciest version, but I do kinda wish I had gotten the Royal version instead of just the standard Collector's edition. Still, it is a nice production. I've always preferred this game to Suburbia because there is less to keep track of.

[@nshaw1299]

What to do instead of green for 'Castles of mad king Ludwig'... what to do... Maybe, just maybe... a castle wall?

[@fsugnome]

Instead of painting maybe custom stickers would probably look better.

[@chrisnenzel582]

I did get the Colossal add on and Tom is right - unless you have a ginormous game table it's never going to get used... That said I don't have as much an issue with the component trays as Tom did - they're functional and seem to support sleeving the cards so that makes them a plus for me. Really looking forward to getting this to the table and learning to play!

[@curtislinden9297]

Wait so Tom got another tattoo?! I’m guessing it’s his wife’s dice character? I had to go back and watch the tattoo video to confirm it was his dice / right arm that he had done. OKAY TOM!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@danacoleman4007]

This is the very definition of unnecessary

[@turtlevader]

Is this a Caribbean pirates game? I hate that main board. The old one was fine. I’ll pass on this thing.