2024 · Medieval
Castle Combo
Players draft characters from two open markets and build a personal 3x3 tableau of villagers and castle dwellers. Each turn a player pays coins to recruit one character and places it into their grid, triggering immediate effects and setting up endgame scoring combinations. Keys allow players to influence a shared Messenger pawn that determines which market spaces are available, while Gold must be managed to afford desired recruits. Placement decisions and timing of recruitments shape both short-term benefits and long-term bonuses; after nine turns the tableau with the highest point total wins.
- Players
- 2–5 best 2
- Playing time
- 10–25 min
- Age
- 10+
- Complexity
- 1.7 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 2,634
- Plays logged
- 1,584
- Players
- 24m 52s
- Average play
- 397
- In collections
- 61
- On wishlists
7.8/10
from 145 Ludoya reviews
Juli7.0 - Small box - Quick game: under 25 mins - Digital version (BGA) - Play digital version - Not interested in buying physical version (yet)
No plays logged
Joaquin Muñoz10.0 Diversión 5/5 · Interacción 5/5 · Atractivo 5/5 · Originalidad 5/5 · Rejugabilidad 5/5 · Accesibilidad 5/5
Played it 30 times
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Do I have to use a Key on my turn?
No. Spending a Key is optional, and you may spend only one per turn to move the Messenger to the other location or discard and replace all three cards at its location. (p. 6)
Can I take a card without paying for it?
Yes. You may take a face-up card for free by placing it face down; you ignore its ability and scoring, and immediately gain 6 Gold and 2 Keys. (p. 7)
Does a card’s discount apply to the card I’m buying right now?
No. A discount ability on the card you buy applies only to future purchases; add together discounts already in your tableau, and a card’s cost can’t go below 0 Gold. (p. 7)
Can I place a card diagonally next to one of my cards?
No. Each card after your first must be adjacent orthogonally—sharing an edge—with at least one card in your tableau. You must also keep the tableau within a 3×3 grid. (p. 8)
When do I use a card’s ability, and does the new card count for it?
Apply the ability immediately after placing the card. The card counts itself when resolving its ability, except when the ability is a discount. (p. 9)
Do leftover Gold and face-down cards score points at the end?
Each Key is worth 1 point, but Gold scores only when placed on Purse-scoring cards; unspent Gold outside purses is used only to break ties. Face-down cards score no points. (p. 10)
Official score sheet
Castle Combo score sheet
Every scoring category, from the Ludoya kit. On your phone the totals add up by themselves.
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Castle Combo with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.