We change a little category with a game especially for children: Castles And Catapults, My Kingdom For A Ball! . The latter was created by Christian Foch and illustrated by Damien Mammoliti. It is a game of confrontations between two players from 8 years old for games of about 30/45 minutes. It has been localized in Spanish by the publisher Lucky Duck Games in June 2021.
my beautiful castle
The game is the result of a Kickstarter campaign which worked very well because it was able to bring together 5750 contributors for a commitment of $523. Even if we will exclusively talk about the retail version in this article, the KS version offered many additional elements, whether it be additions of bricks or expansions with new siege engines.
The game box is quite well made, offering many specific storage spaces to contain the equipment without everything getting scattered anywhere. The bricks, for example, are stored on either side of the box (depending on the faction) which allows easy storage even for the smallest (everyone takes their equipment on their side) but also a fairly quick set-up . The construction of the catapult is also brutally simple: you just have to place a rubber band between its two sides. Additional rubber bands have been provided by the publisher in case of unexpected breakage of these during a game.
Destruction by cannonballs
Medieval times were often subject to battles between baronies or other houses. In the game, you have the choice between two armies: that of Chaufort and that of Cunningfields who will have to wage war to destroy the enemy forces. Setting up the game is quite simple because each of the two players must take the equipment of one of the two factions while respecting certain placement rules.
First of all, the players' playing area, represented by a soft cardboard valley image, must be separated by at least 1,5m. You will have to use all the bricks available to build your castle by placing them wherever you want on your playing area as long as you respect the fact of not tilting them. On the placement of your units, there too nothing very complicated because you can put them wherever you want in your playing area with the only constraint that they are separated by a distance of 1 from the template provided if you make the decision that one or more units are away from your castle.
During setup, each player will have a deck of 6 cards (all different) and will draw 3 of them to form their starting hand. It will be possible at the start of the turn to play a card from your hand (or not) to apply its effects. We find for example the fact of carrying out an additional shot or moving up to 3 bricks from the reserve or from its playing area. On the other hand, there is no draw phase in the game and the only way to regain cards is to lose units in battle (one card per lost unit).
Each player will perform his or her shots in turn, taking care that his catapult is not more than 2 away from the template. Any unit that has been knocked down or even tilted will be removed from the game. For blocks, they will need to be expelled from the player's area to be returned to the supply. The end of the game is triggered if a player has no more soldiers/units on his field. Otherwise, the game continues with a new round.
Conclusion
Castles And Catapults is an excellent game of confrontation and dexterity for two players, for the youngest as well as the oldest. The cards allow you to add a certain tactical dimension to the game, which can turn the game around quickly thanks in particular to the Traitor or Rapid Fire card. However, for younger players, the cards may be dispensable to simply focus on the shooter and enjoy hit exchanges.
The material is of remarkable quality and you really feel that an effort has been made, especially on the bricks which are heavy enough not to fly at the first shot. For around thirty euros, I think the game will please any child because they can compete with another player to see who can destroy the other's castle the fastest!
