The White Castle - We Just Played It!

From the designers of The Red Cathedral, comes The White Castle. This is a very tight and restrictive euro, all packed into a small box. Dice drafting and placement driving a dynamic connection between the main board and your player board.
We share everything you might want to know about the game, and try to give you an idea of who it's for, and who it might not be for. Check it out, and let us know what you think.
Copy of game provided by the publisher.
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[@joncockayne4625]

To declare the game bad at 2P after a single play is utterly crazy to me, eapecially with the admission that you're yet fo fully get all the nuances of the game. Yes you can't stack, but with fewer dice those options arent as valid. Clearing bridges and gardener choice become more important.

[@meeple]

That would be crazy--we agree. To be clear though, we did not declare the game bad at 2P, and this is our first impressions after just one play. It does factually lose a clever element to its mechanisms at 2P though, which is why we suggested that it might pale in comparison to the 3-4P experience. Once there are hundreds or more ratings on BGG, our guess is that it won't be categorized as "Best at 2P". That's all we were trying to say.

[@Listan1]

Darn! What a shame they couldn’t figure out a 2-player variant that captured or maintained the cool elements of the game. There are SO many adults who just don’t have the ability to play with 3 or 4 ever or routinely.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

I mainly play at 2 so it is very important that it plays well at that count. The only rule change for two is the stacking a die in the castle actions which it can only be done once on each space.

[@meeple]

Keep in mind, the game is still solid, but that adjustment for the 2-player experience is a significant difference in the game experience.

[@josyuen4207]

And I would suggest watching some of the 2 player playthroughs that are out there before making a decision on the game.

[@alicia1465]

I will be watching a two-player run-through at some point before deciding. It is worth mentioning that Rahdo loved the game, though he did mention a downside they found for two players. Those changes at that player count might feel lacking to some, or totally fine to others. Watching play-throughs always helps, and there are plenty out there now!

[@J-Wheeler-G]

@@alicia1465 I also don't think that denying someone from the bridge bonus as easy as some make it seem.

[@ofriction]

I feel like the heavy recommendations here are a bit to strong for a single play. it's fine if you describe characteristics of a game.

[@meeple]

Interesting. I wouldn't characterize anything we said as strong recommendations. Do you feel we were off base regarding anything in particular?

[@AndrewWatsonChangingWay]

I wouldn't be too swayed by the dislike of the 2p game expressed in this video. On BoardGameGeek, over 90% of the people who expressed an opinion recommend TWC with 2.

[@dirkana]

played it at two and found no issue not able to stack dice.

[@meeple]

Yeah, we don't feel that there's a significant issue. It's just a shame, because we really like that aspect of the higher player-count games.

[@scotthenderson1762]

The round marker replicates a statue that sits just outside the entrance to castle.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

I believe it is the waterspouts

[@meeple]

Good observation!

[@AGDOWNTEMPO]

Like all small box Devir games, including Red Cathedral, the component list is at the back of the box at the very bottom. It only has text, is very terse (no delineation of how many different types of cards) etc, and it's a decision I personally don't get, when you could easily dedicate a page in the rulebook for it.

[@meeple]

And to be fair, they also have it with images at the QR code link. I just wish it were printed in the rules. The game itself is a great experience, and as always, a lot of game in a little box. Our experience was just affected by navigating setup without recognizing that. 😅

[@PauloFerreira-lv3pv]

Thanks for the excellent video, as always, guys! I was sitting on the fence about this game, for the longest time. And your video helped me reach a decision. It was very informative and I enjoyed your feedback and opinions from your experience with the game. Unfortunately this game won't be joining my collection. Since I mostly play board games at the 2 player count. And I already have other tight ecenomic style euro games in collection that play much better at 2 players (Woodcraft and Carnegie). It's unfortunate, since I had my eyes on this game for the longest time. But I would have to enforce house rules for the 2 player game which most likely would break balance and I don't think it's worth it. Thanks again guys. Keep up the excellent videos. ❤

[@meeple]

If you ever have the chance it is worth playing at any player count. It just looses a cool element at 2 players. Still a solid game experience though.

[@cferejohn]

Real missed opportunity not calling this "David and Ryan go to the White Castle" (I expect that joke has been/will be made a lot, but this is the first time *I* made it :P )

[@meeple]

That would have been brilliant!

[@Javaslinger7730]

LOL. Opinions are like.... everybody has one. Just finished watching another two reviews who said this game not only plays best at two, but what clearly designed for two players and the stacked dice was just so you could play with more....

[@meeple]

It all depends on how restrictive you like your games to be

[@alicia1465]

Thanks for the video, guys! Great insights.

[@meeple]

Thanks for watching!

[@jackiejlw5493]

It’s not you, David. It took me so long to set up this game and was so frustrating (even with the QR code) that we ended up not playing it. Thankfully this was at a convention and we found someone the next day to help us with setup and a teach.

[@meeple]

Glad to know we aren't alone with the setup!

[@SteveAMcPherson]

Thanks for highlighting some great points. Out of interest, can the solo cards be used to create a 3P game for 2 players?

[@meeple]

I’m not sure. That might be worth trying!

[@wouter9437]

Will the game experience be bad or not playable if you stack dice in a 2 player game?

[@meeple]

I’m not sure. I think they removed that rule for 2 players to keep the sense of blocking, or to make it more restrictive. I think some people will really like that blocking aspect.

[@spitmacabre]

Being overly restrictive, only 9 turns AND bad scaling with two players killed all my excitement I had with this. Disappointed...

[@meeple]

There is a lot to love here, but we definitely need to point out our cons as well as our pros!

[@Javaslinger7730]

Just FYI, the game DOES NOT scale badly at two players. They're first impression is just off on this point. It actually is best at two.

[@meeple]

@@Javaslinger7730 To be clear, we don’t think it’s bad at 2-player. We just think it’s a shame that the dice stacking mechanism is lost at that count.

[@tcp1623]

The setup is meant to be a test i zen practice - you failed David ;)

[@meeple]

That's a good way to look at it

[@jameskirk4692]

Thanks for the review.

[@meeple]

My pleasure!