Second Look - Boardgame reviews in depth. Check out that cat.Castle Combat came right out of the blue for me, and I was very interested to give it a shot after reading about KidRealm and what Rob has done with his camps and card game. Card Combat is self published, and definitely looks that way. The art is a bit crude, the cards aren’t always perfectly centered or cut, and booster packs are little paper envelopes with the Castle Combat logo printed on them.

Does it in any way effect the quality of the game?

No. It doesn’t.

Castle Combat is a CCG based off the card game War. Players each have a deck with 15 warriors in it, draw 3 cards, and place a card down simultaneously. Powers are resolved and a die is rolled for each player. Add the number on the card to the die roll and take into account the effects of the power. Highest number wins and then the winner goes to that player’s Winner pile while the loser goes to that player’s Dungeon pile. The goal is to get all the opponent’s cards in their dungeon. When your draw deck runs out you shuffle your Winner pile for a new draw deck.

Of course there’s plenty of different armies, cards, and powers to choose from. Tournament legal decks can consist of 2 colors and neutral characters. A deck must be all Good Guys or all Bad Guys. Mixing those two are not allowed. There’s also some limits on Legendary characters and such.

It a very simple game, but it’s perfect for younger children who have an interest in CCGs. I played with my five-year-old and it’s now his favorite game. We recently got some more booster packs for his birthday and he’s had a ton of fun checking out the characters he’s gotten and trying to make the best deck out of them. That leaves me with he leftovers. He wins a lot.

I’m really glad I past the rough exterior into Castle Combat. I’ve found a game I really enjoy playing with my little guy, and he has a CCG to play with me that’s a bit easier for him that Pokemon or Magic at this point.

One last note. There’s some great resources for the game here. That includes small e-zine issues, a rules summary, a printable battle mat, and more.

A copy of the Castle Combat Starter Set was provided free for review.