Quick Look: Château
Designer: Martin van Rossum
Artist: Luis R. Blanco
Publisher: Rolling Rhino Games
Year Published: 2023 (On Kickstarter for 24 more hours! Link at the bottom of this review!)
In Château, you are the architect of a beautiful historical landmark. Players will construct the blueprint of an architectural masterpiece by simultaneously placing shapes on their board. Each player has a unique Château, with a special bonus to use to their advantage. The first player to mark off all spaces in their Château wins the game!
Disclosure: Prototype files were used for the game for review. Final game may be slightly different.
Review:
Initial Impression/Components:
One thing I like about PNP, is that it is very economical. You’ll notice I opted for the black and white print vs color. I had the color PDFs and certainly enjoyed them. However, I’d prefer the colorless play. As for components, there are quite a few sheets available of different Chateaus to complete. Want to know the best part? All you need is a couple of D6 and a printer and you’re good to go.
Base Game – List of Components (base game):
- Rulebook
- Print files for various unique buildings
- 2x D6 (Not included)
Rules:
As expected, the rules are very light. To sum them up quickly, you take turns rolling both dice and each player uses those dice in ways specified by their individual sheets to fill in their chateau (building on their sheet). It’s a polyomino, puzzle game with unique player abilities and shapes. It’s a race to be the first to fill out all the spaces on your board.
Favorite:
I Really like the unique player/chateau abilities that shake up the gameplay. Mix that with board specific polyomino shapes and building shapes to fill out and you get a surprising amount of replayability.
Least Favorite:
I don’t know if there is a low ink version already or in the works, but I want to see the graphics on the computer but have the option to print it as low ink as possible to actually play the game.
Mechanics:
This game is also light mechanically as it will be played in 10-15 minutes. It includes grid coverage, dice rolling, unique player abilities, One-off abilities, simultaneous actions, as well as solo play.
Areas they did well:
• Each play feels a little different
• Enjoyable theme and art
• Can play multiple games in succession.
• Solo and multiplayer modes
• A sizable selection of maps
• Low cost
• Easy and quick fun. Very accessible to any audience
• Very low environmental impact
• Portable – can print and take with you or print from anywhere if you have nothing with you. There are even free apps/websites for dice rolling if you don’t have dice.
Areas they could have improved:
• Low ink version
• Higher impact for 6’s which generally allowed you to cover up to 3 squares. I felt this made 6’s a 1-3 instead of a better number,
• Some forgiveness for rolling repeat 1s in a solo game. Having to put them right in the middle of a wide open space destroys your chance of filling the card out quickly. I had some bad luck in my third game and rolled seven 1’s. In the same game I had six 6’s which made a horrible combination of singles everywhere that I had no prayer of filling with larger shapes. Even control over placement would be great.
Overall:
I had a pretty good evening of solo play. I took a picture of my first 3 games but continued to play another 2 more after that. It’s quick, snappy and an enjoyable puzzle. I think it’s a fine little game.
Final Thoughts:
That’s about it for Chateau. Short and sweet akin to the game itself. I’ll give this pnp a pass. There’s enough content here to justify powering up the ol’ printer and getting some dice to the table. Not that I need much of an excuse!
I’ll see you next time, back here at The Game Table,
Brad Hiscock, aka Zerility
Here’s the live Kickstarter campaign: HERE for 24 more hours at the time of posting!
Want to see another perspective on Château? See what Thomas Shephard’s thought HERE!
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Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”, is a construction project manager and electrician by trade who was the owner of a 6-time award winning electrical company. His passion for board games has led him from playing hundreds of original titles to creating a design and publishing company of his own, Convivial Games. As an up and coming collaborator on many projects, he is always eager to try new games and meet new people.
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All of Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”‘s reviews can be found HERE.
