If I were to do a top ten list of games played in 2025, one game would tower above them all in the darkness of the game shelf, and that game is Castle Combo. To put it mildly 10% of the games I played this year are of the titular card game, so naturally when the folk at “Catch Up Games” have mentioned their newest expansion, Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette! I went full on “shut up and take my money”.
For those who haven’t played the base game, Castle Combo is an open draft game, where players will strive to achieve the most points by drafting cards and building a 3×3 grid with the card’s comboing off each other.
Game setup and flow
The game setup for Castle Combo is a treat and I am happy to see that the “Out of the Oubliette!” expansion doesn’t change that. Just shuffle each of the 2 decks, the villagers deck and the castle deck, place them in the middle of the table. From each deck create a row of 3 characters from which players may draft. Set the messenger token next to the Villager’s deck and give each player 2 keys and 15 gold tokens.
During your turn you may do an optional action such as use a key to either refresh a row of characters, or move the messenger from the castle to the village. After that you must perform the mandatory action which is to buy a card. Upon purchasing the card, you must place it in your tableau (orthogonally next to an existing card) and trigger its effects. Then based on the card you picked the messenger may move again. Since Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette! adds 12 new cards, it still keeps the same play flow. The only addition to the game is the lock abilities mechanic. Basically, now you have access to some cards that instead of being triggered upon purchase, they will be triggered when the player choses to do so by removing the key that the card comes into play with. Conversely, you may never trigger the card and keep the key for end game scoring purposes.
The Good
I mentioned early in this review that if I were to do a top 10 list of games, Castle Combo will be up there in the number one spot. Why I hear you say? 3 main reasons: replayability, ease of play and streamline design.
Unlike other open draft card games, here is looking at you Flip Toons, Castle combo has 78 different cards, with a strong emphasis on different, and now thanks to the expansion, it pushes to 90 different cards. Can you say this game has replayability without saying “this game has replayability”? Cause Castle Combo and its expansion “Out of the Oubliette!” sure can.
I just love how easy this game is to pick up. The setup takes literally 2 minutes, time me I dare you. The rules explanation less then or around that benchmark. All in all, prepping this game for a gaming session is a quick and nice treat. Adding just 12 new cards to the base game “Out of the Oubliette!” doesn’t add setup time or a huge pallet of extra rules to the game as other expansion usually do.
However, the biggest take away and the reason I am so keen to play this game each time I bring it out is it’s streamline design. You buy a card, play a card and trigger its effects. That is it, nothing more, nothing less. No shenanigans that require you to play a card to get some resources in order to play another card etc. etc. No, just buy a card and place it in your tableau in such a way that it yields the most points, rinse and repeat 9 times and you are done. “Out of the Oubliette!” keeps this design in mind and add just a small tweak to it. Now you can buy a card, play a card and trigger its effects on the spot or at a later date. Still streamlined, still elegant, still easy to explain.
The Bad
To be honest I don’t have a lot to complain about “Out of the Oubliette!” expansion. The only downside to the it, if any, is the “more of the same” vibe. The expansion doesn’t change significantly the base game. If you have enjoyed Castle Combo, new cards with new abilities can’t hurt, however if the game didn’t float your boat to begin with, “Out of the Oubliette!” is not the expansion you are looking for (insert Jedi hand waving mind trick here).
Conclusion
Generally, I believe that game expansions can be divided in to 3 separate categories. There are the “fixer ups”, the expansions that fix an issue with the game, the “sammies” (I think I just invented a word Oxford Dictionary), the expansions that offer up more of the same, and finally the “next level”, the expansions that take the game to a whole new level and open up new possibilities. Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette! falls into the second category. If you enjoyed the game, yes buy it without a doubt. If you are not enamored with the game, this is not the expansion that will change your mind.
