Castle Combo

I expected Castle Combo to be much lighter than it ended up feeling. It is clearly youthful in tone, but the senate played it too without the mood turning sour, and I mean that as a compliment.

At its core, the game has you build up your own collection of choices and chase the best score you can. It does not pretend to be heavy or complicated; it works as an approachable option for younger players, without requiring you to bring along anything heavy and unhealthy.

The interaction mainly comes through counterdrafting: you are not only looking at what benefits you, but also at what should not be left available to everyone else. There is a slight scoring imbalance in favour of pouches, but being able to deny opponents choices is enough for me not to see it as a serious problem.

If you are looking for this kind of game and do not want any more piglets in the mud, Castle Combo makes sense. It is not Oh My Goods!, of course, but it is much better than I expected and I recommend it without hesitation to its intended audience.