Things have been bonkers busy lately (is that always the case? I feel like I’m always saying things like that) so I haven’t had time to make progress on my to-review list. Ugh! Plus, I moved and now no longer live a block from the magical center of games and delicious food/drank that I love so much. (It’s now like a 15-minute walk away. My life is SO HARD, guys.) Anyway! I thought a quickie would be perfect (an appropriate descriptor of both the review and the game).

Castellan is a two-player game that is super easy to learn, but also fun to play. I’d say you get a fair amount of bang for your buck in fun per time spent learning/reading rules. Plus, the game revolves around these castle pieces that you have to physically link together to form courtyards and it is totally reminiscent of playing with legos or blocks as a kid. Bonus points for nostalgia. Here are all the pieces in the game (minus some cards):

As you might surmise, the walls link up with the round towers, and the colored pieces represent the two players and their claims on courtyards. When a player completes a courtyard they claim it with their piece, and the score for that courtyard is the number of tower pieces that touch the courtyard. So for example…

The courtyard with one blue piece has 4 towers, so its worth 4. The one with two blue pieces is worth 7. Easy peasy. (In each game you can claim one courtyard with two of your colored pieces and it nets you double the points.)

Ultimately, this game is certainly not one you’ll likely go and rave to your friends about. But it’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s kind of hard to tell who is winning until you count up everything at the end. (Okay, sure, you could count as you go, or just crush your opponent, but it’s much more fun to be surprised by the outcome, I think.) As a little filler when you only have a short amount of time, or if you want something easy to teach to friends, it’s a really solid option. Plus, again: lego nostalgia!

Overall, 3 stars.

P.S. I found this video that explains the game. How much does that background music add to the video? SO MUCH.

P.P.S.  Fun fact! Castellan means governor or captain of a castle. Comes from Latin.